One of my earliest reality TV moments was from Survivor season one, and it includes a naked Richard Hatch, and yet so many years later, I find myself reality TV addicted.
I like all kinds of reality TV, everything from Survivor, to Project Runway, to Masterchef. Let me watch it from episode one and I’ll be hooked. It’s in that very first episode that I pick my favourite, and I go with them the whole way through until they’re eliminated. Then I usually crack the shits and watch the remaining episodes with somewhat of an evil glare.
So what makes reality TV so mesmerising? What makes it grab you, shake you by the shoulders, and not let you go?
Reality TV isn’t always a popular genre- anyone remember Big Brother? Even though it was successful, that caused nothing but controversy from season one. Anyone need reminding about this or this?And yet it still had its fans (admittedly I was one for the first couple of seasons).
I tend to find that people either love reality TV, or hate it. There’s no in between with such a confronting genre. And the main ‘type’ of person that dislikes the reality genre- the academics. Especially those who specialise in studying the effects these types of shows have on reality.
But why?
The media has always had a power of its audience; its influence often questioned. (Is it possible for media to actually cause this (?), people argue so).
Reality TV rose to its fame in the 2000s, and this is when audiences were at their worst and often passive. Meaning they sat there, and absorbed the information that is being fed to them. The rise of reality made audiences sit up and become active, and get involved within the program. This was by giving audiences power, the power to choose the fate of each reality contestant.
It’s difficult to argue for or against if this was a positive thing or not. You have those that argue it’s good; you’ll have those that will argue it’s not.
Is it safe to get so engrossed in a ‘reality’ show, showing ‘real’ people doing ‘real’ things in ‘real’ situations? I say this with Survivor in mind- a show that clearly doesn’t have a ‘this would happen in real life element’. In saying that though, is that safer to watch then something like Big Brother, which does have a better element of ‘real’; but because of this, could have audiences trying to copy what they see (turkey slap, anyone?). It seems much more plausible to suggest that people would copy what they see from Big Brother then Survivor- purely based on the ‘real’ element.
This is an entirely different issue though, and not the point of this post.
As I sat in a group meeting tonight, I constantly refreshed my twitter feed and followed every tweet posted with a masterchef hash tag (basically a Masterchef forum on twitter). This is because I couldn’t stand to not be watching the show, and even though I was taping it, I was biting my nails because my favourite, the one I’d picked at the start and followed the whole way through, was up for elimination.
Why I am so hooked on this reality show that I can’t even stand to miss an episode? And why Masterchef? It’s definitely not because I have a flare for cooking. My speciality is eggs on toast, but I must admit- I make them pretty damn good.
I find myself addicted to reality where other people make the decisions for me. Not to suggest I don’t watch the other types of reality, I just don’t vote.
But then why do I feel it’s outrageous when my favourite goes home?
I damn near wanted to cry when Matthew Caldicott was eliminated from Masterchef tonight. I have a few witnesses that could vouch for that too.
BUT WHY?
Do I know him? No. Can I relate to him? Not really. Does he have a ridiculously tragic story? Nope. Is he cute? Definitely. Just had to throw that last one in there, sorry.
Or why do people detest contestants? Search Joanne Masterchef in facebook and look at some of the groups that come up- they’re doozies.
I understand when people watch reality shows and relate to one of the contestants, but what basis do I have for Matt being my favourite? I don’t, I just chose him in the first episode (well actually, technically not true because it was top 24 episode) and it was decided, he was going to be my favourite.
Reality TV has a knack of drawing you in and making you completely engrossed from the get go. And once you give yourself into reality TV… there’s no turning back.
It has a power- a power that grips you about 6 times a week (ahem, Masterchef), or those select few shows that manage to grip you for one hour every week (ahem, Survivor).
They make you tweet your face off, they make set up day with your friends where you do nothing but watch YouTube clips of the shows and play the game on the Wii (that’s normal yeah?) they make you laugh, they make you cry and they make you fall in love. (Stalker love is not encouraged though).
They draw you in with emotional stories, likeable contestants and fun challenges.
I am… a reality TV tragic.
Are you? If so, what do you watch? How involved do you get? And why do you believe it has you obsessed?
Another amazing blog. [Check some of your tenses though :) ]
ReplyDeleteI happened to notice Matt's marital status was single. hehe.
Sadly, I watched Big Brother when it was on. (the first season and a half anyway)
And Masterchef and survivor hooked me in too.
I think Masterchef is so entracing because of the dished they make. They look so good (most of them) and though I could never cook them I still like to watch them being made.
My biggest obsession was with Beauty and the Geek. I loved it! I think it's because the geeks are always awesome (and I probably relate to some of them haha) and the lines that the beauties come out with can be hilarious. It's just nice to see them grow throughout the series. I will shut up now. xo