Why Do People Watch Reality TV?
Since the 1990s, shows like "Survivor" and "The Real World" have opened up a new genre of television known as reality television. The question arises then, of what exactly is the lure and appeal of this new genre of media? Catherine Wells suggests that it is specifically the "under 35" audience that is captivated by reality television, in her article, "A Unit of Work on Reality Television." She suggests that audiences are bored with scripted dramas, sitcoms, and soap operas, and the appeal of reality television is that is uses more "real" or "normal" characters as actors, with less directed and defined scripts are more interesting. The President of NBC Jerry Zucker comments that, "the under-35 audience has grown up being endlessly video-taped by parents, and watching O.J. Simpson and Monica Lewinsky as entertainment" (Wells 190). The acceptance of sensational, real-life stories and scandals as popular "entertainment" would thus naturally lead to a further interest in watching "real" dramatic stories unfold as entertainment, and the reality television genre accomplishes this by at least portraying real life situations, even if they are somewhat scripted by producers.
Another study by Martha Lauzen confirms this theory as well. "The notion that viewers are watching people more like themselves than celebrities may be one explanation for the genre's new-found popularity" (Lauzen 445). Reality television is relatively inexpensive to produce, due to the lack of structured characters and roles, thus leading some to consider it "the crack cocaine of programming." However, it is gaining more and more legitimacy, as it is considered a hybrid of well established genres such as documentaries and dramas. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences even created two categories solely for reality television programs in 2004 (Lauzen 445).
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One study by Steven Reiss entitled, "Why People Watch Reality TV" found that status is the most prominent motivation in viewers to watch reality television. He describes status-motivated individuals as those who have a pressing need and desire to feel self-important. Reiss points out that reality television may appeal to these type of people in two ways. "One possibility is that viewers feel they are more important (have higher status) than the ordinary people portrayed on reality television shows. The idea that these are "real" people gives psychological significance to the viewers' perceptions of superiority" (Reiss 373). This may help a viewer feel they have an elevated status, even as an "ordinary" person, which leads to the second way reality television is appealing to status-diven people. "Ordinary people can watch the shows, see people like themselves, and fantasize that they could gain celebrity status by being on television" (Reiss 374). Rose discusses the concepts of fantasy and desire, and these concepts help explain the appeal of reality television. She describes fantasy as, "located between the conscious and the unconscious; it is where the transactions between these two zones occur...often described as a kind of staging" (Rose 131). Fantasy also relates to the concept of desire, which Rose describes as an attaining of visual pleasure through fantasizing. |
This relates to The Girls Next Door, because throughout the television shows, the three women frequently comment on how they were simply ordinary people before their life at the mansion. In the show, Kendra Wilkinson frequently comments on how she came from a very modest, humble home in San Diego, and Holly Madison reminisces on her days working as a waitress at Hooters before her days at the mansion. All three of the girls often describe their living situation as a "dream" and as "unexpected." Bridget Marquardt even completed her masters degree in Communications, but explains how she still only dreamt of being in the Playboy magazine and being a playmate. Although most viewers of the show would not categorize the three women as "ordinary people," The Girls Next Door chronicles the lives of the women and discusses their pre-Playboy lives when they were (like the viewers) ordinary people. This discussion may help viewers to envision or "set a stage" of a fantasy in their minds because they are able to relate to the girls when they describe their upbringings and ordinary "roots." As Reiss points out in his study of reality television viewers, "status is the main motivational force that drives interest in reality television," and thus the show helps the audience to set a stage or fantasize in their minds about attaining celebrity or elevated status, or at the very least gain pleasure in actively desiring their fantasy.