Reality Limbo - How Low Can We Go?
“Dutch broadcaster BNN plans to air a television show next week in which a terminally ill woman will decide which of three young patients will get her kidney.
Viewers will send text messages to the 37-year-old woman, known as Lisa, advising her which of the candidates to pick.”
Post-apocalyptic fantasy? No. Scene from a Lindsay Anderson film? Good guess, but again no. Report from this morning’s broadsheet? Haha, yeah, right! Yeah – RIGHT.
I’m sure I won’t be the only blogger to pick up on this, but just how far down the trail of appalling taste do we have to go before the concept of “reality television” gets the mass consumer rejection it deserves?
At best, (and I’m struggling here), reality TV is entertainment which caters for people’s desires to see others in challenging situations outside their comfort zones. I’m thinking especially of examples where people were put “back in time” to experience domestic life without mod cons, or in wartime London, or living as a pioneer family. These at least had some sociological and historical interest, despite being difficult at times for the participants. The one or two series I saw very early on also seemed to feature a degree of sensitivity in their editing.
At worst though, reality TV programmes are the humiliating, demeaning and downright psychologically dangerous inventions of people whose quest for ratings overcomes any sense of human decency. Think “Big Brother”, which recently surpassed previous excesses by introducing a sensory-depriving “White Room”, in which potential participants had to outlast their peers in order to gain access to the house. Similar experiments conducted with volunteers years ago proved this to be hugely traumatic for the subjects involved, leaving them suffering disturbing symptoms up to ten years after the event. Yep, that’s entertainment.
Humiliation is a key ingredient. Being “voted out” by peers or public poll, being subjected to demeaning tasks, public exposure at moments of great vulnerability – it's all good stuff for the cameras. Oddly, the proliferation of these free-to-air obscenities comes at a time where schools are making genuine inroads towards tackling bullying, ostracisation and social isolation in our schools. As the Americans would say, go figure.
And now we are reduced to this; public pitching for the right to live. I feel sickened, but more than that; I feel ashamed to be part of a society which feels this is by any measure something to be sold as “entertainment”.
This way to the Coliseum ladies and gentlemen.
Viewers will send text messages to the 37-year-old woman, known as Lisa, advising her which of the candidates to pick.”
Post-apocalyptic fantasy? No. Scene from a Lindsay Anderson film? Good guess, but again no. Report from this morning’s broadsheet? Haha, yeah, right! Yeah – RIGHT.
I’m sure I won’t be the only blogger to pick up on this, but just how far down the trail of appalling taste do we have to go before the concept of “reality television” gets the mass consumer rejection it deserves?
At best, (and I’m struggling here), reality TV is entertainment which caters for people’s desires to see others in challenging situations outside their comfort zones. I’m thinking especially of examples where people were put “back in time” to experience domestic life without mod cons, or in wartime London, or living as a pioneer family. These at least had some sociological and historical interest, despite being difficult at times for the participants. The one or two series I saw very early on also seemed to feature a degree of sensitivity in their editing.
At worst though, reality TV programmes are the humiliating, demeaning and downright psychologically dangerous inventions of people whose quest for ratings overcomes any sense of human decency. Think “Big Brother”, which recently surpassed previous excesses by introducing a sensory-depriving “White Room”, in which potential participants had to outlast their peers in order to gain access to the house. Similar experiments conducted with volunteers years ago proved this to be hugely traumatic for the subjects involved, leaving them suffering disturbing symptoms up to ten years after the event. Yep, that’s entertainment.
Humiliation is a key ingredient. Being “voted out” by peers or public poll, being subjected to demeaning tasks, public exposure at moments of great vulnerability – it's all good stuff for the cameras. Oddly, the proliferation of these free-to-air obscenities comes at a time where schools are making genuine inroads towards tackling bullying, ostracisation and social isolation in our schools. As the Americans would say, go figure.
And now we are reduced to this; public pitching for the right to live. I feel sickened, but more than that; I feel ashamed to be part of a society which feels this is by any measure something to be sold as “entertainment”.
This way to the Coliseum ladies and gentlemen.
posted by MargieCM at 2:17 pm
21 Comments:
I'm speechless, Margie. No time to write more now as I have to dash, but this story is totally repulsive. Back later to read again.
I did hear about this on the news and like you i'm quite sickened by it..
The new big brother lauches its way on our tv tonight and i do admit to being a tad voyeuristic when it comes to watching the human behaviour, ie; The odd reality shows/chat shows..
Where as in days of old, people would air their dirty laundry in the street, now they choose the media to do it..but where do we draw the line?..we've even had a man dying live!..next it will be murder live and the snuff movie will be mainstream!!..
Gypsy, that's beyond belief! A man dying live on TV? What ever happened to respect for human dignity?
