The Unreal World

This article definitely struck a sore-spot with me, as the amplification of the discussed stereotype(s) is precisely WHY I refuse to watch reality television.

Having kept my head in the proverbial sand for years concerning this particular genre, I was alarmed to read about many shows that I had not yet heard of: Married by America, Meet my Folks and The Swan being a few such examples.

First of all, as a gay woman I'm severely disgusted with shows such as "Married by America". In most places, it's either not legal for me to marry my partner, or if it is- then the marriage most likely won't be recognized elsewhere. This is a fundamental right that I and my homosexual peers have to struggle for, yet here is a television show that binds people legally for the mere entertainment of vapid Americans everywhere. So essentially, our culture bars me from sharing my health benefits or being able to visit my partner in a hospital, but will gladly grant certificates of marriage that are doomed to be annulled only days, weeks or months later... solely because it is undervalued as an entertaining gimmick.

The analogy that Jennifer Pozner makes to the Stepford Wives is frighteningly accurate. Whatever steps women have made to gain equality as coworkers, peers and family members are being hacked to pieces by the stereotypes that are being enforced.

The whole reality show genre is destructive in nature and sets up horrible expectations of women in our society. Concerning shows such as The Swan, do I even need to reiterate the mantra of "plastic surgery is painful and dangerous?" These individuals risk complications and even death for the sake of feeling worthy of acceptance, yet television viewers are shown a glorified, edited "faux-reality" that fails to promote the slightest awareness of such issues. Why? Because it would harm ratings and *gasp* be the "right thing to do."

...For this reason, I'll continue to keep my head in the sand and choose not patronize such shows, thank-you-a-very-much!

long live the new flesh

I'm glad I watched Videodrome by myself. I think that had I watched it with friends,  we would have passed it off as a medium budget, gory eighties flick. Watching it alone, it had more resonance. Videodrome comments (quite effectively) on the carnal, lecherous nature of mankind and how television caters to and encourages those traits. In a more provocative turn, Videodrome also argues that the only way for "them" (the government or those faceless/nameless/numberless entities running the world, here portrayed as the purveyors of Videodrome) to eliminate these negative traits of humanity is not only to capitalize on them, but also utilize them by encouraging mindless murder. 

Another bragging point for Videodrome is that it addressed the entire torture porn genre well before it was hip and edgy in the 00's. It also manages to do this far more tactfully and intelligently that those movies exploiting violence and sex currently. In fact, Videodrome accurately predicted mankind's preoccupation with the entire torture porn genre. If some hallucinatory virus could actually be projected through "inappropriate" video content, I'm confident in saying that 75% of the population would be growing video-tumors.

Ed TV

In the movie Ed TV Ed agrees to be fallowed around by a camera crew and has every moment of his life documented. I was a big fan of The Truman Show with Jim Carey where he doesn’t even know that he is on TV as the center of a huge reality show. The differences between the films are that Ed willingly chose to be on the show whereas Truman was on the show from birth without any consent on his part. Both films seem to merge together though since they both slowly become aware of the effect they are having on the masses of people and it begins to change their actions and the actions of those around them.

Another similarity between the two movies is that the directors of the shows have input on the daily events that happen in the characters lives. In Ed TV the director has a future love introduced to Ed, and she knows so much about him from the show so she is likely to seduce him. On The Truman Show the main character is also introduced to a heavily scripted love interest who begins to make him suspicious since she knows everything about him.

Both movies are very interesting as they deal with issues of surveillance and voyeurism and seem to take them to the extreme. Both characters end up having break downs and break out of their surveillance since they won’t accept it as being a true reality. The Truman Show was a bit more interesting to me since he has no idea that he is being watched and that his whole life has been a fabrication of a television station. This applies quite well to the topic at hand, what is reality TV, especially if the characters know they are being filmed, they will act differently and unrealistically.

