Impact of Reality TV on Society - Essay Example

Impact of Reality TV on Society Watching Television every day for at least some time has become an integrated daily routine for people all over the world. Though there are various channels catering exclusively to sports, news, education, religion, business etc, the entertainment channels always top the list. Among the load of entertainment programs, reality TV shows have found to generate more interest among the viewers. Reality TV is a different type in which the show broadcasted is believed to be not scripted earlier and the course of actions developing in a particular situation are broadcasted as such. Generally these shows involve ordinary persons or in other words the viewers to participate in the show and not the professionals. Mostly the settings are natural environments. A wide spectrum of themes is covered in Reality TV programs. These include game shows, quiz, putting people in strange and complicated situations without their prior knowledge and observing their responses, conducting talent searches to spot and groom people with excellent talents in various fields like sports and music, pulling pranks on people in public places, following the daily routines of celebrities or successful personalities, talk shows, covering the actual course of events in an investigation and recording the developments of a project. Each theme has its own element of fun. The main feature of reality shows are the fun element and the thrill associated with them along with the prizes to be won if any. Reality game shows are more popular than other programs. In one type individuals play from simple and funny games to very complicated acts and who ever completes the task successfully are given prizes. Other type involves a group of persons competing with each other and finally one emerges as the winner. . Many game shows test the physical or mental ability of the participants and also the appeal they generate among the audience. Big Brother can be termed as a hugely popular reality game show. Shows like Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Deal or no Deal got huge success and were produced in other countries in their own format. IN other places also they ranked top among other programs. Producers sometimes come up with some weird ideas in the name of novelty and present shows which receive criticism by people from all walks of life. Temptation Island is one such show in which a certain number of couples are left in a lonely island along with some singles and were tested for their moral integrity towards their partners. Though many people participated in the show due to the money, fame and the thrill it offered, many felt it was not right to play with the trust and loyalty of the couples. The shows Bachelor and who wants to marry a millionaire were just on the line with long term consequences for the participants. Playing funny tricks on unsuspicious people is another form of reality TV program. Candid camera, Laugh for Gags are some of that genre. As long as the pranks played on the people do not cross the limits, these shows are enjoyable. Talk shows are another type of reality TV programs in which participants are invited to the studios. It varies from conducting debates on the given topic with a group of experts to individuals narrating their life experiences. The current hot topics or ever controversial ones are generally chosen .Similarly when the individual is involved; the show revolves on their emotions. In countries like India, these kinds of talk shows are used as a stage to bring to focus the extraordinary difficult conditions of under privileged individuals. That result in the affected persons getting required legal, monitory or medical help from the society for their problems. Talent search shows too generate huge interest and participation from the target group of viewers. Fields generally include dance, music and sports. Pop Idol is one such famous show. These shows too climbed up in the popularity charts and were produced in other countries. These shows serve some purposes. They give huge exposure to the talented persons which many find difficult to get on their own. These shows serve as a launching pad to the winners and to the many finalists for a career in their field. They get them the fame besides the monetary benefits. Another one of the above mentioned type is the reality shows involving entrepreneurs. A bunch of youngsters were selected after initial screening tests, were asked to submit their project proposals and were given funding to start the prototype models. Their performance and the development of project were under scrutiny for a specific period of time, generally two or three years. At the end of the time frame they were judged on the progress, expansion plans, funding required and the long term growth prospects. Promising individuals were selected by a panel of leading businessmen and by the viewers. The selected persons were provided with entire funding for the project. The same ideas were applied to other skills like modeling etc. The Apprentice was one such popular show. The success of the reality TV shows mainly depends on the human psychology. Why people like to watch these shows? A general tendency of the people is the eagerness to know about the personal lives of others. They always crave for things which are otherwise out of their reach. The immediate reaction of a person to see another committing something silly is to laugh. They long for fame and money however short lived they are. They like to live the lives of their models and heroes. They always enjoy suspense and thrill as long as they are not adversely affected. They like to watch programs whose outcome is unpredictable. They expect variety in their entertainment. Reality