Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Framing Up Men's Reality TV

                                                         



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.
                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KOa0HJr-q0
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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