I've never gotten into reality TV much. Maybe it's because I'm a writer.
All I know is, I'm a scripted TV girl. I want plots and actors; I want theatre.
I don't want hidden cameras and everyday people in elaborately constructed scenarios stabbing each other in the back and eating bugs. The thing that bothers me the most about reality TV is it isn't reality; it is way more contrived than it lets on.
Reality TV is not like documentaries, documenting actual events.
Rather, the producers of reality TV shows set up events to make it look as if a situation is a certain way, when really it is quite different. For example, American Idol makes it look as if the three star judges and Ryan Seacrest travel from city to city and hold giant auditions where each person gets a chance to be seen by Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul.
The truth is the people shown filing into the massive stadium are seen for a few seconds by a panel of producers.
Then the best and worst are called back to audition again in a few weeks.
The best and the worst of those are then allowed to audition before Randy, Simon and Paula about a month later.
Ever wonder why the really awful singers have such a false sense of their talent?
Perhaps it is because they have already made it through two massive auditions and have been selected when thousands of others were sent home.
American Idol selects the best singers and the worst singers because it makes for entertaining TV.
Leah Jones, a northern Kentucky resident who auditioned for the show in Atlanta last summer was surprised by how different the actual process is from what is portrayed on TV.
"I'm not sure why it's called 'reality TV' when so much of it is actually quite contrived," Jones said. "Auditioning for American Idol really made me question the 'reality' of the show."
Jones said the crowd was encouraged to scream things like "I'm the next American Idol" for the camera.
"They had to make sure they got the perfect shot," Jones said.
"At one point, the producers asked all of us to be completely quiet so Ryan Seacrest could go over to one empty section of seats in the stadium and film the 'end of day shot.' Ryan sat all alone in the middle of empty seats and said something like 'Well, all the contestants have gone home after a long day of auditions,' when in reality, the entire stadium was full of 15,000 silent contestants behind the cameras, who hadn't even auditioned yet."
However, not all reality shows are completely contrived, insists Erin McCamley, a member of "Team Lachey" on Clash of the Choirs.
If you watched the show, you might recognize her as the very short girl with curly dark hair. McCamley said most of what the show claimed, was in fact reality, apart from a bit of scripted banter between people onstage.
"A lot of things were rehearsed and slightly staged that seemed to the audience to be spontaneous, but nothing too huge," McCamley said.
With this knowledge, I suggest if you do really enjoy watching reality TV, go ahead and knock yourself out.
Just keep in mind that appearances can be deceiving, and all is not necessarily what it seems. With this in mind, enjoy watching people stab each other in the back and eat bugs. It is, after all, America's new favorite pastime.
Think you can stand up to Simon? Let Celeste know at celestebrott@yahoo.com.
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