that candid camera
July 13, 2005That candid camera:
Reality TV’s best and worst
Some fifty girls living together in one house flay each other alive in attempts to win the affections of an aging Casanova. A ex-porn star heiress, tagging along her equally rich rockstar scion girlfriend, rough it out in the hills of (gasp) suburban America in US$3,000 stilettos. Five gay men maul an unsuspecting straight guy, turn his pad upside down, smell his bad breath and armpits on national television, and leave him looking like a contorted repetition of David Beckham. Couples bitch, whine and complete the multi-faceted meaning of ‘cultural insensitivity’ as they race and bitch and whine everyone they meet around the world for a prize they should bitch and whine about when they get home.
Torturing my remote control one night, I realized that there are as many of these ‘reality TV’ shows now as there were, say, hairsprays in the 1980s. And these ‘reality TV’ shows don’t multiply in a vacuum either. Most, if not all, of these shows always have something so controversial and taboo that it’s hard for simpletons like myself not to take notice. From the seemingly innocent beta stages of ‘Candid Camera’ in the 1960s and the experimental curiosity that came with the global celebrity of ‘Survivor’ in the early part of this century, reality TV has since gone forth and multiplied, taking upon itself to turn any and every human situation into a gossip-worthy spectacle.
But while this concept of multiplicity and diversity feeds the ratings at best, reality TV eventually grates everyone’s nerves–mine, at least–after a while. Especially when every cable channel known to mankind has, not one or two, but five or six reality shows on heavy rotation daily, it becomes blatant that this multi-billlion dollar industry is just that – a multi-billion dollar industry. The idea of “keepin’ it real” suddenly waters itself down to the best face angle, the most provocative miniskirt, and the most high-pitched of histrionics. And of course, you have the “vox pop” segments that demonstrate the full spectrum of human backstabbing and pretense. Then again, nobody in the industry said they’d shoot feel-good home videos anyway.
Don’t get me wrong. I love reality TV as much as I hate any form of entertainment blatantly designed to turn us all into cash cows. Reality TV’s own brand of reality, that there is no such thing as subtlety and that life should at least include two or three points of high drama and eight broken glasses a day, offers us an idea of how we collectively appraise our daily existence. Reality TV, whether we like to admit it or not, turns us all into voyeurs. It’s a comfort for the rest of us with sordid lives to know that someone else is going through deeper bull than we are, even if it’s not exactly the most real.
‘You’re fired’
Some reality shows are decent, some are pleasing to the digestive system, but most just don’t have the right to take up valuable airtime. Either the show completely lacks any logical sense, reinforces current yet inherently flawed aesthetics and prejudices, is clichéd, or is just plain trashy. Just because it turns out a so-called pop culture phenomenon doesn’t mean it is any more decent. Be warned.
Average Joe (ETC) – ‘Joe’ is high school theory put to practice. It pits the beautiful girl with the “average Joes,” in an attempt to make her fall in love with one of the geeks. At first glance, ‘Joe’ could be seen as a trailblazer, breaking the ages-old stereotypes of lopsided aesthetics and dating. But subliminally, ‘Joe’ is indeed high school theory put into practice: Life is always unfair for the ugly. If we follow the ‘Joe’ doctrine, the girl would always pick the jocks over the Joes, the jocks would always ditch the girl, and everyone would feel rejected. Nothing like high school angst to ruin your day.
Who wants to marry my dad? (ETC) – A show featuring menopausal women acting like 20-year-old girls fighting hell and each other for the attention of a 46-year-old divorcee is hardly appealing to the senses, not to mention sensibilities. The show’s producers try to save it by adding elimination drama (i.e. blackmail, ‘Survivor’-esque challenges and that infamous lie detector test). Suddenly, the thrill of the lie detector constitutes the more interesting part of the show and becomes the show itself. Still, it doesn’t save the show from kitsch, which it has too much of, starting with the concept.
The Apprentice (Star World/ABC) – A blatant publicity stunt for the purported greatness of the Trump empire, ‘Apprentice’ not only appears contrived, but also epitomizes the word “brain drain.” ‘Apprentice’ tells you that success is, and only is, being a slave of a magnate with a bad toupee. Therefore, you must lie and backstab your way there. It even takes screaming at your co-workers, throwing impossible tantrums and pompousness for good work ethic. It’s not bad at all, though, if you are self-employed.
Amazing Race (Studio 23/AXN) – ‘Amazing Race,’ despite its accolades and a following that rivals that of CSI, actually epitomizes First-World oppression of Third World countries (like ours, by the way) in an hourlong skit. Best intentions aside, ‘Amazing Race’ flaunts political incorrectness by reinforcing the predominant Western concept of exoticism on countries or cultures that it deems exotic, i.e. uncivilized. Arrogance and cultural insensitivity is also the name of the game in this game, which sees the entire world as revolving around the caprices of 24 incredibly bitchy people. Since when did haranguing people for airline tickets, lodging, taxi or American food become a right and not a sign of bad manners?
