The Immorality of 'Reality TV'

Here is a selection of readings from my Media Ethics course on Reality TV.

(1) The Early Years

Alan Funt, with his 1948 TV series Candid Camera is often credited as reality TV's first practitioner. He would create artificial realties to see how ordinary people would respond in outrageous or embarrassing situations. Those people who came off best were those  who maintained their humanity and skepticism. Alan Funt asserted that his Candid Camera taught a subversive lesson: to resist unjust or ridiculous authority. Did three decades of Candid Camera help Americans question authority?

Reality television may not be the sociological trifle many assume it is.

http://www.wga.org/organizesub.aspx?id=1099

(2) Modern Reality TV is born as Scab TV

The origin of the modern era of Reality TV can to traced to the show COPS. The spectacle of that show is looking at human misery that grows out of poverty - and it was a hit with audience. For five years, the shows producer had tried and failed to sell a documentary-style TV series tracking police officers on patrol. Then came the 1988 Hollywood writers strike."That's when Fox bought COPS,' because a series with no narrator, no host, no script, no re-enactments sound very good to them at the time," recalled the producer.

The cheapness of reality shows was a major benefit. The production cost for an hour of reality programming is about $800,000 (U.S.), compared with roughly $1-million for a half-hour sitcom and $2-million for a drama. Reality TV is perfect austerity programming. According to the Writers Guild of America: "The secret about reality TV isn't that it's scripted, which it is; the secret is that reality TV is a 21st-century telecommunications industry sweatshop." According to a study of 300 reality-TV "writers," 91% reported getting no pay for overtime work, and 86% said they received no health insurance from their employers. More than half said they were ordered to hand in time cards early.

The networks are able to skirt union regulations by declaring Reality TV 'writers' to be 'editors'. Here is a Reality TV 'writer' explaining their job: "So how does reality TV work? The first thing to realize is that the term "unscripted" is a fallacy. No, we don't write pages of dialogue, but we do create formats, cast people based on character traits and edit scenes to tell a powerful, intriguing tale. In short, we are storytellers just like you."

When Reality TV shows were brought inside a studio and the gritty spectacle of watching criminals compete with cops was replaced with 'Survivors', "Teen Idols' and 'Bachelorettes' compete with each other. This allowed a tsunami of product-placement to further drop their costs. Eight of the 10 TV programs with the most product-placement ads were unscripted reality shows. The product that led the way was Coca-Cola, which appeared 1,931 times on U.S. television shows over 3 months. Due to Reality TV product-placement now rivals ad sales.

http://ca.tv.yahoo.com/regis-philbin/contributor/47533/news/urn:newsml:cp.org:20071127:TV-24802016__ER:1

http://www.friends.ca/News/Friends_News/archives/articles10090402.asp

http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/related_news/2005_Jun_16_product_placement

(3) Torture & Humiliation Sells

'Extreme Makeover' drives woman to suicide

The producers of "Extreme Makeover" promised Deleese Williams "a Cinderella-like" fix for a deformed jaw, crooked teeth, droopy eyes and tiny boobs that would "transform her life and destiny." When she applied for the reality show in December 2003 and had to submit a "full body shot" video showing "all of the body parts that need help."
For years, Williams' friends and family "didn't notice or pretended not to notice" her homely looks, but once she got picked for the show, they were coached to focus on nothing but her physical flaws.

In McGee's taped interview, she tried to play up her sister's good points. But the hard-nosed producers "peppered Kellie with questions about her childhood with the ugly Deleese . . . and repeatedly put words in her mouth." To please the producers, Williams' mother-in-law also laid it on thick. "She said things like 'I never believed my son would marry such an ugly woman.' " Cordova says. The family's comments never aired on TV, but Williams, who was in an adjoining room, heard them all.

The show announcing Williams' selection for a mega makeover had already aired on Jan. 7, 2004, when the producers abruptly dropped her because the dental surgeon told them her recovery time would be longer than expected, Cordova said. "Deleese is so hurt and humiliated, she won't leave the house now. She grocery shops at midnight," Cordova says.
Her sister's "guilt was overwhelming." She OD'd on May 25, 2004, four months after the show's producers sent her sister packing. "Kellie could not live with the fact that she had said horrible things that hurt her sister. She fell to pieces. Four months later, she ended her life with an overdose of pills, alcohol and cocaine,"

"These programs are cheap to produce - there are no actors or screenwriters to pay. But there is a very high human cost," Cordova said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/extreme-tragedy-ugly-mom-sues-abc-nixing-makeover-article-1.573099

'Married By America' shatters women for amusement

Couple number two - "the blondes" - are struggling. The bride is a party girl who has some obvious insecurity issues. She's thrown every ounce of herself into loving this man in her life and is viewing the marriage itself as the thing that will fill all the voids and holes in her existence. All of her eggs are in one basket. The groom is obviously having fun with his bombshell party girl, but is also being very honest with her, telling her often that he doesn't love her. The only person surprised by his refusal to marry her at the altar is the bride. Well, and her friends. I think everyone else who has watched this show saw it coming a mile away. She is shattered. She runs away from the altar and into a closet to sob in private. Naturally the cameras follow her right in. For several minutes we watch this poor woman staring her greatest nightmare in the face. It's not just painful; it's cruel in the extreme. One can only guess the long-term psychological damage the young lady suffered as a result of this. This was no Big Brother eviction or a simple matter of getting voted off some obscure location by one's fellow tribemates.