Margie, I am often subjected to ridicule and mockery because I don't have a television, but when I hear how it is developing, I am increasingly of the opinion there can be little I would want to watch anyway. I have often felt that the most disturbing aspect about these reality programmes is the apparent belief that humilation is entertaining, but this particular story of the woman and her kidneys is as barbaric as a public execution. It seems that our so-called sophisticated civilisation is a very thin veneer, and that it's getting thinner all the time
Amen. I've been rejecting 'reality TV' for years. As so well evidenced by this example, it's degrading and sadistic....:(
It's so sad that such a large portion of our society finds this type of programming entertaining...and even sadder that advertisers and networks are so quick to capitalize on it and take it to the next level...lower.
On the other hand, maybe this is a reason why movies like Spiderman, Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean are so popular - an escape from reality? So perhaps there is a large segment of society that goes the other way.....one can only hope...
trash
we do have the choice to not watch
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gypsy, good on you for being honest and admitting to enjoying the odd foray into the depths! However, you're a big girl (well, a little big girl), you're intelligent and full of humour and cynicism. Not all viewers are so well-armed! Clearly, you also have a high regard for the bounds of decency, and know when the line is crossed. What's really sad is that a whole generation of children is now having its sensibilities assaulted through this tasteless muck.
Dale - you're absolutely right. We don't have to watch. Disturbingly though, although I've never seen more than a couple of five-minute grabs from Big Brother, I am aware of some of the people's names, the manufactured scandals, the concept of recent 'challenges' and more. It permeates into other aspects of popular culture, and is even reported here as news in generally respected broadsheets. It's horribly pervasive.
The latest BB horror here is that one young woman in the house has not been told about her father's death and subsequnet funeral (apparently all contact wth the outside world is forbidden to participants). Although it is said that it was her father's dying wish that she not be told, psychologists are jockeying for position to tell us what an appalling and damaging decision that was, and their arguments have become news. This sort of thing feeds the publicity machine ... and the whole rotten thing starts again.
Vally, you are well out of it! In fact, if I take out the news, we spend most of our TV-watching time not watching televsion programmes at all - we buy DVDs and choose to watch those. We're pretty selective about network programmes. Yes, I agree this latest concept is on a par with public executions. This is civilisation?
Rache, that's a nice thought. Harmless, creative fantasy might prove a good antidote! I'm a big Harry P. fan myself, and I do love a bit of good swashbuckling! Give me Johnny Depp in pirate gear over some 15-minute wannabe any day.
Am I proud to be Dutch? These programmes were invented and developed here.
Yuk
Koos, I sympathise, but don't beat yourself up! I think this goes beyond geographical borders. I don't blame the Dutch especially; I suspect it's more a symptom of Western society as a whole being in trouble.
I read about this latest invention of BNN and was disgusted. All I can say is I agree with you on each and every word in this post. Reality TV is the plague of the modern society.
I have a greater need for make-believe!
Captain Sparrow where are ye?
Get ye to Dale's.....she's in need of some fantasy..and some rum perhaps...yes, rum is good ;)
This comment has been removed by the author.
scotch
single malt
Got some right here Dale - "The Balvenie". Verrrrrry niiiiice ....
OK. This morning's news has revealed that the show was / is a hoax. Not that it wasn't made, but prior to broadcast it has been revealed that the dying woman is really a healthy actor and that the rationale behind the programme was to raise awareness of the scarcity of organs donated.
Hope this link works, but if not, it'll be an easy story to track down:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/kidney-donation-reality-tv-show-a-hoax/2007/06/02/1180205552994.html
So. Does this make it OK? Does it raise it to the level of some bizarre but legitimate form of performance art? Can we all relax now?
I don't think so. I think the fact that we were all horrified but not surprised at the show's premise says it all. Sadly, I don't believe it will raise awareness of the importance of organ donation. That's become a secondary story. If we're really lucky though, it might make people think about how low we've sunk, and the backlash against the excesses of "Reality TV" might start.
Either that, or someone's already out there signing up candidates for a real version.
I suppose i'm pleased it's a hoax, but I find it quite offensive to kidney patients, Yes it grabbed attention but for all the wrong reasons, who ever thought of this should be ashamed...
I agree with you margie
In my view that was a pretty tasteless way of raising awareness, and Gypsy is right. It was an insult to genuine kidney victims. I think what it says is that whoever dreamed up this 'hoax' believed it would be accepted as real, and like you Margie, I feel that's a pretty poor reflection on what we have come to tolerate in TV programmes today.
Still I am also glad it turned out to be a fabrication.
Hi Margie, I am reading this somewhat late, but didn't hear the latter bit that it was a hoax here- the original story was published, but not the hoax revelation. I'm relieved it was not a real show, I suppose, but tasteless is an understatement.
I'm beginning to understand why we watch very little on TV except for the news. Apparently, I am missing nothing.
Post a Comment
<< Home