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‘Sometimes called popular factual television, reality TV is located in border territories, between information and entertainment, documentary and drama’ (Hill 2005: 2). Discuss with close reference to AT LEAST TWO reality TV shows of your choice.
Reality Television is a genre of television program that documents unscripted real-life situations of individuals. Biressi argues reality TV started as far back as the late 1940s when Candid Camera was at its peak rating. However, it became very popular in the late 90s and early 2000s following the success of Idols and Big Brother. It is widely believed that reality TV fluctuates between factual and fictional. Over the years, many reality television shows have been introduced in many television stations not only in the United Kingdom but all over the World. As a result, it has become a matter of concern to many as to what could be the main purpose of these reality television shows. There are numerous television shows in the United Kingdom such as Xfactor, Master Chef, Jeremy Kyle Show, British Got Talent, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Embarrassing Bodies, Traffic Cops, etc. This essay will therefore focus on comparing and contrasting ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Britain Got Talent’ and also provide arguments that could be used to determine whether reality television shows fall under documentaries, informative shows, or dramas.
According to an interview conducted in 2015 by more than 44,000 American males concerning the ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians show’, Armenian ladies were the most erotic female gender globally. Ahead of the Armenian origin comes a lady who characterizes it in widespread philosophy, the Kardashians. I ensure no hesitation that the Kardashian brand is correlated with why American males think or perceive that Armenian women are the sexiest in the world. The Kardashians have embodied the ethos of young feminism and have penetrated the awareness of several individuals around the globe with a long-lasting reality TV show, which is based on the Kardashians. Biressi, Anita, and Heather (2004 p 66) explain that, primarily, a documentary, exclusively deals with real-life events or facts. Therefore, from this fact, it is clear that ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians could serve as a documentary.
How could the Kardashians, one of many ‘actual’ families, enter this awareness and develop such a significant element of widely held culture via television? The Kardashians successfully crossed all barriers to become a pop and consumer culture giant, a successful 12-season reality program with six spin-off series, outstanding online supporters totaling 597 million, and many public initiatives. The study highlights a characteristic comparison between keeping up with the Kardashian show and the American Got Talent show, maintained by (WAodarczyk, 2018, p 24). Kardashian’s play connects what is ‘sexy femininity,’ who impacts it, and who should embody and consume it.
This problem-striking connection shows that the Kardashians have become a product of contemporary masculinity and are reluctant to surrender to the corporate overtones of popular feminism to tap into her show’s reality. According to (Creeber, 2015, p. 43) a reality television show could also serve as an informative show. Whereby, it proposes to outline and explain some of the issues which be affecting people in their daily lives. For this case, the Keeping Up with the Kardashians Show highlights masculinity as one of the many factors that affect people in their lives. Therefore, for this reason, Keeping Up with the Kardashians could also serve as an informative.
On the other hand, Britain Got Talent is an on-screen British talent display that fragments Simon Cowell’s worldwide Got Talent series. The show was created by Fremantle USA and Syco Entertainment and aired on the NBC TV web. It premiered on June 21, 2006, after canceling strategies for a British version in 2005 due to a disagreement with British newscaster ITV. The production continued in 2007 due to the first season’s popularity, reinforced by (WAodarczyk 2018, p. 46). Each season is broadcast chiefly during the network’s summer program, and the show is presented by the famous duo TV host Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donelly ( Ant and Dec).
The exhibition draws a diverse group of performers from throughout the United Kingdom and overseas who exhibit various skills, including vocal, dancing, amusement, magic, aerobatics, variety, and other genres. Each audition tries to earn a spot in the season’s live shows by astonishing a board of judges, including Cowell, Amanda Holden, and other co-hosts. Those who advance to the live episodes fight for both the judges and public vote to advance to the live final, where the winner gets a substantial financial reward, paid in installments, and, the opportunity to headline various top shows including Royal variety performances. This show is therefore viewed by many people not only in the United Kingdom but in the whole World. It proposes to entertain its audiences as it uplifts the talents of many. According to Hill (2005), a drama is a show that is broadcast in places like television programs to serve the purpose of entertaining people. From this fact, Britain Got Talent could therefore be classified as a drama since it also entertains the audience.
The Kardashian Show highlights how the main character Kim Kardashian acquired her celebrity status. As a celebrity, she influences so many young women and she is also an object of desire for so many American men. Whether one agrees or disagrees, the show has changed consumer culture via television and social media distillation of the feminine ideal. Consumer culture’s power ‘has accelerated and increased in recent years, to the point that commercial values now play a crucial role in the development of young femininity. Today, a significant issue for feminism is how it is portrayed in the media and advertising campaigns, where nonmarket desires are associated with the more independent and intelligent woman who lives in the age of popular feminism. Therefore, this show can basically be considered as a documentary that explains the power of feminism.