For those stranded at the altar it was much worse. Once again, place yourself in their shoes. You have given your body, your heart, and your pledge of eternal union to another person. Then in front of millions of people on your wedding day, that person not only says they don't want to marry you, but in effect tells you, "I don't want to marry you even though it means I will get massive amounts of cash if I do! I won't even marry you for a half million bucks worth of prizes!" Rejection is too kind a word for that kind of insult.

We sit as a beautiful young lady is completely rejected by her future lifetime mate and ends up so confused that she sobs into her pillow and asks him if she needs to drop 30 pounds in order to be attractive to him. For the record, this young lady is absolutely stunning as she is. Also for the record, the man she is with has problems of his own that are never fairly addressed. He was the main reason the two never had sex, but there may be extenuating circumstances. Think about it guys. Would you have sex with a gorgeous woman you hardly know? Okay, for a lot of you it's no problem at all (and for at least one other male participant, it certainly wasn't). BUT! How about if you knew that there was a camera taping your every single move for broadcast to a national audience including your mom and dad? That changes things doesn't it? Now add in the whole commitment and marriage angle. Hmmm… not such a sweet deal now, is it? But wait there's more! You get to sit in front of experts each week who stop just short of questioning your sexuality in front of the aforementioned national audience. This doesn't even begin to mention the French maid costumes and schoolgirl outfits that were provided to the couples to spice things up for the horny masses to view.

'Manhunter' leaves uninsured injured contestants in its' wake

In an interview, Shaalan states the show "wasn't accurate at all. It was very deceiving." His charges include that of bogus distances being stated, bonus challenges were left out, and the course of events was manipulated so that certain contestants survived to the end..

When the producer flew in, they basically wreaked havoc on the process by constantly saying, 'What if we did that? Why don't we do this?' A lot of times they'd just be in a huddle and one of them would run out to me during a break in the action and tell me to do something: 'Go bring that person over here.'

'Producer intervention shaped the outcome of the show. There's no question about it. They took J.K. out of the game. She may very well have won that game. Jim Lee was definitely kept in the game. Now I'm not saying his accomplishments aren't merited because he was a great warrior out there. He's a great person. He did great things. He's got awesome leadership ability. He also had an immunity card stuck in his backpack. It was portrayed as a random act. These were immunity cards. And the idea was to put them in the backpacks and we'll see who has the lucky card. That person would have immunity, which meant that if he got shot, it didn't count. But I was instructed to make sure that the envelope with the immunity card was slipped into Jim's backpack. I was told over and over and over 'Hash. Make absolutely sure. Do not mess this up. This is very important.' "

He goes on to say that contestant J.K., who was the first to be eliminated, was physically restrained by Producer Christopher Crowe as she was attempting to go to the aid of James McCaughley, who was injured. "He basically took her out of the game, while the clock was running and it was during a very intense and important moment for the contestants as a team. He basically put her onto the ground and did this interview and during the time that elapsed, her absence created, I think, an issue with some of the other contestants. In fact, they alluded to that during their vote, citing this as a reason they were going to vote her off." Shaalan adds, "It was stated early on that there would be no interference. One of the rules that I did impart to the contestants was that there would be absolutely no physical contact between them and the hunters and I also said that nobody in the field was going to come into play. The producers; the cameramen…they wouldn't influence them."

In perhaps the most disturbing allegation made against Paramount, Hash Shaalan, who trained both the show's hunters and contestants, states that contestants were injured during filming were not given any medical treatment. Two of the contestants sustained leg injuries; McCaughley has now undergone knee surgery, but Ford, who has no insurance, is still injured, according to Shaalan.

'Fear Factor' and Animal Abuse

"American Humane believes that shows like FEAR FACTOR are on a slippery slope of animal mistreatment and provide poor examples of animal treatment and humane ethics. As we work diligently to expand voluntary compliance with animal safety guidelines, [reality shows] blatantly demonstrate complete disregard for animal welfare - or even that of their human contestants." AHA explained that harm to any animal for the sake of entertainment was unacceptable and would be a violation of AHA's GUIDELINES FOR THE SAFE USE OF ANIMALS IN FILMED MEDIA.

