A craving for "reality"
By: Rachel Krueger
Issue date: 12/10/09 Section: Entertainment
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Although game shows have experienced popularity since the early days of programming, so the idea of filming ordinary people in odd situations and airing the results is nothing new. America has played host to a veritable low-budget renaissance, ranging from competition shows to celebreality shows to an odd hybrid of these categories. Clearly, audiences have proven receptive. Producers have enjoyed the holiday from paying writers and professional actors, and the chance to engage in product placement for anything visible to the naked eye. But why, exactly, has the genre met this degree of success? In theory, the actors, writers, set designers and other expensive employees ought to have been contributing something entertaining to traditional television.
I’m inclined to credit the popularity of reality television to the dual forces of competitiveness and schadenfreude. A number of reality programs feature contests as a main component, allowing viewers to cheer on their favorite competitors, who hold a certain relatable appeal. This phenomenon manifested itself when my hometown, a suburb of Seattle, engaged in American Idol euphoria as one of its native sons, Sanjaya Malakar of the outlandish hairstyles, advanced through the competition. Just like us, Malakar usually couldn’t sing in tune, but that hardly mattered. Ordinary people aided by strange setups, reality show participants embarrass themselves in a multitude of ways, showcasing their lack of talent and their insecurities to the world. We watch them fall off runways and have their monumentally ugly noses restructured, enjoying a conscious or subconscious glows of superiority. It’s been a bad decade for personal dignity, if an entertaining one.