Reality TV Development - Essay Example

? "V REALITY TV and GOFFMAN" Introduction Mass media has emerged as one of the biggest means to convey messages that reach wide range of audience across the world. During initial stages of human civilization, verbal messaging was the only means of communication but gradually written messaging came in existence and now the technology has advanced to the premier stages where communication across the globe is just seconds/ click away. Mass media has always played imperative role in conveying information to the people. In the present epoch, television has appeared as one of the most influential forms of mass media and is influencing the society to a greater extent especially prolonged viewing has persuaded the societies of modern era (MacLuhan, 1965). According to Gerbner, (1994) "People think of television as programs, but television is more than that; television is a mythology-highly connected, repeated every day so that the themes that run through all programming and news have the effect of cultivating conceptions of reality". Postman (1985) states television as "a specially constructed information system whose purpose is to influence, teach train or cultivate the mind and character of youth". In the present epoch, Reality TV has taken diverse features, from exploration, adventures, cooking, dating, performing, to sequence or sub-genres. In reality shows people are being observed by huge audience in their natural forms and they behave in their natural manner without being camera conscious. In such shows the camera is right in front of the performer but they behave as if they are not aware about the presence of camera. Considering the significance of cultivation theory, numerous viewers watch the show and individual perception and social interaction in general are being interpreted by the people (Gerbner, 1994). People watch TV without giving a thought what they are watching and therefore they are under a jeopardy of getting misinformation. Reality shows do not have any basis about the gain audience is deriving, how far such shows are supporting the audience in enhancing their knowledge, remains unclear. American culture is highly influenced by the Reality Shows but it is imperative to understand if it is worth watching? Such behaviour could be explained with the help of technological determinism and cultivation theory and this requires an understanding for social interaction theory. According to Littlejohn (1983), social interaction occurs when "one person is doing something in view of another, a social interaction is taking place" (Littlejohn, 1983). Social interaction, a highly complicated method, is a trend that is very complicated to explain, Erving Goffman's Dramaturgy explained social interaction theory as. "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts..." According to this theory, day-to-day interaction necessitates individuals to represent significance of the interaction and to generate an impression of self in minds of others, thereby developing curiosity in the mass to know what is going to be the next. People act in reality shows in context of frame. In order to study the interaction, one in the presence of audience and other at the backstage. Thus, two emerging concepts to understand were given by Dramaturgy: Impression management and stage settings. The concept of impression management is defined by Wood (2000) as - "...the process of managing setting, words, nonverbal communication, and dress in an effort to create a particular image of individuals and situations" and is quick to point out that "...our efforts to create and project certain impressions may be either highly calculated or unintentional". There is a difference between sincere and cynical performer. What is observed by the audience is recorded in camera as front stage while behind the camera is the backstage life. The camera influences the behavior of people in everyday situations and also when performing or interacting in group. Such effect varies from individual to individual and comes from within as compared to the group oriented impact or due to the external interaction. A change or alteration is observed in individual behaviour but the interactions that are observed on camera were however not apparently considerably dissimilar as compared to the interaction off the camera ("Is Televised Reality Real? The effect of the camera on social interaction"). An advanced divergence in communication and interaction conduct was anticipated; the behaviour of disagreement, which was observed to a lesser degree and if expressed was to a influence the audience. These altered behaviour were highly polite and performed open-mindedly. In the reality shows heated arguments are being performed to seek public attention and to induce more of the interaction and topic of discussion. Thereby generating an atmosphere of filming of incidents. A method to gain popularity and generate curiosity in the minds of the audience to see the next episode and thereby enhancing the publicity of the reality show. Audience prefer to watch some hot burning topics either related with the romance or they like to watch some kind of fights or the heated discussions which in most of the cases do not have any basis, but still people like to watch and do not want to miss the episode ("Is Televised Reality Real? The effect of the camera on social interaction"). There are certain camera tricks also that works and distort the images and hence the impression of the people is not exactly displayed what they actually are. On studying the reality TV and understanding it at a length it could be analyzed that the reality TV does hold brunt on the viewer's observation and also is judged as per the viewer's social interaction, majority of the viewers are unaware of the camera distortion and the editing that is performed in the reality TV shows, as the entire day's activities are presented in half an hour or one hour period. In case when the viewers possess counterfeit imitations of social interaction as perceived by watching reality TV shows ("Is Televised Reality Real? The effect of the camera on social interaction"). Although frame