The Impact of Reality Television on Peoples Lives

Killborn, R. K. (2012). `how real can you get?': Recent developments in `reality television. Thomson Reuters, 9(4 421-439), Retrieved from http://ejc.sagepub.com/content/9/4/421.short

In Killborns How real can you get? the only term that an average individual would most likely not be able to recognize is the two letters RP. These letters RP is short for the words Reality Programming, which is basically reality television like you are familiar with. This article is basically stating how Reality Programming has made its way into normal TV scheduling programs of the US and Europe. And it also explains the increasing speed that these reality television shows have caught on to people watching them. RP is being placed into television times over older programming and researchers are wondering why this is so? The general population is becoming so hooked to reality television series over what is normally shown on TV so they are being preferred over the others. Along with the speed of reality television catching on, also the confusion of the different reality forms among RP. This article is bring a conversation to the table about how fast reality television is catching on and how and why it is being preferred over other shows.

Andrejevi, M. (2004). The work of being watched. (Ex:1st ed., pp. 16-17). United States of America: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, INC. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RcYdAAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR3&dq=editi ng reality tv&ots=b1c9hhkUrl&sig=juty0CjWVSUWNjPUP6_iqLbUS14

In Andejevis The Work of Being Watched there are a few terms that come off right away as important that you need to understand before moving any further. The first word that comes up is misnomer, misnomer is described as what is being described is wrong, that it leads you a separate understand that may not be true. The other term that is being addressed is oxymoron, which means that there is a contradictory side to what is being shown, that it may not be what is all made out to be. These terms are very important in this reading because they are the epitome of what is to describe Reality TV shows now on air. This reading talks about how reality television has came to dominate not only the press response but the fans too. It talks about how RP like Big Brother, The Real World, and others are slickly produced. And also how they are edited on the fly as they go through filming to make things more interesting for the viewers. This reading also made a great point on how reality TV creates this artificial character that is nothing like real life circumstances.

Paradox and the Consumption of Authenticity through Reality Television Randall L. Rose and Stacy L. Wood Journal of Consumer Research , Vol. 32, No. 2 (September 2005) , pp. 284-296 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Article DOI: 10.1086/432238 Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org.librarylink.uncc.edu/stable/10.1086/432238

The only main term that is mentioned in Rose and Woods article is the term authentic. Authentic is described as something true and genuine, which is not exactly the definition of Reality programming. An interesting point that I found to be made was the point of blurring of boundaries between real life and entertainment. These normal lives and lives that are being depicted on national television are giving off the wrong vibes to what life outside your own is really like. Another point that was made is that of the consumers of these shows are seeing these peoples lives being played as in a movie scene, where it is thought to be reality, not scripted and planned out. You begin to create a general idea of why so many people get hooked and tied down to watching these shows, and then expecting their own lives to play out as such. You begin to get a feel for how authentic these types of shows are based upon our own standards.

No "Survivors," No "American Idol," No "Road Rules" in "The Real World" of "Big Brother": Consumer/reality, Hyper/reality, and Post/reality in "Reality" TV Neal Saye Studies in Popular Culture , Vol. 27, No. 2, Studies in American Culture (October 2004) , pp. 915 Published by: Popular Culture Association in the South Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org.librarylink.uncc.edu/stable/23414952

Most of the terminology that is portrayed throughout this journal by Saye is easily understandable and easy wording. Saye examines what these reality television shows are and what they are about and also digs deeper into the realism behind these shows along with how much producing goes into the show. Although reality television is just supposed to be the normal people along with random camera men, how much editing goes into the process of this real TV? Also digging deeper we see why these shows are so popular in the first place, basically explaining how we are all so nosey and interested in other peoples relationships and lives but our own. Also to make it seem even more real to the consumers, the producers purposely create a cast in most of these television shows with a family figure cast, with relationships such as mother/daughter, parent/children relationships to get the audience more involved.

neoliberalism and the realities of reality television david grazian Contexts , Vol. 9, No. 2, sociology for the masses (SPRING 2010) , pp. 68-71 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of the American Sociological Association Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41960112

David Grazian was one out of all of the articles that I have read to point out the influence on adolescents from all of the reality television programing. And although this article focuses mainly on the neoliberal aspect of Reality television and its effects on America it has some amazing points that can be used to improve my paper. And also Grazian links the past and economy to how reality television is made now and how years ago it was thought to be cheaper without all of the producers and scripts that were usually needed for regular television series. As time changed, so did Americas interest and we wanted more and more so this demanded changes in how reality TV was produced and we began to take the real out of reality to please the many viewers that were tuning in every week. This article will give a great history aspect to my paper to show how RP has evolved over time into what has become a misnomer.

