tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5512870689197311087.post2873389478460126830..comments2023-05-09T02:31:07.268-07:00Comments on CTCS 587: TV Theory 2017: Reality TV Core ResponseTara McPhersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09874394027026185133noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5512870689197311087.post-11645157186675017302017-03-07T09:01:32.757-08:002017-03-07T09:01:32.757-08:00I am also a huge fan of The Voice particularly bec...I am also a huge fan of The Voice particularly because I watch it as an exemplarily uplifting show. But underneath my so-called-obsession (as my friends say), I have a mild resentment toward the show because I recognize that it traffics in common logics of neoliberalism and individualism. This is nothing new to the Reality-TV Singing Competition genre, and you do a great job pointing out how The Voice might epitomize these narratives of “meritocracy,” “overcoming trauma,” and self-determination by exposing the viewer to competitor’s “story” before we are even exposed to their voice. Perhaps to extend your analysis, trauma or “struggle” (broadly) in the show gains currency as a necessity for one to have “the voice.” This is not only on the level of one’s personal story that the viewer is privileged to before each audition but also in the actual vocal performance. I am thinking of so many singers who are criticized for “too polished” or “too professional” because the judges are looking to hear someone who sings “from a real place”—coded language for the pleasures of listening to someone’s trauma or struggle.” Without this key ingredient, one cannot have “the voice.”<br /><br />As a separate comment that I won’t go into too much, I have always been extremely frustrated with the racial dynamics at play in The Voice. Season after season, competitors of color continuously lose out to white singers who have a “soul” voice—as if this element of “surprise” or “shock” adds to these competitors’ esteem on the show. And of course, this is seeped deeply in histories of appropriation and profit within the music industry. I spend a lot of time every season ranting about this to friends, but yet I still continue to watch the show…<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10841378690944984051noreply@blogger.com