In 1968 Andry Warhol wrote that "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes". His prediction has come true with the popularity of so-called reality TV. But how real is reality TV? Can anything with a camera pointed towards it still be called real, or is it an alternative reality?
This sounds like a great topic considering people like the kardashians are becoming famous these days. – theOne2348 years ago
Great question! Reality TV is highly edited in order to produce a story line. For example, Master Chef and My Kitchen Rules are both reality shows about cooking, based on the concept of competition between non-professional cooks. But the story line of MC is one of growth, collaboration, support, self determination and success of the individual etc all the stuff we yearn for; MKR is based on conflicts, back stabbing, drama, failure etc all the stuff we despair. They are both high ratings because they tap into the everyday elements of our lives. While that is usually the core of why these shows are entertaining which the producers clearly leverage, we ought to examine how the audience is socialised in their consumption of these shows, and how producers inadvertently or perhaps purposely produce narratives that bind the audience with the reality actors through their edits - examination of the sociology of reality TV shows. – lienpham8 years ago
These is quite a broad topic, you could try breaking it down and focusing more so on a specific genre of reality TV. – ninaphillips278 years ago
Pick one type of competition show, or dating show, or "documentary" live-in show. Try to find what the directors sell you. Compare things like Hell's Kitchen to The Great Britih Bakeoff, America's Next Top Model to Face-Off, Naked and Afraid to America Ninja Warrior, and so on. – IndiLeigh8 years ago