analysis aids in clarifying the impression of existence and its affiliation to realism. Familiarity, concepts, understanding and frame cooperate in the production of the apparent skill. Incidence or happenings in the virtual settings transpires when the understanding or thought is absorbing, on the contrary such understanding is lost in case of discrepancy which persists between the related frame and the satisfaction. Ironically, highlighting the fact that if the substances are presented in a highly realistic manner then it may find inconsistency with the virtual frame ("Is Televised Reality Real? The effect of the camera on social interaction"). In reality TV shows, location prompts recommend that the participant is in an environment which is actually accountable to generate argument or conflict. However, in reality TV shows such virtual environment are unrealistic that may benefit for social interaction and discussion, to treat and eradicate fear or phobias, but the condition in such environment is totally controlled which may be misleading for the audience to a certain extent as it generates impression about their favourite participant. The participants are also aware of such controlled virtual environment, yet, to keep the audience engrossed in social interaction, such situations elicit the response of audience and enhances the viewership of the reality TV shows by encouraging and gathering large number of viewers. Such spatial or transformed frames are engrossing ("Is Televised Reality Real? The effect of the camera on social interaction"). Frames describe the meaning of life form in a arbitrated atmosphere. These frames determine the irony of experiences that participants witness under different set of conditions. The suppleness of structure and framework theory houses unreal, virtual and substantial worlds as well as many gradations of fundamental approaches. Framework theory finds application in elucidating the thought of reality and its relation with the presence. Thus, real experience involves- engrossment, containment within a frame and use of untransformed frame. Of these engrossment and containment within a frame generate attendance. Maintaining a line indicates to stick to the character, face or the expression. In reality TV shows what is framed as a place or location is not actually physical or in existence. Only engrossment seems to be real, thereby indicating that frame in some sense are not real. According to Goffman employing ‘real’ is relatively intense, as even though contemplations, fantasy and dreams are part of virtual environments and are not witnessed in everyday life they provide with the real experience. Highlighting the fact that things are not present in reality as they seem to be in virtual reality. Thus a substance of unreality persists in reality TV shows making them paradoxically unreal ("Using Goffman's Framework to Explain Presence and Reality"). Future studies to be carried out for reality TV shows, generated by reality programming other than the camera tricks to distort the impression of the participants of reality TV shows and therefore such studies must involve situational factors together with the assembly features encompassing editing and it is also imperative to justify the editing being done, as what the editor wants to show the audience and why the editor doesn't want to show the complete reality on the reality TV show. People also would like to understand the basis of the selection procedure that is being taken into consideration while selecting the participants of the reality TV show and what is the idea behind such reality TV shows, is it mere publicity stunt or an effort to seek public attention and gain popularity. Do people volunteer to join such reality TV shows or they are there just to be popular for social interaction among the mob. Still people would like to see their favourite artist on reality TV show as they are highly influenced by their behaviour, the way the speak, their lifestyle, their mannerism, their views and thoughts and also their approach to fight any odd situation. People try to mimic these reality TV participants in their real lives. The concern is are these participants equally aware of their impression on the society and social interaction, and if yes then are they really true to people and mob who has made them the star and whom they follow in their real life actions? If yes, these participants are alert and really concerned then why they are not contributing in building a social sphere of harmony and peace, when they know that they are being followed then they should generate self image of an idealistic character which influence social interaction in a positive and meaningful manner rather than generating false images and arguments which do not have any basis. At times there is a performance breakdown and dejection is observed in audience Essentially, such reality TV programs must be considered as a way to convey messages to the society. How to interact with people and behave in a manner that is not hostile but friendly, a way that is not awful but pleasing to build a constructive social atmosphere and able to generate beneficial social interaction that aids in the progress, development and upliftment of the societies as reality TV shows influence socialism ("Using Goffman's Framework to Explain Presence and Reality"). Works Cited Gerbner, G. "Reclaiming our cultural mythology". The Ecology of Justice. 38(40). 1994. Goffman, E. "The interaction order: American Sociological Association, 1982 presidential address". American Sociological Review. 48, 1-17. 1983. "Is Televised Reality Real? The effect of the camera on social interaction". Web. 12 Jul. 2012. . Littlejohn, S.W. "Theories of human communication". (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. 1983. McLuhan, M. "Understanding media: the extensions of man". New York: McGraw-Hill. 1965. Postman, N. "Amusing ourselves to death". New York: Viking Penguin. 1985. "Using Goffman's Framework to Explain Presence and Reality". Web. 12 Jul. 2012. . Wood, J. "Communication theories in action: An introduction" 2nd ed. Stamford, CT: Wadsworth Thomson Learning. 2000. Read More