Art courtesy NICK
JULIS NAVARRO
Staff Writer
If not for reality television, America would never have known exactly how many times Tyra Banks could say the word “fierce” while critiquing a photograph. The country would never have been introduced to the eccentric hairstyles of Sanjaya from “American Idol,” the fierce determination of New York from “Flavor of Love,” or the dramatic hand gesture Donald Trump makes as he fires his would-be apprentices.
Without reality TV, Kaba Modern fans would not have experienced the frustration of watching their favorite dance crew get kicked off a nationally televised competition. Nor would young women know the trials and tribulations that Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag face everyday.
It is an ever-growing trend on television. Reality TV exposes private encounters, fulfills dreams for a few and shatters them for many. Networks are creating reality TV shows in such rapid succession; it sometimes seems there is a search for the next everything: models, singers, soul mates, cooks, inventors, dancers and designers. The list goes on.
One of the reasons why reality TV has become so popular is the opportunity to witness life from another perspective.
“It gives us insight into the lives of other people. We get to watch good and bad things happen to others without having to experience the emotions ourselves,” said Senior Christie Stewart, who watches a wide array of reality TV shows.
Nancy Dodd, adjunct professor of screenwriting, guesses the biggest draw is the emotional investment viewers reach as they watch their favorite contestants progress on television.
“It’s a bit like voyeurism. You know you shouldn’t, but we’re all curious about who’s doing what and if they are going to get away with it,” Dodd said.
Perhaps it is the affirmation that real life does not always guarantee a happy ending. “The Real World,” the MTV show that pioneered this new breed of reality TV, shocked viewers with its unabashed depiction of endless hookups, heartbreaks and heated arguments.
Indeed, reality TV can be overwhelming tear-inducing drama, but sometimes the outrageous scenes are all-too entertaining. For example, the notorious clip of Punkin spitting on New York during an elimination was replayed numerous times in slow motion. Or who could forget the time when top model hopeful Jael was so annoying that rapper 50 Cent pushed her into a pool? “Sometimes it’s fun to just laugh at the ridiculousness of it all,” freshman Molly Coe said.
Senior Larissa Lewis, who interns at Fox Reality, said the young generation finds reality TV so appealing because of the unpredictable nature of the shows.
“The most popular shows in our age group are shows like ‘Rock of Love’ and ‘Flavor of Love.’ It’s like watching a train wreck,” she said.
Then there are those who watch reality TV to get closer to their dreams. Freshman Chelsea Meisner watches “America’s Next Top Model” for vicarious living. Becoming a model is something every little girl dreams of, she said.
“I was no exception, so watching the show is like watching those girls’ dreams come true. It’s almost like me living through them,” she said.
Senior Barbara Harvey watches “Project Runway” and “America’s Next Top Model” because she is constantly trying to better understand, visualize and critique clothing design.
“ ‘Project Runway’ especially gives me a window into the fashion world,” she said, “and as for ‘Top Model,’ Tyra Banks is freakin’ crazy… who can resist that?”
With its nonstop drama, reality TV is expected to become tiresome, especially after so many seasons of the same shows. Freshman Ross Hutchason thinks so.
“I think reality TV is a complete debauchery of the privacy and courtesy everyone deserves in America,” he said. “The participants of those shows are paraded not as real people, but as targets of entertainment and public criticism.”
Reality TV is evidence of human nature’s insatiable appetite for the outrageous and extreme. However scripted some reality TV shows are, the illusion of pure emotion, the unveiling of private matters and vicious gossip keep viewers tuning in every week. It is all the drama that is undesired in life, but kept at bay on the television screen, reality TV packages it in a safe and satisfying form of entertainment. Besides, where else could P. Diddy continuously repeat that word he made up — the one that starts with a “B’ and ends with a “ness”?
03-27-2008