It’s nearly impossible to
turn on the TV without finding the screen plastered with reality television
shows. Although reality TV has
technically been around for more than fifty years, it has recently become
vastly popular among American audiences. Realty television is well liked with networks
and viewers for a number of reasons. However,
I wanted to look at reality TV differently by examining how reality TV
positions itself to capture male audiences.
Prior to the recent reality
TV boom of the last 10 years, networks like Discovery and the History Channel
strictly showed educational documentary style programming. According to Susan Murray, when we watch
documentaries, “Our evaluative process is based in the belief that
documentaries should be educational or informative, authentic, ethical,
socially engaged, independently produced, and serve the public interest” (Murray and Ouellette 67-68) Currently,
in order to draw in a male audience
networks are combining the notion of what makes up a documentary with
aspects of reality TV. Reality
television programs are thought of as a “commercial sensation, popular, entertaining, and potentially exploitative
or manipulative medium.” (Murray
and Ouellette 67-68) In
order to appeal to male viewers, networks have essentially fused both of these
elements together. This gives the viewer
the perception that the show they are watching is entertaining while still
remaining educational.
What does all this mean? It’s simple, masculine reality
shows purposely combine education and theatrics in order to draw in the
perspective audience. Some of the shows
I regularly watch include, Bar Rescue,
Hardcore Pawn, Pawn Stars, and Hotel
Impossible. Bar Rescue has quickly become my favorite show. I love this show because it’s entertaining and
you learn something new every week. Each
week is a new documentary. It doesn’t feel
like reality TV because networks have, as explained before, added that
educational element.
If we break down the genre of reality TV to its bare
minimum, setting aside the framework and content, all reality TV is analogous. The basic premise of all these shows is simply
interpersonal drama. Even reality television
based on competition such as American
Idol and Biggest Loser spend a
good portion of the show focusing on the interpersonal drama that the competitors
face.
Most people who would compare Real Housewives of New Jersey and Bar Rescue would think the two shows have
nothing in common with each other. Yet,
these shows and most other reality shows share the same interpersonal conflict. Below
is a clip from Spikes hit reality show Bar
Rescue.
This clip features host, Jon Taffer, overtly screaming at a
cook because she is cross contaminating her food with raw chicken in the
kitchen. This clip is dramatic and
intense. As a male watching this, the network has accomplished exactly what it
has set out to do, making the viewer feel that they are watching a documentary,
not reality TV. It seems authentic and
educational to the viewers because Jon Taffer is yelling about a real problem
within a business. Everyone has had
drinks and food at a bar, but most people don’t know what goes on behind the
scenes at bars. Audiences are gaining an inside perspective on the inner
workings of a business (a bar) that is relevant to their lives. According to Dan Hirschhorn of Ad Age, “Executives pushing more reality
programming said appealing to men depends on a combination of entertainment and
information, with fewer conversations about interpersonal dynamics than you see
on "Housewives." (Hirschhorn) Bar
Rescue and similar shows like Pawn
Stars, do exactly what Hirschhorn describes, they allow viewers to vicariously
jump into all aspects of a business that they normally would never be exposed
to. When Bar Rescue shows scenes of interpersonal drama (like the raw
chicken scene) it appears real and authentic because the audience figures that
these types of situations go along with the headaches of running and owning a
business. This sense of authenticity draws the male viewer into the drama.
In contrast to Bar Rescue is reality TV show Real Housewives of New Jersey. This show has less appeal to the male viewers. The above clip features a dramatic scene
between main characters Joe Gorga and his wife. The overly theatrical scene centers on main
character Melissa who posts a tweet about her sister in law Teresa Giudice and
their financial problems. Tempers flare
as this is a major topic of discussion in the Gorga household. A scene like this is pretty standard for melodramatic
reality television. These types of reality shows center around
domestic interpersonal problems. These series
are essentially reality based soap operas. The difference between this show and Bar Rescue is that Bar Rescue attempts to teach the viewer something about running a
business while Real Housewives
attempts to show interpersonal struggles and triumphs of a group of women. Most men tend to have more interest in the
struggles of running a business than they do of individual struggles between
the rich and famous.
However, like Bar Rescue, Real Housewives of New Jersey
and similar reality shows allow the viewer to get an inside look into a
lifestyle they would probably never otherwise be exposed to. Both shows have the same theme of interpersonal
drama. The difference is how the shows portray these struggles. Real Housewives
is framed as entertaining via the domestic interpersonal drama faced by the
characters. Likewise, Bar Rescue and similar programs are entertaining
by being positioned as educational documentaries with a focus on interpersonal
business drama. There is little literature about the
positioning of reality TV shows for men. After
doing my own analysis I have concluded that most reality TV is comparable, it’s
simply framed differently to capture the respective audience.
- Paul Herskovitz
Works Cited
Hirschhorn, Dan. "Next Episode for
Reality TV: More Shows Where Guys Can Feel Like Guys." Ad
Age . 05 12 2011: n. page. Print.
<http://adage.com/article/media/networks-plan-reality-tv-aimed-men/231370/>.
Murray, Susan, and Laurie Ouellette. Reality
TV: Remaking Television Culture. 2nd.
New York: NYU Press , 2008. 67-68. eBook. <http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4_W19oHGzZQC&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=Reality
TV : remaking television culture
&ots=3iQNjaE4rz&sig=hQKx8BeLeyiCIXPS-7lKoq3EgLc
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