Pr0wl1ng_PaPayA
29-03-2009, 03:24 PM
"When did reality become T.V.
Whatever happened to sitcoms, game shows
on the radio ?"
It all began rather innocently in 1947 with a show called Allen Funt's Candid Camera,it broadcast unsuspecting, ordinary people reacting to pranks.
It has been called the "granddaddy of the reality TV genre.The tone of it, and other early early reality shows was decidedly light-hearted.
People enjoyed this new genre and these early reality shows were popular, but soon, it was not enough anymore, audiences craved a more hard hitting form of reality show.
In the 80's, a show called Cops was introduced, it featured policemen catching criminals, and often handing them a beating,again, the public was pleased.
Watching the bad guys receive punishment from the comfort of your armchair was a great addition to our already increasing TV dependence.
In the 2000s the number of reality shows started increasing greatly, shows like survivor and American Idol were immensely popular.
But it is here were a disturbing trend started to show, as one would expect, all these reality shows could not possibly surive, and the ones that did
all had one thing in common.They all, to an extent, focused on human suffering and/or humiliation.
All the more airtime was given in Survivor to the bits where people were lamenting about awful living conditions, long parts of the show would be dedicated to peoples psychological breakdowns,
scenes were played over and over where a contestant's, (who had passed out and fallen onto a fire) charred hands were shown.Idols was getting it's most
viewers not for the grand finals, but the wooden mic events, and the preliminary rounds where people like Simon Cowell would lambaste aspiring singers, reducing them to
tears.All of us at home would shake our heads, and call Simon heartless, then put the volume up, and move closer to the TV.
Schadenfreude:"is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others, derived from German.
A New York Times article in 2002 cited a number of scientific studies of schadenfreude, which it defined as delighting in others' misfortune.
Many such studies are based on social comparison theory, the idea that when people around us have bad luck, we look better to ourselves"
This phenomena is found all around the world, and is considered to be a universal human trait.
Soon, not even the pain, suffering and humiliation of these shows were not enough to feed our insatiable lust to view others misery,much more vicious
shows were popping up, shows like Temptation Island where a someone would be put with their ex on a beautiful island, with the catch being that their current partner
would be watching all their moves on camera.It would almost always land up in heartbreak and disaster, and we as viewers couldn't be happier.
I believe the absolute pinnacle of our vindictive and pernicious culture has now been reached, enter; The moment of truth.In this new show,Contestants are asked
ludicrous questions based on the most intimate details of their lives, and are rewarded with money for answering these questions truthfully.
Answering these questions normally brings great pain and sorrow to family members, who are conveniently present, so the camera closeups can catch every
twitch of pain in their faces.
Is this what we as a race have become?
Do we want to revert back to the Gladiator days?
We so love to call our society civilized, yet we still willingly and gleefully indulge in this most barbaric practice of deriving pleasure from others
misfortune.
If someone would find a way to introduce a show where contestants kill each other I have no doubt it would be a smash hit.
People would gasp, complain and feign shock and terror, but when that show starts, millions would be tuning in to see it.
What has gone wrong with humanity?
Why do we all embody a sense schadenfreude, and then even worse, lie to ourselves
convincing one another we watch out of empathy, not apathy and vindictiveness.
These are all questions to which I do not have the answer, and to which I'm not sure I want one.
But you will have to excuse me now, Idols elimination show is starting soon, it's down to the last 7, and it's bound to be a real tear-jerker.
Whatever happened to sitcoms, game shows
on the radio ?"
It all began rather innocently in 1947 with a show called Allen Funt's Candid Camera,it broadcast unsuspecting, ordinary people reacting to pranks.
It has been called the "granddaddy of the reality TV genre.The tone of it, and other early early reality shows was decidedly light-hearted.
People enjoyed this new genre and these early reality shows were popular, but soon, it was not enough anymore, audiences craved a more hard hitting form of reality show.
In the 80's, a show called Cops was introduced, it featured policemen catching criminals, and often handing them a beating,again, the public was pleased.
Watching the bad guys receive punishment from the comfort of your armchair was a great addition to our already increasing TV dependence.
In the 2000s the number of reality shows started increasing greatly, shows like survivor and American Idol were immensely popular.
But it is here were a disturbing trend started to show, as one would expect, all these reality shows could not possibly surive, and the ones that did
all had one thing in common.They all, to an extent, focused on human suffering and/or humiliation.
All the more airtime was given in Survivor to the bits where people were lamenting about awful living conditions, long parts of the show would be dedicated to peoples psychological breakdowns,
scenes were played over and over where a contestant's, (who had passed out and fallen onto a fire) charred hands were shown.Idols was getting it's most
viewers not for the grand finals, but the wooden mic events, and the preliminary rounds where people like Simon Cowell would lambaste aspiring singers, reducing them to
tears.All of us at home would shake our heads, and call Simon heartless, then put the volume up, and move closer to the TV.
Schadenfreude:"is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others, derived from German.
A New York Times article in 2002 cited a number of scientific studies of schadenfreude, which it defined as delighting in others' misfortune.
Many such studies are based on social comparison theory, the idea that when people around us have bad luck, we look better to ourselves"
This phenomena is found all around the world, and is considered to be a universal human trait.
Soon, not even the pain, suffering and humiliation of these shows were not enough to feed our insatiable lust to view others misery,much more vicious
shows were popping up, shows like Temptation Island where a someone would be put with their ex on a beautiful island, with the catch being that their current partner
would be watching all their moves on camera.It would almost always land up in heartbreak and disaster, and we as viewers couldn't be happier.
I believe the absolute pinnacle of our vindictive and pernicious culture has now been reached, enter; The moment of truth.In this new show,Contestants are asked
ludicrous questions based on the most intimate details of their lives, and are rewarded with money for answering these questions truthfully.
Answering these questions normally brings great pain and sorrow to family members, who are conveniently present, so the camera closeups can catch every
twitch of pain in their faces.
Is this what we as a race have become?
Do we want to revert back to the Gladiator days?
We so love to call our society civilized, yet we still willingly and gleefully indulge in this most barbaric practice of deriving pleasure from others
misfortune.
If someone would find a way to introduce a show where contestants kill each other I have no doubt it would be a smash hit.
People would gasp, complain and feign shock and terror, but when that show starts, millions would be tuning in to see it.
What has gone wrong with humanity?
Why do we all embody a sense schadenfreude, and then even worse, lie to ourselves
convincing one another we watch out of empathy, not apathy and vindictiveness.
These are all questions to which I do not have the answer, and to which I'm not sure I want one.
But you will have to excuse me now, Idols elimination show is starting soon, it's down to the last 7, and it's bound to be a real tear-jerker.