VideoDrome

Videodrome was not what I expected. A tasteful 80's flick to say the least. This movie was captivating, suspenseful and mysterious. It kept me glued to my seat, as I could not take my eye off this disturbing film. Much like a bad car accident. In fact my roommate found himself addicted after 20 minutes of listening to it in the background. When the main character, the president of a porno business, accidentally discovers Videodrome by tuning into a pirate satellite he doesn’t realize that his life will change forever. Videodrome basically opens the viewers mind by its disturbing content allowing its tumor causing frequency. The tumor makes the viewer hallucinate and realize that what they believe is actually reality. The main character enters a world of nightmares as he tries to save himself from Videodrome. This movie touches on th concept of reality and television. It made me consider the question of reality by suggesting that if something exists somewhere, there is some sort of reality associated with it. The movie quotes the phrase "There is nothing beyond our perception of reality." This made me wonder how TV distorts our perception of reality by documenting reality itself.

Videodrome + The Unreal World

Videodrome is about Max, a president of a TV station that receives signals of a snuff program Videodrome. Upon investigating further into Videodrome’s origins, Max begins experiencing its effects and having strange, violent hallucinations. Over the course of the movie these hallucinations and reality merge and become indistinguishable from each other. Under this influence, Max acts out in violence to those around him and then himself.

The movie presents an exaggerated view of the dangers of violence on television and reality programming. Although snuff is not part of the mainstream, this kind of media does exist and has an audience, which is a disturbing thought. The film also shows how television has the power to control its audience and affect its thoughts and actions.

Unreal World discusses the manner in which women are consistently portrayed on reality television programs. In pretty much every case, they are shown as dumb, catty, and existing solely for the purpose of making a man happy. These shows also enforce racial stereotypes and degrade men as well by placing their worth in merely their wealth and looks. By constantly broadcasting these shallow images of “beauty” and “love”, reality TV creates a reality all its own where neither of these things truly exists.

"EDtv"

This comical movie presents a lot of good ideas about reality TV, especially since it was created before the huge boom and hype around reality shows. The main plot to the movie is based on Ed's character. Ed signs on to have is own reality tv show, all cameras, all the time. It is interesting to see how Ed's life changes once the cameras and producers are involved. His relationships with family and friends begins to change.

When Ed tries to quit the show, he finds himself in a fix. It isn't until he digs up some juicy dirt on the producers that he is unable to stop the show. It's almost as if Ed's life isn't his own anymore. It now belongs to America and the producers.

It really makes you think about how reality tv would affect a person's life, and whether or not everything being presented is real.

Videodrome

Videodrome is about a man name Max who is exposed to the videodrome signal which caused him to see hallucinations. Only he can interact with these hallucinations because they eventually become his reality. Later on, the ones who control the videodrome signal attempt to control Max to kill other people with the videotapes they inserted into his abdomen but is stopped by Bianco Oblivion. He then kills the antagonists and removes the "old flesh" so he can ascend to the next level of videodrome.

The whole movie seemed weird and surreal because of how the television became reality to Max and was able to control him. It is a more extreme take of how much television has an influence on our lives to the point where some of us would schedule our lives around a certain show time so we wouldn't miss any episode. Or in some cases, people would try to emulate what they see on TV but because they aren't professionals, would get hurt or killed. That is sort of what happened to Max where the television controlled what he saw and did until it told him to kill himself.

Reality Television

While viewing The Truman Show I was confronted with some disturbing thoughts about what reality television is coming to and what the possibilities are. The concept of having a main character in a show that doesn’t know that he is being watched is not that far-fetched. The difference between this and the reality television that we see now is very slight. The hidden cameras are what people love about this world of reality TV. When people as a whole sees something they feel like they are not supposed to we love it. It makes us feel like we are part of the drama and not just lazing around on our couches. To get a high rated show there is no telling what people would do. It would not even have to be a very well scripted show in order to sell. Some of the junk that is on television isn’t “good television,” however, it still manages to sell and make millions of viewer satisfied. Throughout the movie we see how the viewers of the show obsess over Truman. Their lives seem to revolve around what in going on in this fake studio world. This is something that we see in our world today. This film came off as slightly disturbing in the fact that we could possibly see something along this line someday.