A MIXED BAG: NEGOTIATING CLAIMS IN MTV'S THE REAL WORLD GEORGE BAGLEY Journal of Film and Video , Vol. 53, No. 2/3 (Summer/Fall 2001) , pp. 61-76 Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the University Film & Video Association Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20688357

This particular article game a me a very on point relationship to what I specifically observed, The Real World. This journal states how we differ Reality television from the real word itself. This journal shows specific accounts where the TV show The Real World has been challenged to ask whether situations have been staged or not. It explains how they rely heavily on the presentation of the show to depict if it actually looks real or no. And this determines whether it is accepted by the viewers which they rely on. A point is also made by how the shows can be real based on their careful selection of people. Usually on reality television shows there are a common group of people that are selected but this is said and claimed to be a random selection of participants? There are many more allegations that point out the flaws within the reality tv society.

Survival of the Stereotypical:A Study of Personal Characteristics and Order of Elimination on Reality Television Bryan E. Denham and Richelle N. Jones Studies in Popular Culture , Vol. 30, No. 2 (Spring 2008) , pp. 79-99 Published by: Popular Culture Association in the South Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23416126 To come across this paper at first you would think that it would have nothing to add, but stereotypes within reality television shows have a lot to do with fakeness if you will. This article really bring out a major point that I want to address in my paper which is the setup of reality television, and that it is not always randomly selected. As said in the article to get many stereotypes within a reality TV show from white females, to contestants of color, and this is all played out for a reason. The producers and people behind the scenes want there to be differences among these people so they cannot all be alike and of the same culture. There must be multiple stereotypes to compose a good reality television show. The contestants and viewers dont understand the extent that the producers go through to get together all of the different stereotypes to make a good show that the world will love to watch.

"This Is Reality. Right Now, Right Here. So Be Real": Reality Television and the Amish "Other" Jennifer J. Bottinelli Western Folklore , Vol. 64, No. 3/4, Film and Folklore (Summer - Fall, 2005) , pp. 305-322 Published by: Western States Folklore Society Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org.librarylink.uncc.edu/stable/25474754

To start out with this article the first word that you will see mentioned a lot is the term ethnography. This term means a description of a person or societies customs. This becomes prevalent in this article because Bottinelli is talking a lot about a specific television show by the name of Amish in The City which airs on HBO. The author makes many valid points, but pertaining directly to this show, not saying it cannot relate to other reality television shows and the way that they are produced. First of all, this show was developed solely and primarily for the benefit of the producers and for their bank accounts, not to try to give young Amish people the chance to experience another lifestyle. But the way that this particular television show was produced was astounding according to the length of time that it was recorded. This covered a much shorter time frame than other reality TV shows. The reality TV version was said to be more overtly constructed and medicated. Because it was only a two month time frame the show had to be carefully controlled and directed.

balloon boy "plus ei8ht?" children and reality television hilary levey Contexts , Vol. 9, No. 2, sociology for the masses (SPRING 2010) , pp. 72-75 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of the American Sociological Association Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org.librarylink.uncc.edu/stable/41960113

My main argument that comes from this article is the lengths that television producers go through in reality TV, just to get their viewers. First of all, this industry is nothing more than a piggy bank, and a barn of people willing to go above and beyond to reach the heights of fame. Out of this article Levey describes how producers rounded up a group of forty children from ages of eight to fifteen to form their own society outside of New Mexico, (Solely for a tv show). These children were out of school because of the time of filming and not to mention were also injured at times while they were trying to cook themselves. We put our society and our children at risk for the sheer enjoyment of the viewers, this did not last long for it created a large uproar. This issue began to grow with the problem of exploiting children on national television.

'Emotional Blood on the Undusted Carpets': The Citizen as Subject in "Wife Swap" JAMES WALTERS Critical Survey , Vol. 18, No. 3, SUBJECT AND CITIZENS (2006) , pp. 51-64 Published by: Berghahn Books Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org.librarylink.uncc.edu/stable/41556181 Walters does a great job in this piece pointing out some specific marketing techniques that are used and the major one, Reality TV. This article specifically talking about the reality television series that first started in Britain called Wife Swap, where mothers would switch families for two weeks. It mentions how reality TV is held up there with all the other genres such as Drama, Entertainment, Features, Documentaries, History and Science. This reasoning is so because of our nosey generation that gets interested in others lives besides our own. Also mentioned that the term reality television is not he type of reality that we face in our own lives or what we portray it as. This is why it is so interesting to all of the viewers around the globe! Reality television has come up to its peak and to make the viewers happy there must be more drama aside of the drama in actual reality as we portray it as to be.