Will reality TV ever actually convey reality?
Many people would say The Real World revolutionized what we now call reality television. The question lingers, though: how real is it? Realness and authenticity is a huge issue when it comes to reality TV, a genre that is marketed as being a depiction of reality. The show is introduced as a group of strangers living together. It shows the conversations between the roommates as being organic and authentic. In the pilot episode, there is a conversation between three of the cast members, Julie, Kevin, and Heather that touches on topics like racism and privilege. People frequently accuse shows like this of scripting, prompting, or editing scenes like this. Another show accused of this is Big Brother. With a similar concept of putting a bunch of strangers together, it is common that heavy topics are brought up. As one would assume, though, a lot goes on behind the scenes that don’t make it into the three hours a week that is televised. In the case of Big Brother, they are often accused of editing scenes together that look beneficial towards society, or looks like houseguests are building bridges, while editing out harmful conversations.
Big Brother is different from other reality shows because they have live streams that are visible to the public almost all the time - making it basically as real as a TV can be. Because of this, there is less of an issue of scripting, and more of an issue of erasure of the truth. Viewers can watch what the houseguests are doing at any given moment. This has gotten some houseguests, and even production in a lot of trouble in the past. Most recently, in Big Brother Season 25, which just finished airing, a houseguest was expelled from the house because he violated the code of conduct by using a racial slur. While Big Brother and CBS responded well to this incident by kicking him off the show, they have a history of doing otherwise. There was another instance, just this season, where a houseguest used a derogatory term against another houseguest. In this case, CBS was called out all over social media for not addressing this incident in the same way they did earlier in the season.
The live feeds, and those who watch, help to keep the show authentic and real. It makes it difficult for the show to paint the houseguests in any particular way. This definitely does still happen, though. There are often segments in the televised show where the houseguests discuss sensitive topics, such as racism, homophobia, mental health, and disabilities, while in the livestreams, houseguests are shown for how they really are. My question for CBS is, why protect the houseguests? If they are selling themselves as a show that depicts real people, why not show the good, the bad, and the ugly? I don’t think it paints the show in a bad light if they were to be harsher on houseguests that are disrespectful. This issue got to the point where a disclaimer is included when you watch the live feeds. It reads, “Big Brother is a reality show about a group of people who have no privacy 24/7. At times, the houseguests may reveal prejudices and other beliefs that CBS does not condone. Views or opinions expressed by a houseguest are those of the individuals speaking and do not represent the views or opinions of CBS. Viewer discretion is advised”. This disclaimer has also been included in some episodes that discuss controversial moments. The realness shown in the live feeds is what makes the show truly authentic. You know that you can fact check the episodes and see how everything really went down. Taylor Hale, the winner of Big Brother 24, referred to the live feeds as a “safety net”, meaning when you look back at the season, the truth is evident. This realness is what other “reality” shows, such as The Real World lack.
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