How does Hill define reality TV? Describe his definitions in
the context of a contemporary Reality TV show.
“There are a variety of styles and techniques
associated with reality TV, such as non-professional actors, unscripted
dialogue, surveillance footage, hand-held cameras, seeing events unfold as they
are happening in front of the camera.” (Hill, 2005, pg 41)
Reality Tv… should be pretty self-explanatory really. You
have reality and then you television. Put them together and what have you got? ‘Real’
life depictions on television. So if we were to dissect Hill’s definition at
the top then we can assign some modern day reality TV shows to each little
section to really understand what it all means.
“unscripted dialogue”- The Bachelor would be a show that
comes to mind (all of the following examples can be added to this list as well,
to be fair) where dialogue between the participants are unscripted. There are
certain parts of the show which may need to follow a specific formula for the
show to progress but the outcome of the ‘scene’ can never really be
anticipated. For instance, there is always a rose ceremony but it is not always
certain that the girl will accept the rose.
“surveillance footage”- Police Ten 7 is an obvious choice…
(safer communities together!)
“hand-held cameras”- The Amazing Race literally tracks
people’s every movement as they scamper across the world. With the ever
evolving technological world I wonder how long it’ll be before drones and
GoPros take over the work of actual camera people.
“Seeing events unfold as they are happening in front of the
camera”- Keeping Up with the Kardashians. The fact that a family have managed
to capitalize on their family life just blows my mind, but I digress! In one of
the episodes one of the sisters (her name starts with a K…oh…nevermind) gives
birth on screen. Definitely seeing the events as they unfold on screen… and
maybe a little bit too much!
Reality TV is not an easy genre to slap a cohesive
definition to. Another name for Reality TV is ‘factual TV’ although, that might
have more to do with the origins of the genre than the actual content. Very
little is ‘factual’ about the ‘reality’ that is portrayed on screen. When you
join into the same genre shows such as Ex on the Beach (a trashy celebrity “dating”
show and consequently kind of satisfying for reasons unbeknownst to me!) and
The Chase (general knowledge quiz show to win money) very little that is a
by-product of the genre can in any way be beneficial to society or in any way “factual”!
Hill, A. (2005) The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television. (pp. 14 –
40). Oxon: Routledge.
Good, thanks Tharina
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