TV shows tend to thrive on these basic instincts of the people. Another aspect for the growing popularity of these shows is the direct participation of viewers through voting. This gives people a satisfaction as they have a say in the final outcome of the results. Though reality TV shows have become very popular in the recent times their origin dates back to six decades. Initially they were very harmless and were produced with the sole aim of providing a different kind of entertainment from the traditional ones. But of late they have taken all the forms as mentioned above. There are varied opinions about the reality shows in the society. The reality TV shows have brought about a change in the people’s expectation and attitude towards entertainment. A sample study on people watching reality TV shows that programs which can connect with the important values of people become successful. As discussed earlier programs based on harmless humor and entertainment, talent search and quiz are found to have good reception by the public and as such they don’t pose any threats or negative influence on the society. Some of the game shows are very informative too. In Britain, quoting the program Big Brother, The head of the Commission for Racial Equality has said it has helped to bring more first hand information about the different Asian races than any other efforts taken so far. The general public has been influenced to a great extent by what they saw than what they were made to believe through reading or scripted documentaries. Also it is true that good reality TV shows give an opportunity for ordinary persons to come on TV which increase their self confidence level and gave a sense of satisfaction and achievement. The success achieved by common people in reality shows serve as a source of inspiration to other aspirants. Documentary style reality TV shows and talk shows involving real life experiences are able to provide first hand information about the living conditions of common people. They influence the viewers in two significant ways. One is the common person get motivated by the hard work and the success of a fellow human. Second is the aid they are able to bring in from the society to the needy persons as mentioned earlier. When the reality TV involve the essential human values such as integrity, loyalty, love tolerance, understanding of others and generosity and are able to project people with these values as winners through their shows, they send out a very strong positive message to the society. But to ensure increased and continuous viewer ship producers are forced to come out with new variations. They tend to play on the wrong side of the emotions of the people. They try to meet the growing and changing expectations of the people by making shows which are dealing with the lives of the participants. When people can enjoy programs dealing with the emotions of others that definitely do not send a right signal. Though the effects of participation in simple game shows can be ignored, the same can not be said for people taking part in more serious competitions. Generally people who are very emotional and temperamental are known to take part in these kinds of programs without thinking about the long term consequences. Programs like Temptation Island can cause major irreversible changes to the participants’ lives. People tend to participate in such shows just for the thrill, money or the fame of being on TV even if it is for a shorter duration. Reality TV shows which end to degrade the moral values or engage with dangerous acts in the name of entertainment pose a serious threat to the society. People can not be blamed for taking part in such shows as only desperate ones get hooked to these without realizing the after effects. The emotional state of the persons participated in the reality shows are also of concern. Certain make over programs convince people to believe that they can in fact get a total make over with the help of plastic surgeries. People who are weak minded easily get influenced by these kind of claims and end up doing something which might leave a permanently undesirable effect in their lives. There is a view that the so called reality TV shows are not real in the sense that they are made to look real with the help of advancements in technology. People are made to believe something as real which in the true sense was presented to the viewer after the careful designing of each and every step. This includes selection of situations, places, participants and some times even the outcomes. These critics claim that people are fooled into believing what ever they saw was real. However the success of reality TV shows indicates that they would be growing but the producers of these shows have an important responsibility towards the participants in particular and the society in general. References Effects of reality television on plastic surgery, AORN Journal,  June, 2004   http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FSL/is_6_79/ai_n6076832 11/15/2006 Effects of reality TV, http://www.nmk.co.uk/article/2003/07/07/reality-tv 11/15/2006 Reality television, Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_television, 11/1/2006 Reality TV 'helps race relations, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4629253.stm 11/15/2006 Hatchett, Victor, Probe into long-term health effects of reality TV, 11 Jan 2004 http://www.deadbrain.co.uk/news/article_2004_01_11_5338.php 11/15/2006 Reiss,steven, Wiltz,James, Why people watch reality TV, The Ohio State University, Abstract, Media psychology, 2004, Vol. 6, No. 4, Pages 363-378 (doi:10.1207/s1532785xmep0604_3) http://www.leaonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s1532785xmep0604_3?cookieSet=1&journalCode=mep, 11/15/2006 Read More