Superbloggy
Right, reality tv is brilliant. Any blogger who dares to disagree is being a tad hypocritical. The information revolution, and tv as a genuine means of communication, has reached a beautiful high that people could only have dreamed of. The Running Man, and other fantasies about future media, assumed that the televised spectacle would reach its lowest denominator by catering to violent urges that are assumed to be innate. But that's bollocks. What really happens, is that people show an urge to not watch the violent, but to watch the emotions and life of other people. And not just people as created by scriptwriters, but people as created by themselves. The love of watching reality tv is as natural and beautiful as the love of watching football.
Of course, the big concern here is that the tv companies are not reproducing fact, or creating fiction, they are shaping the real, as we stand in it. This is a dangerous game. The last big brother troubled people greatly because it failed to leave out people whose best interests were blatantly not being in a small, watched environment with tossers. At the same time, this mistake was not surprising, given the program's desire to include people according to the program's motives, and trust the contestants to make the right decision according to their own reasoning. It doesn't exclude or include according to typical social taboos- they've allowed transexuals, disabled, young, old, gay, minorities, etc. It doesn't pass ethical judgement on contestants when selecting them, so the ability to medically assess them is a grey area. Needless to say, only a short time ago, gays, transexuals, people with tourettes etc. would have been ethically screened from tv programs. So it's a shame that Shabaz was on Big Brother, but no surprise. The program selected according to a profit logic, and the contestant mis-judged their own application. Then walked-out.
What I'm getting at here, is that reality tv bashers should think twice. There is an ethical concern, but everyone volunteers with a great knowledge of the possible consequences. Not like medical trials. There's nothing wrong with watching people run around for our amusement, cos that's football. Some people get hurt, and their life is changed for ever, just for pursuing the adulation of a country. Enjoying watching a game is ace. People have probably learned more from watching Supernanny and Wife Swap than from reading newspaper columnists. People participating in Jeremy Kyle and Faking It have done so for the opportunity to meaningfully improve their life- for free. Something the NHS and the New Deal fails at. And for once, non-fiction tv is showing people's lives in contexts that encourage thought, rather than throwing about instructions and news, or being straight documentary- like the great 7 up series.
Which leads to the important point. Has anyone else noticed that Supernanny has failed in every episode this series? The last fifteen minutes have just shown the family playing a big, physical game that makes everybody smile. And then we're meant to marvel at the fact she's calmed down the kids and adults by bringing out a giant snakes and ladders game. Piss off. Those kids are fucked by their parents, and there's nothing tv is going to do to change them.
Footnotes: None.
Of course, the big concern here is that the tv companies are not reproducing fact, or creating fiction, they are shaping the real, as we stand in it. This is a dangerous game. The last big brother troubled people greatly because it failed to leave out people whose best interests were blatantly not being in a small, watched environment with tossers. At the same time, this mistake was not surprising, given the program's desire to include people according to the program's motives, and trust the contestants to make the right decision according to their own reasoning. It doesn't exclude or include according to typical social taboos- they've allowed transexuals, disabled, young, old, gay, minorities, etc. It doesn't pass ethical judgement on contestants when selecting them, so the ability to medically assess them is a grey area. Needless to say, only a short time ago, gays, transexuals, people with tourettes etc. would have been ethically screened from tv programs. So it's a shame that Shabaz was on Big Brother, but no surprise. The program selected according to a profit logic, and the contestant mis-judged their own application. Then walked-out.
What I'm getting at here, is that reality tv bashers should think twice. There is an ethical concern, but everyone volunteers with a great knowledge of the possible consequences. Not like medical trials. There's nothing wrong with watching people run around for our amusement, cos that's football. Some people get hurt, and their life is changed for ever, just for pursuing the adulation of a country. Enjoying watching a game is ace. People have probably learned more from watching Supernanny and Wife Swap than from reading newspaper columnists. People participating in Jeremy Kyle and Faking It have done so for the opportunity to meaningfully improve their life- for free. Something the NHS and the New Deal fails at. And for once, non-fiction tv is showing people's lives in contexts that encourage thought, rather than throwing about instructions and news, or being straight documentary- like the great 7 up series.
Which leads to the important point. Has anyone else noticed that Supernanny has failed in every episode this series? The last fifteen minutes have just shown the family playing a big, physical game that makes everybody smile. And then we're meant to marvel at the fact she's calmed down the kids and adults by bringing out a giant snakes and ladders game. Piss off. Those kids are fucked by their parents, and there's nothing tv is going to do to change them.
Footnotes: None.
posted by Steve Harmison | 5:59 AM
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1 comments
