Why Do We Still Love the Real World?
From the perspective of the population at large, reality television first came on to the scene in the early 1990s with shows such as MTV's The Real World.
This show, which placed seven individuals in a house together with a camera crew to record each and every moment, quickly became a hit and is still popular today.
What is it about this show that keeps people tuning in via cable and satellite TV season after season? Many viewers were intrigued by the idea of seven young strangers living together in a new, exciting city such as New York, Paris, or Las Vegas.
The cast members themselves are carefully hand-picked by producers to ensure that the season does not fail to provide its viewers with a healthy dose of drama.
They are typically young and attractive, and from cities all over the country.
They have varied jobs and have a wide range of social, cultural, religious, political, and educational backgrounds.
The show's creators do a great job of increasing friction between housemates in a number of ways, from the actual casting to the strategic layout of the house.
The cast members are given a giant living space, which may be a renovated sports venue, remodeled restaurant, or even a revamped bank building.
The rooms are gigantic and beautiful, with every amenity one could imagine.
The rooms are shared, however, and nothing about the design of the house is an accident-whether the acoustics that amplify the sound of drunken antics in the common areas for sleepy cast members trying to get some rest, or the deliberate placing of a hot tub where everyone in the house can see who enters and who leaves.
Roommates must give regular "confessionals" in which they spill all that is on their minds about their roommates and the events of the week.
Of course, by the time any of this footage reaches the rest of us, glued to our satellite TV sets with a bag of popcorn, it has been edited, chopped up, and pasted back together, often to exaggerate problems and tensions and at times to create story lines that were never there in the first place.
Although everybody likes a little drama every once in a while, the endless cycle of disagreements, brawls, hook-ups, break-ups, backstabbing, and twenty-somethings crying on the phone to their parents can get a little old.
Most of us eventually grow tired of watching them complain about their impossibly difficult lives as they sit on multi-colored couches in enormous apartments, with what we imagine are HD flatscreens hanging in the background next to windows overlooking Central Park or the Sydney Opera House.
Regardless, we still watch.
There are always cast members we love to hate, as well as those we identify with, and of course those we don't understand at all but still adore.
We may admire these individuals, still a little shocked, 22 seasons later, that there are actually people out there willing to let a camera crew follow them everywhere they go and record every argument, kiss, disappointment, and tear.
Without fail, there is always a spectacle, and we stay tuned in, some wishing our lives were that exciting and tumultuous, and others filled with overwhelming gratitude that they are not.
This show, which placed seven individuals in a house together with a camera crew to record each and every moment, quickly became a hit and is still popular today.
What is it about this show that keeps people tuning in via cable and satellite TV season after season? Many viewers were intrigued by the idea of seven young strangers living together in a new, exciting city such as New York, Paris, or Las Vegas.
The cast members themselves are carefully hand-picked by producers to ensure that the season does not fail to provide its viewers with a healthy dose of drama.
They are typically young and attractive, and from cities all over the country.
They have varied jobs and have a wide range of social, cultural, religious, political, and educational backgrounds.
The show's creators do a great job of increasing friction between housemates in a number of ways, from the actual casting to the strategic layout of the house.
The cast members are given a giant living space, which may be a renovated sports venue, remodeled restaurant, or even a revamped bank building.
The rooms are gigantic and beautiful, with every amenity one could imagine.
The rooms are shared, however, and nothing about the design of the house is an accident-whether the acoustics that amplify the sound of drunken antics in the common areas for sleepy cast members trying to get some rest, or the deliberate placing of a hot tub where everyone in the house can see who enters and who leaves.
Roommates must give regular "confessionals" in which they spill all that is on their minds about their roommates and the events of the week.
Of course, by the time any of this footage reaches the rest of us, glued to our satellite TV sets with a bag of popcorn, it has been edited, chopped up, and pasted back together, often to exaggerate problems and tensions and at times to create story lines that were never there in the first place.
Although everybody likes a little drama every once in a while, the endless cycle of disagreements, brawls, hook-ups, break-ups, backstabbing, and twenty-somethings crying on the phone to their parents can get a little old.
Most of us eventually grow tired of watching them complain about their impossibly difficult lives as they sit on multi-colored couches in enormous apartments, with what we imagine are HD flatscreens hanging in the background next to windows overlooking Central Park or the Sydney Opera House.
Regardless, we still watch.
There are always cast members we love to hate, as well as those we identify with, and of course those we don't understand at all but still adore.
We may admire these individuals, still a little shocked, 22 seasons later, that there are actually people out there willing to let a camera crew follow them everywhere they go and record every argument, kiss, disappointment, and tear.
Without fail, there is always a spectacle, and we stay tuned in, some wishing our lives were that exciting and tumultuous, and others filled with overwhelming gratitude that they are not.
