In
Reality Television: a Neoliberal Theater of Suffering Anna McCarthy argues
that“[p]roducing
scene after scene of painful civic pedagogy, suffused with tears, rage, and
insults and pushing the limits of the self to mental and physical extremes, the
genre’s affective dimensions might have something new to teach us about the
processes of self-organization in which modern subjects find themselves
caught”(19).
In
most reality TV shows, there comes a time when their participants manifest
feelings based on their own failures, frustrations, discontents and weaknesses.
For some participants of the aforementioned shows, in order to win the final
prize, they do not mind creating harm and even enjoy seeing the supposed
“brother” of the house suffer.
This
seems to be the main objective of Big Brother. To be locked up or imprisoned in
one place for so long, observing the same thing always, the same routine,
having nothing more to do, that idleness of every day, leads to a behavior that
is not common.
Earning
the weeks challenge or surviving to earn a bigger prize at the end, feeds the
contestants of Big Brother the highest level of insecurity, fear, and
irritability. The
participants know that there are a number of cameras recording their personal
intimacies, 24 hours a day, transmitting it to the viewer, showing the lowest
instincts of survival, reaching evilness and cruelty.
The
enclosure is not only physical and limited space, there are other closure, the
psychological in which the susceptibility will be even more indifferent and not
confident in itself. Feelings are suppressed and then released in tears or
angry cries. Being isolated for a long periods of time also generates other
unresolved personal conflicts, such as suffering from, subsequently, emotional
disorders or simply not being mentally prepared to this type of television
exposures can lead to unforeseen tragedies.
Idleness
gives rise to personality traits that are not virtuous, pleasant or funny. The
final reward, keeps many them in the house; that is their final goal, no matter
who they humiliate or offend. And there is a public that is fascinated by these
behaviors, one can questions if this public lives on the morbidity, the
suffering of others and feeds on seeing the anguish, disappointment, desolation
and torture to the point of agony.
I'm curious to know how much emotional manipulation occurs via the on-set crew who target certain "characters" in order to exemplify their negative traits. There is also the great impact that editing has on the story. Reality TV show editors create a story which may not have actually been from one scene, but several events.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I'm curious how many people who come onto reality t.v. shows create a character in order to be accepted onto the show. People know that producers (because the viewers) want conflict in a show, and those who want their moment of fame (or a kickstart to success) may put on a persona to get onto the show and benefit from that limelight. Therefore, I am skeptical of how much bad behavior is from isolation and boredom, but from preconceived notions the characters in the show have about what their performance should be.