Outback Jack (Star World/ETC) – In the same vein as ‘Who wants to marry my dad?’, ‘Outback Jack’ is all kitsch and no originality. And it’s not difficult to spot it: the show is a literal clone of both ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘Survivor.’ But what is most irritating about this show is the idea of male superiority endemic in all the show’s aspects. ‘Jack’ is a strong, attractive and sensitive Australian adventurer who captures the hearts of some 30 high-society women, and the problem arrives when the women are supposed to adjust to jack’s lifestyle, not the other way around. Straight-up macho-shit, says my friend.
Starting Over (ETC) – This is another one of those subliminally macho-shit shows made exclusively to reinforce male superiority on television. At first glance, ‘Starting Over’ comes off as a female empowerment show, teaching women how to tap their inner strengths and learn to stand up to their problems and angst. How ‘Sound of Music.’ Thirty minutes into the program, I realize that the show reinforces exactly what it is purporting to break: that women are weak, are easily burdened by problems men give them, and need the help of people other than themselves to get over such problems. The weakness clearly shows when the women in the show fight and cry over trivial things, like pinning a paper heart that says “I love myself” on it. Clearly grating.
Fear Factor (AXN/ABC) – The show that made eating earthworms such a normal party trick, ‘Fear Factor’ could have been a highly kinetic reality show (and it is) if only not for two things: too much gloss, and too little imagination. ‘Fear Factor’ was a fresh concept in its early days, aiming to show how people respond to their inner phobias when it stares them in the eye. Since it gained a mass following, however, the extend of the show’s concept of ‘fear’ has only gone so far as eating perfectly edible animal parts and jumping to an ocean with a thick life vest on. It’s like saying a haunted house is scarier than a real body in a grassfield.
‘That’s hot’
Reality TV has its lapses, and there are lots of them. But it also has its hits, with shows that may not always be pretty, but nonetheless exist for the right reasons and the right reactions.
Blind Date (ETC) – The show that put thought balloons on the mainstream reality TV map, ‘Blind Date’ comes across as an not-so-innocent dating show. In essence, however, it is actually a satire of societal conventions, exhibiting the ironies of what people do in social situations against what they actually think. We may not know if those though balloons actually came from the producers, resident psychiatrists, or the participants themselves, and the results are amazing.
The Simple Life (Star World/ETC) – The ‘Simple Life’ makes this list not exactly because Paris Hilton is on it (although it could), but because of the glaring political contradictions of its concept and structure. Even if the producers would not admit it, ‘Simple Life’ is a political statement of inequity in America, a satirical and rhetorical question on why Hilton, her small-town hosts and the unequal material condition they represent exist in one continuum. It doesn’t explicitly say the inequity is wrong, but the portrayal of Hilton and Nicole Richie being able to get away with anything sends me a glaring signal. And beyond the snickering and the amusement anyone always gets from Hilton (no pun intended), it makes me think of the show not for what it is, but for the oppressive culture it represents.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (ETC) – There is a very good reason why this show became such a hit, and it’s not just because there are now so many gay men on the planet. ‘Queer Eye’ is symbolic of a new role given to gay men in society and an effort to break down age-old prejudices against gay men, although the role itself is debatable. In the show, the “Fab Five” are not skittish in asserting themselves before a throng of straight people, while at the same time not making such a big deal out of it. Which is so much more than the women in ‘Starting Over’ could say for themselves.
Boiling Points (Mtv) – Like ‘Blind Date,’ ‘Boiling Points’ could be seen as a satire of society as a whole, that a single, crisp US$100 bill, not diplomacy and things you were taught in good manners classes, could single-handedly cool down “boiling points” among people. The show’s approach is fresh, although obviously contrived at times. But what redeems the show is its focus. Unlike other reality shows, Boiling Points focuses more on the circumstances that warrant the prize money, and not the prize money itself.
Wife Swap (Hallmark Channel) – In reality shows, there is a profound difference between portraying conflict just for the heck of it, and portraying conflict because the context requires it. In ‘Wife Swap,’ the conflict between families and their swapped wives, though predictable, is founded on the solid context of (mis)adjustment within the show itself. But what is refreshing about this show is that it knows how to contain the drama and not commit an overkill of it. Everything is introduced and resolved in one hour. And because there are no prizes to be won, the participants are spontaneous and fresh.
I Want a Famous Face (Mtv) – ‘I Want a Famous Face’ is probably the most disturbing reality show I have come across so far, besting even the most gruesome episodes of ‘Fear Factor’ or the ‘Amazing Race’ on subject matter. In ‘I Want a Famous Face,’ Mtv tracks down the dangerous foray of fans into plastic surgery in attempts to look like their idols. What sets the show apart from others is that it makes an explicit statement, through video, of the irony and material implications of society’s lopsided ideas of beauty.
‘The ultimate survivor’
Despite the surge of reality shows over the past decade, television news programs are still the best reality shows thus far, if we consider the entire essence of reality television as purporting to capture realism. Unlike conventional reality shows, nothing in television news is explicitly contrived as a premise. Everything is shot, told and retold from an authentic perspective and an authentic setting, regardless of pre-conceived persuasions or biases. There are no grand prizes on television news, no bloated promises for its stakeholders.
Unlike reality shows, television news has no actors, contrived situationers or a predisposition to deceive. Everything is real, raw and spontaneous. And because the business of reality TV thrives on the idea of realism, even the most successful reality shows can’t even begin to charter the scope and influence of the greatest reality show of them all: our very own sordid existence.
