Everyone can admit that if they saw people like the families in the shows in public, they would stare. Little people, crazy mothers forcing their daughters into beauty pageants, or families of 20 all switch the social status quo. A few moments ago, a commercial for “All American Muslim” came on. It seems that they’ve found yet another minority to expose. (I certainly hope this show spreads a positive message for religious tolerance). Since most of the subjects on TLC are southern Christians, it will be interesting to see what audience tunes in to watch this one.
I think that if Sarje Baartman were around in this era, she would probably have her own show, too.
These shows may educate some on the lifestyles of minorities, but I’m afraid that people stereotype others because of them. Since they’re watching/staring to find out the root of situations or the way things work, they think in a straight line and assume all people of a certain group or who have a certain hobby act this way. The shows find so many subjects for each episode, that it seems like they’ve lassoed the whole group together. This usually doesn’t happen in real-life staring; we see that everyone is different and acts in different ways.
As I don’t watch TV on my own time, I asked my roommate why she enjoys the shows so much. Of Toddlers and Tiaras, she says the mothers and their drama are the best part. Of extreme couponing, “I just like to see them save money.” She watches Sister Wives to see the way polygamists live and how their families work.
These shows exist for no other reason than to be a public spectacle and to tap into the human element of curiosity. As Garland-Thomson says, “Human curiosity animates our modern world, revealing the tacit, taming the novel, and undertaking the unknown…The pursuit of curiosity…characterizes modern individuals" (47). Curiosity has certainly molded and characterized the shows people seek on television.
Reality shows are an interesting circumstance because in these cases there is not a straight path from starer to staree. Editing re-frames the lives of the participants on the show, highlighting the most curious elements of their existence and centering their deviation from the norm. You are so right in saying that curiosity has changed the way we watch TV. It's surprising that the reality TV boom didn't hit earlier.
ReplyDeleteThese programs like to pretend that they're giving great insight into the lives of these people, something that couldn't be picked up from simply staring at them in passing. However, most give a limited view of these people's lives. Their difference is always centered and the other facets of their lives are overlooked. I guess you have to keep things curious if you want to be picked up for another season.
I completely agree with you that TLC provides a guilt free way to stare. Like we talked about with The Biggest Loser show, these television shows ultimate goal is to make money. They claim to provide information about people who live outside the norm, but they often turn these people into spectacles. The public watches these shows because we are curious about people that we are not often exposed to. We may also watch because it makes us feel better about our lives and reaffirms our feeling that we have "normal" lives, while they are living "abnormal" lives. This helps to create a binary of normal and abnormal.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that TLC programs are made for us to become obsessed with because of the way they flip what we see as something normal. Although I am not sure that Sarje Baartman would have her own show in this era because of the fact that large breasts and behinds are idolized by many people and not criticized like during her life.
ReplyDeleteTLC has many shows that really piss me off because of the way they present the everyday lives of all of the people. For example, the newer show called "My Strange Addiction" puts people's insecurities about what they do in their lives for the whole world to judge and stare at. The claim of "The Learning Channel" is ridiculous, because what really do you learn by watching an episode of 19 Kids and Counting other than to never, ever have that many kids.