"After ongoing communication from American Humane, trainers and animal experts concerned about the welfare of animals on the program - the producers continue to disregard their treatment of animals and in fact debuted season 3 with another show which again placed snakes at risk. We are approaching the network NBC and seeking to convince NBC to cease use of animals in situations such as FEAR FACTOR."

"Veterinarians, herpetologists and professional animal trainers have contacted the AHA to confirm that the snakes on the celebrity FEAR FACTOR showed evidence of being traumatised and injured. "A snake has a backbone comprised of many, fine and delicate ribs which are easily broken. Their skin is fragile, as is their musculature. From what we viewed, many of these snakes suffered permanent injuries and unnecessary abuse for the sole purpose of entertainment. Some of the most respected professional trainers in the film industry have told the AHA that they refuse to work on the show because the producers demand stunts that violate AHA's humane Guidelines, including killing animals.

"The American Humane Association alleges that NBC and CBS have made a conscious corporate decision to condone the killing and abuse of animals for ratings by airing reality shows such as FEAR FACTOR."

"This is not a content issue about simulated violence, this is about actual animal cruelty. We cannot condone cruelty to any life form."

(4) Let's Play Master & Servant

Now that Donald Trump's The Apprentice is the season's highest-rated new show, reality TV is discovering what sitcoms have known for decades: people love to watch other people work. In the real world, workers may be worried about outsourcing, downsizing and on-the-job surveillance, but on TV, cutthroat, anxious work under surveillance is becoming big entertainment - perhaps in the same way that horror movies and roller coasters make anxiety fun. For Fox reality chief Mike Darnell (who's making Casino, about working in, you guessed it, a casino, with Apprentice producer Mark Burnett), the series also focus on timeless universals. "In our society," he says, "you get married, have babies and go to work. Those are the important moments."

For all the work on these shows, there's little labor - at least, not in the blue-collar sense. This is partly because of our move from a manufacturing to a service economy. But service work is more telegenic; that trench warfare with a smile between hassled bargain seekers and stressed-out staff has drama built in.

In her 2001 book Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich went undercover to do a series of low-wage jobs on the theory that the best way to write about life at $6 an hour is to live it. If only Ehrenreich had pitched the idea to TLC. Instead, the network produced the more capitalist-friendly job-switch series Now Who's Boss? (Mondays, 10 p.m. E.T.), in which CEOs do drudge work at their own companies, critiqued by their employees.

Now Who's Boss? may be a glorified infomercial, but it's also a fascinating dip into the service economy, with all its margin pressures and enforced hilarity. John Selvaggio, president of discount airline Song, has to wear a name tag with the moniker "Jammin' John" when he works the gate. Nicknames, the narrator tells us, are mandatory at Song, at which "they've banned grumpiness and attitude!" The screen flashes factoids (the average bed change takes 7 min.), and we learn lingo like "the 10-and-5 rule" (you look at hotel guests when they're 10 ft. away and greet them at 5). The execs descend the work ladder until we get to the money shot: the boss scrubbing a frying pan or a toilet.

But while the CEOs perform tasks, they never really experience work - the pressure to meet quotas, the fear of layoffs, the need to laugh at the boss's jokes - because they ultimately hold the power. (It's as if the players on Survivor had the power to fire Jeff Probst.) In a perfect world, Now Who's Boss? might have made its Warbuckses go undercover Ehrenreich-style and live on the wages they pay. Instead, it answers its own title's question: The boss is the boss, even when bumbling a drink order or elbow deep in cleanser, and don't you forget it. At the end of one episode, a California Pizza Kitchen host asks company co-founder Larry Flax, "So when do I get to do your job?" "That's next week," Flax says. They laugh and laugh. Then the camera shuts off.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,596150,00.html


Reality TV represents a world of insecurity, where most people end up as losers. It is a hyper-competitive world where people are forced to battle one another to the end. Many of these shows encourage conspiracy and devious alliances that must necessarily be broken for ultimate victory. It is a social darwinist world, where existence is a struggle and only the few survive and thrive. It also represents a world where everything is a commodity aimed for sale on the market and everybody has their price. People will do anything for money on these shows, swing from high heights, eat live bugs, marry the twit if required, manipulate, lie, backstab - it's just like the world of corporate management, except for the eating bugs part.

The money on these shows is not nickel and dime stuff, though. There is a big prize for the one winner at the end of the whole thing - the one who eats the bugs, marries the bachelor, survives the votes, identifies the straight guy or wins the race around the world. That prize represents the only imaginable deliverance from our everyday lot of hard work and insecurity, the slim chance of winning the big one - the lottery, the card game, the slot machine, the pot of gold at the end of the series. Reality TV presents a world where it is not reasonable to hope for anything better than this, and where it often feels futile to organize and fight for improvement. Instead, the idea of a better life becomes a fantasy constructed around competition and a big jackpot money shot to finish the whole thing.

http://newsocialist.org/newsite/index.php?id=178




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