There is this idea that the struggle for equality has been won and that the woman of the twenty-first century may now live within the modern, independent, and dynamic language that encompasses contemporary femininity. Consumer culture defines female citizenship due to the increasing influence of social media, television, and cinema on many young women’s consciousness. By adopting the mainstream feminist mindset, females expose themselves to vulnerability since expressing femininity no longer implies the equitable struggles of the early waves of feminism. Rather than that, feminism has been absorbed into popular culture, becoming inextricably linked to it. Thus, expressing one’s femininity involves purchasing products or cherishing shows like Kardashian’s that support feminine values and identities. For this reason, the Keeping Up with the Kardashians show fits to be considered as an informative show since it explains facts that are of main interest in society.
The most straightforward way to demonstrate how reality television shaped the Kardashian mindset is to equate and despair the show’s first and eleventh seasons. By doing so, there will be a possibility to discern how ‘reality’ has changed and how the platform has been overly commoditized by placing a premium on sex appeal above family customs. The first season’s premiere includes the whole family and portrays a family-oriented television comedy with straightforward ‘genuine’ characters.
In the brief introduction, all family members talk and engage with one another, exhibiting a range of emotions according to the established norms of an American family, supported by. To help us get to know the members better, we are introduced to them through their names and intimate footage of them alone in a confessional-type situation. A cheery jingle plays in the context, and we see the production setup (professional lighting), a producer directing the family, and a background of Los Angeles gradually fade away to show the modest Calabasas family home. The opening places a particular focus on Kim Kardashian, which is expected. According to Biressi, Anita, and Heather( 2004, p.71), a documentary can also describe an individual or a group of people. For this case Keeping Up with the Kardashians is a show that explains and describes a family of people generally named as the Kardashian family. It therefore fits to be classified as a documentary.
The new talent showcases are consistent with this extension of lifestyle worry past consumption to the domain of employment and, more generally, personal conduct. There are solid business reasons for extending successful formulae across subjects and into new forms in the media sector. Television seems to become more cross-generic in its search for programming that appeals to a diverse audience.
The alteration context’s dramas provide conflict, tenacity, and self-learning for characters in addition to the intrinsic appeal of the subjects at hand. Change is guaranteed by the before-after contrast upon which the story is constructed, and tension is created. It’s unsurprising, therefore, that the makeover’s means-end obsession can infuse such seemingly dry subjects as time management or financial discipline with vitality. It’s therefore unsurprising that it can be utilized to revitalize the once-glorious genre of light entertainment talent shows.
Advertisements and reality television shows like The Kardashians serve as role models for how sovereign and liberated female characters should look and act, and viewers automatically emulate them (Understanding Reality TV, 66). The underlying issue here is that the Kardashians are articulating their type of feminineness and womankind and that the ideals they characterize today are entirely motivated by reality television’s economic interests. What is given and distributed as normal to millions of people cannot necessarily be considered the ultimate truth, or even any truth.
The Kardashians embody and promote a particular way of life due to their long-running television show and commercial endeavors. By exposing their fake reality to the world, they inadvertently mainstream their lifestyles, which viewers subsequently consume at home. Viewers are given many opportunities to engage with the Kardashian ideal of beauty and youthful femininity via the show’s numerous commodities. Additionally, buying these products to keep up with the show adds to the naturalness of the relationship created by reality television, making it relaxed to consent to them as authentic spokespersons. From this fact, it is clear that ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians Show’ can serve as a documentary because it highlights a certain fact about lifestyle.
In conclusion, from these arguments, it is evident that a reality television show could either serve as a drama, an informative Show, or a documentary. A reality television show that serves as a documentary, will highlight certain facts that affect people in their daily lives. Similarly, it can focus on explaining an individual’s or the lifestyle of a group of people. Therefore, the Kardashian Show could be classified as a documentary.
From another perspective, a reality television show could serve as a drama. The main aim of a drama is to entertain people. Therefore, Britain Got Talent which is a reality television show can also be classified as a drama since it entertains people. The Kardashian show also explains feminism which is a crucial aspect in modern society. As a result, it serves as an informative Show.
Bibliography
- Biressi, A. and Nunn, H., 2005. Reality TV: Realism and revelation. Columbia University Press
- Creeber, G. ed., 2015. The television genre book. Bloomsbury Publishing
- Hill, A., 2004. Reality TV: Factual entertainment and television audiences. Routledge.
- Read Ch.1 ‘Understanding Reality TV’, 1-13; and Ch.4 ‘Performance and Authenticity’, 57-78
- WAodarczyk, P., 2018. Fenomen programów reality show w Stanach Zjednoczonych na przykAadzie’ Keeping Up with the Kardashians’.
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