Bravo's Real Housewives series, which includes women living in DC, Atlanta, and Orange County, CA, is part of an interesting trend in reality television. Reality television is not so much about anybody's actual reality as it is about providing an escape from the viewer's own. And because increasingly the reality of many American consumers is a life of poverty, reality television has begun to provide a suitable alternative for the viewers.
This particular series is dedicated to following the gala-filled lives of wealthy women (some of whom are actually stay at home wives and mothers.) The producers use the familiar concept of the housewife to depict the unfamiliar concept of a highly expensive lifestyle. The result is a program that asks viewers to momentarily forget their monetary troubles and join these women as they complete their daily tasks. By choosing highly glamorous photoshoots and expensive shopping trips as these daily tasks, the producers create an escape from middle class drudgery for the typical American television viewer.
This escapist reality programming is intruiging in that it explicitly provides an escape from financial woes by portraying incredibly wealthy families. While I cannot currently determine whether this type of escape leads to consumer apaty, it is an interesting question to me. Do these programs lull the masses, causing them to forget their own hard times by providing them with images of well-to-do women?
My roommate at school loves watching the Real Housewives of Atlanta, and as much as I cringe to admit it I have found myself engrossed in the show if it happens to be on. In my personal experience, however, I would say we don't necessarily watch it as an escape from our own financially burdened lives. In fact, I would say the show is something like a cross between a train wreck and a circus - somehow when you start watching you just can't look away.
ReplyDeleteI could provide and alternate viewpoint: that the show doesn't necessarily make us forget the hard times we live in, but it acts like a release to provide us 30 minutes of mind-numbing entertainment where we can criticize their lack of frugality and their lavish lifestyle. As a consumer, watching shows like these brings my own lean bank account to the forefront of my mind, but in someways they also make me thankful that I don't live in a world where buying things is buying happiness.
Great post Laura! I also recently did a post about the Real Housewives. They are a hot topic! And I actually think both you and Aubrey are right. People definitely obsess over ultra-rich figures in the media. If they didn't, people like Paris Hilton wouldn't be famous. And I have a roommate who basically wants to BE a "Houswife" someday. She thinks they have the best life ever, and often seems to try to mimic their attitudes and behavior... despite the fact that she's broke. She'll be watching and agreeing with someone who says something about how you have to wear name-brand clothes if you want to be somebody, because she seems to forget that she's dressed head to toe in clothes from good-old target :) I think that a lot of people who watch, though, do so because they find the ridiculousness of these women and their lifestyles to be entertaining!
ReplyDeleteReality tv scares me. It became a tv formula sometime in the 1990s with the Big Brother series, and relies on the "sensationalism" factor to draw in audiences.
ReplyDeleteI think shows like the Real Housewives of Atlanta fall under the "social experiment category" of reality tv.
Is it a good substitute for scripted tv? I think it's worse because it exploits people's personal lives and distorts their reality for the sake of increasing viewing audiences.
Reality tv fame comes at a high price too. Think of how many reality tv couples have divorced - esp. with the other Real Housewives series. I can't imagine what its like for these women to have their marriage and social relationships on display for weekly viewer judgment. I wonder if these women realize what they're sacrificing over the long run, for their 15 minutes of fame and desire to become a reality tv star? It reflects back to American tv audiences how narcissistic a society we've become, when people are willing to publicize their private lives for the sake of fame which is fleeting and a paycheck which they use to invest further into their lavish lifestyles that they sell to tv viewing audiences through their weekly episodes. I can't wait reality tv because it saddens me to see people exploit themselves this way, and for what?