Reality TV & Elections March 11, 2007
Posted by Surya in Overall Thoughts.add a comment
Elections : Reality TV? Huh.
Simply, both elections and reality TV are dances–
ELECTIONS: Candidate dances with the Press to get to the Voters.
REALITY TV: Cast dances with the Producers to get to the Viewers.
But really, there are three (everything good comes in 3’s) central themes which unfortunately drive both US Political Elections and “edited” Reality TV shows.
1) Create Characters. And it’s all but required that the characters be incredibly simple. We wouldn’t want to confuse anyone, would we?
Reality TV creates heroes, villains, dorks, jokers, etc. Basically simple caricatures of people we see in every day life. In almost all circumstances we must only show footage that support this “character.”
In elections we end up with extreme caricatures of the candidates themselves. We have themes like “The Rebel” (McCain), “The Mormon” (Romney), or “The Fresh Face” (Obama). All stories must (ideally) link back to one of these themes.
2) Define Your Opponent. Both Reality TV and elections are apparently zero-sum games. My loss is your gain, and vice-versa. In keeping with that spirit, a concerted and focussed effort must be made in painting as unflattering a picture of your opponent as possible. In Reality TV, producers utilize narration, where a cast member tells you “what is going on” while the editors quickly cut to footage supporting the story. If what the cast member is saying is slander about an opponent, and this supports a broader story– all the better! Using quick cuts of footage it becomes real and convincing! Refuse to talk trash for the benefit of the producers and the camera? Your side never gets told! Wow. In politics the art of negative campaigning is everywhere and doesn’t need to be pointed out (sadly).
3) Constant Compromises. At what cost do you win? Whether it’s an election or the top-prize in a reality TV show– what are you willing to give up?
Part of what made being part of reality TV instantly astounding was how quickly people (seemingly) compromised their integrity. It seemed to start with simple second-guessing and negative comments for the benefit of the producers, and then quickly spread to plotting against a teammate and outright lies. It happened an inch at a time, because when we all started together– everyone seemed so normal! But then the “man, I’m so close. I have do whatever it takes to survive. They’re my enemy. This is expected. They should know better, I’m just looking out for me” begins and we’re doing and saying anything to save ourselves.
In politics it seems that it just takes longer. But the disease of equivocating or bending on this belief or that belief kicks in at the first scent of the “next office.” It would seem that with each candidate’s compromises, they tell themselves that it is for the greater good: “if only I can win this election, think of all the good I can do! that will make up for me compromising this value. for me selling out this person, etc.” Then, I’ll be amazing and think of all the people I can help– it’ll all be worth it! I’m selling-out to help you. Don’t you understand?
The above applies to scripted Reality TV (non-live, non-talent shows) and scripted Elections (the media writes the script).