The Unreal World

Since Survivor, reality has kept spiraling out of hand, taking mankind and exploiting its problems for other viewers enjoyments."Why woman on reality TV have to be blind desperate and dumb" can only further support this idea that reality tv isn't quite reality. We are all aware the celebrities have quite the impact on how people act in society, they look up to celebrities, wear their products, dress like them, and reality celebrities are no different. They get to serve as the temporary model representing the rest of their sex. For women in this case, their gender is being exploited as "blind, desperate and dumb" as well as selfish, catty, gold-digging whores just to name a few. What i found to be the worst part about this is that even when a woman challenges this stereotype, they are shot down for it. The article talked about the model on Tyra's show who was told that her intelligence was intimidating. It seems like reality TV is all about conforming imagery to something that no normal person is. Black women have been told to fix their hair, Asians to soften their eyes. Producers even use tactics to make everyone seem a bit different, like cutting off individuals from society and filling them with liquor to promote outrageous behavior that will support the stereotypes they fall into.
I had looked into the effects of reality television in the past and came by something that I thought was astonishing. I was reading a piece on how America is entertained by watching the suffering of other individuals, this source of entertainment was then compared back to when people didn't have radios or television, back to the days of ancient Rome and the Colosseum. It was speculated that America might be heading back in the direction of the gladiator death match. Think about it, as far as suffering goes, we get no better than the death of a fellow human being.

EdTV

EdTV is a comedy which portrays the scenarios in which an individual may be placed in when his/her personal life is exposed to the entire world. This movie exposes the pressures which reality TV can have on a person's life and the drastic changes or problems that can occur from this. Moreover, it exposes the idea that reality TV may not be 100% authentic by presenting the idea that its producers may "stage" potential situations that its "characters" may endure. Thus, leaving the audience to wonder whether all reality TV is truly scripted or is indeed reality as such programs claim to be. Lastly, secrets, lies, betrayals, and truths are all portrayed with a comedic and entertaining twist.

On Videodrome...

Well, when I plopped down in my sofa-sized bean-bag-chair with my cat and a glass of wine, I can't say that what I saw was what I expected. At all.

Personally, I found Videodrome to be disturbing, entertaining, nostalgic & thought provoking all at the same time- which suits me just fine. If one could take A Clockwork Orange, mate it with Naked Lunch, and perhaps dash a springle of Requiem for a Dream into the mix- it would be this film. With its absurd "over-the-top-so-you-can't-ignore-it" machinisms, it seemed clear that one message it was sending about mediation is that it influences people; that with enough mediation, we can no longer distinguish what is "real" from what is "fantasy". The only thing I could gather from the tag-team style mediation warfare towards the end of the movie, is that mediation has the power to turn us into pawns, even if we think we know what is being inflicted upon us.

Certain references were comical in their directness: How we are introduced to the film by an "alarm video" that purportedly assumes the role of the alarm clock... How Max, the main character, assumed that brutal torture, rape and killing scrambled from an obscure frequency MUST be scripted, and couldn't possibly be *real* torture. No "real" harm could be inflicted. Not if it's on television... especially if it's pirated! Another gem of a moment was in the beginning, when Max attended a panel show with a host and another guest who opposed his controversial broadcasts... the other guest literally went from being critical of his work to being coy with him- which perhaps suggests that even "objective" mediation is never truly objective.

Overall, what I gather from Videodrome is that mediation is now an integral part of our technological lives, but it has softened the lines we hold between that which is true, and that which is imagined. This film seemed to address this issue with no small amount of irony and absurd humor.

"The Unreal World"

Personally, this article spoke the most to me, maybe because I'm female and I have felt the repercussions of reality televisions depiction of women. After reading through the article, I felt that someone had invaded my brain. The author, Jenifer L. Pozner, brought up many points and opinions that I have often said. She briefly discusses the different kinds of reality shows that have degraded women and caused society to desire these unrealistic women including America's Next Top Model, The Bachelor, Joe Millionare, The Swan, and The Real World.

Society has such a distorted view of how a women is supposed to look, think, and act. She tells us that people claim reality TV isn’t sexist because women aren't being forced to join these television shows, unfortunately, this is the sad part. Women have allowed this to happen. We see these "real" women on TV and realize that they are so far from the truth, yet women still continue to apply for these shows and let society see us this way. No wonder society doesn't respect us. Why should men respect women if they are calling each other sluts. How is anyone supposed to take us seriously when we are gallivanting on TV with half a brain and playing the role of who we are "supposed" to be. It's a shame that a child's image of a perfect woman is the one where she is stick thin with no mind of her own. Where being composed of fake elements on the outside is what determines us to be a worthy catch.


Reality TV is affecting womens' mental health.
http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20030303-000003.html