People Watch What They Want to Watch

There's no doubt about. Everybody enjoys at least one reality tv show. Be it the annual American Idol or the drama filled Housewives of Miami, theres a reality tv show for every itch that needs to be satisfied. You cannot deny the popularity of reality tv, due ti the fact every year more and more pop up by the hundreds. So why are they popular?  Why do we like watching them when they essentially follow the same formula over and over again? I think that the masses like watching these shows because, one, they like to see the authenticity of the people on these shows, in regards to emotion. Another thing that viewing reality television meets, is that it satisfies the audience in some way. Finally, watching reality tv shows, we, as an audience engage in something called ironic viewing.

There are a ton of different kinds of reality tv shows, but almost all of them follow a basic formula. Shows typically follow a group of people that the network deems to be special or relatable for the audience to latch onto. These characters often fall into archetypes that have become established in the reality tv genre over the years. There’s the “whiny” one, who just won't shut up about how nothing ever goes there way. There’s also the “free spirit,” who could care less about what the next person thinks about them and other numerous archetypes that we can pick out. The shows starts out slowly and clam then begins to pick up speed where things start to take a turn for the worse. The characters work together towards a resolution, wash, rinse, and repeat.

Reality tv is always wrestling with the idea of authenticity, they want to look real to their target audience. According to Aslama and Pantti, many audience members judge how authentic a show is based on how emotionally open the characters are. They say that due to the "contemporary confessional culture we have today, characters who open themselves up to the audience members are real. The talk about the "money shot" on The Bachelorette; which is a scene where one of the suitors starts crying and pouring herself on tv. This is a shot many shows try to capture. The shot where we can see what the character really feels  in that moment, we can see who they really are. Other than the result of our “confessional culture,” I think it also satisfies our social need.

Our social need, specifically our need for social contact, according to Steven Reiss 16 basic needs theory, states that one of our basic needs is that we need social contact. That is, the need to have relationships with other people. I take it that the audience feels a connection to the character and sympathize or empathize with them episode after episode. There are different levels of a need, and I guess this satisfies a very low level of the need for social contact because there is now way to have a friendship with a character on tv, at least not normally.This meaning that if a person that doesn’t really hold social contact to a high standard at that point in time, they are probably satisfied with having a semi-real relationship with a tv character. This satisfying of a need falls right into my next topic: uses and gratification.

In An Explortory Study of Reality Appeal (Papacharissi and Mendelson, 2007), the authors delve into more of the psychological and social motives that people bring to the table when watching reality TV. They found six factors that lead to reality tv viewing in their study. One of the factors they talked about was social interaction. In that, viewers would watch the show so that way they can talk about it the next day with friends or acquaintances.”If everybody else is watching it, why not me also?” this could be going back to the social contact need talked about earlier. They watch so that way the have a way of interacting with their relational partners the next day around the watercooler.The major factors were to just pass time and for just entertainments sake. People in the study responded that they watch it because something about the show atrracts them. This is no surprise since i can see that reality tv has almost every imaginable genre in variety of shows. Whatever floats their boat. The passing time factor is also no surprise, i always catch myself just turning on the tv to see what’s on and wasting tons of time. I’m pretty sure this habit of mine is not an unique one also.

People watch reality tv for topics of conversation, to pass time, or when they are lonely, have an artificial friend to fill that void even if it’s just for an hour a week. People watch what they want to watch. This is undeniable, just look at all the variety to satisfy anybody’s craving. If there isn’t a show you like, you can bet your money that some network will discover it and make it into a show because there is no sign of this popularity surge slowing down anytime soon.

Works Cited

Reiss, Steven, and James Wiltz. "Why people watch reality TV." Media 
Psychology 6.4 (2004): 363-378.

Papacharissi, Zizi, and Andrew L. Mendelson. "An exploratory study of reality appeal: Uses and gratifications of
reality TV shows." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 51.2 (2007): 355-370.

Aslama, Minna, and Mervi Pantti. "Talking alone reality TV, emotions and authenticity." European Journal
of Cultural Studies 9.2 (2006): 167-184.