THE POPULARITY OF REALITY

Disclaimer: I must admit that my entire reality television viewing experience consists of two episodes of the original Survivor series plus an added 20 minutes of Big Brother.

Originally published: 8/25/2007

The reality television revolution is closing in on a decade long while I continue to ignore it fervently. Unfortunately, news and entertainment programs dedicate sufficient time to ensure even non-viewers are involuntarily subject to reality drama. It all started with Survivor where a couple dozen random people were dropped on an island near Borneo and expected to fend for themselves. Well, not exactly. 50 network cameras along with a full operating crew were housed right next to them. The idea was intriguing enough for me to watch a complete episode during the inaugural season. After a couple weeks of media hype I sat down with my girlfriend to share the experience. Before the show began her excitement rattling off the evident plot I found disturbing. “Jenny does not like Bill because Bill never cooks for the group, but Bill cannot stand Jeff because Jeff lost the challenge for their team. But Jeff and Jenny really like each other, so they think that Bill does not like Jeff because he is jealous . . .” -WAIT!

“That is what this show is about?”, I responded in a disappointed voice. I had assumed a program named Survivor - on a deserted island - would have something to do with outdoor survival skills. Instead, I found myself watching a drama-filled popularity contest. Big network television had no desire to create a weekly competition dominated by backwoods rednecks, as one of them already exists, the NASCAR cup series. Instead, they fashioned a game filled with office drama, west coast backstabbing and east coast snobbery. It is a game less familiar to flyover country, but right on par with the Hollywood culture.

Topping it all off was the twist on popularity. The weekly climax is not about the winning team or even the losing team. Rather, the template for all reality television programs would be singling out an individual loser each and every week. This person did not necessarily lose a race or score lowest on some sort of test. No, this person is singled out for simply being unpopular – different – unyielding to pure pressure.

Imagine if at the next Olympics, ABC waits for the last runner to cross the line and then shoved cameras in her face. "You finished half a lap behind the leaders, what were you thinking as the field pulled away from you in the backstretch? How do you feel about training for four years only to place dead last in this event?" The sportscaster would be immediately fired, the family of the athlete would demand an apology or sue for deprivation of character, and the ACLU would demand such questions be defined as torture. Yet humiliation is the primary goal of reality television. Manufactured drama. Is there a better way to create drama than belittling an individual in front of a national audience? For the good of the younger generation I assume . . . you know, the ones we teach not to be judgmental of others for superficial reasons.

Simply getting kicked off the island evidently would not reach the level of humiliation the target market enjoys. Therefore, the host must speak slowly with dramatic background music while the camera focuses on the potential losers. The episode climax arrives when the camera zooms in tight as the one loser is singled out. A close-up is necessary for all to witness the tears when this individual is informed that every person on the island, and likely everyone on this planet, would better enjoy life if she had never existed. Emotional cruelty is obviously very popular with the Neilson Family.

Survivor forever changed primetime television. Why waste money on extravagant sets and professional actors? The networks realized you could win primetime ratings by simply tossing average people into a maze with a chunk of cheese at the end then turn on the cameras. It can be a talent contest, evicting the unpopular from a gossip infected mansion, or speed-eating gestating insects; the phlegmatic American public is couch-bound awaiting the next episode. The only universal requirement is humiliation of contestants for viewer entertainment.

If it were not for the glaring exhibit of pop culture driven judgementalism I would not display such irritation. Modern society pretends to be appaled by 'bullies' in our childrens schools. The same hypocrites allow their children to spend evening hours watching one individual after the next enduring public humiliation after being kicked off the island for simply being unpopular. You know - to satisfy the inner bully in all of us.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting sympathy for reality television contestants. These are fame seeking adults only allowed such opportunity due to the most proffitable fad in network television history. If this country has any chance of surviving the next decade I trust the American people will someday again demand producers hire talented writers to make scripts performed by professional actors. Otherwise I am afraid the next generation will grow up idolizing adult bullies with an 8th grade education who vote others out of the house for displaying unpopular behavior - like the ability to complete a proper sentence.

by: Darrin Barker