Task 6 | Essay

The Only Way is Reality: Is the popularity of “Dramality” television leading to the ‘dumbing down’ of audiences?

“The popularity of reality TV has led to a dangerous blurring of boundaries between fact and fiction… as a result reality TV has had a negative effect on modern society”. Reality television has quickly arisen to be one of the most popular television genres over the last decade. However, since “The Only Way is Essex” began in October 2010; its audience has peaked to a figure of 1.5 million and ignited a conveyer belt of other similar programmes – such as “Made in Chelsea”, “Geordie Shore” and “The Valleys” - which fall into a new mainstream category of ‘dramality’ or structured-reality television. ‘Dramality’ is a hybrid of drama and reality TV genres; with no speech or reactions scripted, but scenarios mediated by the producers to create more of a narrative and spectacle to primarily entertain its audience. Although this genre is detested by a significant proportion of society; we must question why it is so popular. It could be described as notoriously addictive; with audiences being considered “peeping Toms” or striving to replicate the superficial lifestyles the ‘characters’ lead – surely, with much more substantial and serious issues surrounding our lives – such as world poverty and the dwindling economic prosperity – why are consumed by watching frivolous conflicts and relationships from narcissistic individuals to pass the time, consequently ‘dumbing down’ its audience?

Reality TV began in 1948 with Allen Funt’s “Candid Camera” in America which the UK later adopted in 1960. Its premise was a basic hidden camera prank show which confronted unbeknownst members of the public with unusual scenarios in order to capture their genuine reactions. There have been various other reality shows since then but none exploded in popularity until “Big Brother” hit the screens in 2000. It could be said that this millennium mile-stone spurred a revitalisation in the reality TV genre. Unlike the generic elements of the genre; “Big Brother” was marketed as a social experiment game show which enticed an audience interested in the physiological aspect as well as voyeurs.  However, over the years, the exhausted concept has developed as a platform for fame-hungry individuals to get their “fifteen minutes of fame”. It has now turned into a spectacle of eccentric and melodramatic characters living in house with producers concocting more extreme and unusual scenarios and tasks in order to get more of a reaction. From this, it is evident that the television show itself has ‘dumbed down’. Additionally, the popularity from the US hit TV show; “The Hills” – which started in 2006 – provided a mould for structured-reality to become a mainstream genre. The simple concept of following the lives of young, aspirational people living in Los Angeles gave audiences an insight into this remote and idealistic lifestyle. This basic ‘winning formula’ may have been the inspiration the UK’s answer to “The Hills” – “The Only Way is Essex” (“TOWIE”) which began in 2010. 

Task 5 | Essay Plan

Task 3 | Historical Textual Analysis

CANDID CAMERA

-          NERVOUS LEARNER DRIVER

Originally an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt. It was a series of theatrical film shorts. Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948. The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations. A British version of Candid Camera began in 1960 and ran for seven years.

It is similar to my main text – ‘The Only Way is Essex’ - as it films a scenario which is created and mediated by producers and has at least one person who conveys their natural reaction to the certain situation. The camera action is also quite similar as it is mainly static to film the situation at the time – like TOWIE, the scenes are quite stationary and based in one setting, this creates a sense of reality as there is no fast paced action – like there would be in, say, the action genre. The type of shots used are similar as a wide/long shot is use to establish the scene/setting and the camera is zoomed onto the person speaking or reacting a certain way to make it clear who or what to focus on. Furthermore, it is shot like a scene; potentially being part of a wider sequence – however it is not as it’s just a single scene which is unlike TOWIE as it uses different scene as part of a sequence to create a narrative. ‘Candid Camera’ does not have a narrative as it a programme of a collection of pranks on the unbeknownst public. Additionally, I assume the victims of the pranks are selected by the producers with their entertainment value in mind. As the man in the clip above seems quite serious and professional, his reaction would be more entertaining than someone who is was immature or un-serious. This is a similar element to TOWIE as the ‘characters’ are selected based on their personalities to create more spectacle and narrative (Propps Character Types).

A major difference is the genre, as ‘Candid Camera’ was a hidden camera prank show it does not have a narrative, the show’s purpose is to entertain the audience through the reactions of the victims of the pranks. Nonetheless, it’s still a form of reality TV as it’s recording a scenario which has natural reactions to a certain situation which are borne out of created scenario – like TOWIE.