Wednesday 10 November 2010

What can philosophy teach us about reality TV? (Relevant Quotes)

"Reality television appears to have taken over our TV schedules"; "Obsession with reality television" - The popularity of reality TV is always increasing

"Many hybrids and sub-genres"; "It is acceptable now for the middle-classes openly to discuss reality television, so long as it is a conversation on last night’s The Apprentice and not the sexual antics on Big Brother" - More variety to appeal to different audiences; The Apprentice appeals to a more sophisticated audience as it is a sub-genre of reality TV; Wider audience appeal

"Serious documentary on BBC4 or Wife Swap on Channel 4, most of the nation seems to choose the ‘reality’ option" - Reality appeals to wider audiences; Intellect is needed for a serious documentary but not for Wife Swap

"Moving into ever more controversial programming" - Shock tactics

"Relatively cheap production costs"; "Channel 4 and ITV are the organisations that broadcast the most popular reality television formats" - Commercial TV channels make profit from making cheap productions that are popular with mainstream audiences

"The ‘real’ drama of the programmes is added to by the interactivity, with the audience supposedly directly influencing events on screen"; "Big interactive buzz of ‘...pressing the red button...’" - Audience interactivity has appeal as they have the excitement of being involved

"Make celebrities out of unknown wanabees"; "The ‘winners’ fade quickly into obscurity" - Celebrity status seems important in contemporary society, even though it is usually just fifteen minutes of fame

"Voyeuristic scopophilia"

"Puppet-handlers, the ones holding those in the cave captive"; "The voice of authority, issuing instructions, informing the contestants of events and generally controlling the environment" - Always an authoritative and respected character; Lord Sugar, The Dragons

"Judges decide who will be plucked from their drab life (the drabber and harder the better), to enter over the threshold into celebrity" - Empathy with backgrounds and personalities of characters and their sob stories

"Manipulative editing" - Structuralised and constructed; Actuality is unreliable

"The audience could be said to be using reality television for voyeuristic escape into this celebrity culture" - Aspiring to be like them

"A slightly twisted appeal of watching someone you dislike" - Character roles are still present

"The reality television spectacle caused British people to engage with difficult issues which would perhaps not have happened if the programme had not been broadcast" - Media effects

"The on/off love affair of the 2007 run of Big Brother was a major talking point; how much Charley annoyed you was another"; "Audiences engage and chat to each other more about reality television than any other format" - Social interaction as everyone is watching

"The Apprentice created more lasting celebrity than Big Brother" - Intellecual shows hold more lasting value

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