Reality show programs
Instant celebrity
One of the
most successful reality show programs that followed lives of famous people was
originally produced on MTV. The editors of this music channel in 2002 realized
that music videos have stopped being interesting to the audience and that a new
approach is needed in order to beat the competition. They decided to create a
new reality show program that will offer access to celebrities' life
By NENAD ĆIRIĆ (nenad.ciric@wavemagazine.net)
from
Milano, ITALY
Translation: SUNČICA JOVANOVIĆ
In
the old days, talent was essential for someone to become famous. Only few people
could have the privilege to present themselves and their skills in front of the
public. With the arrival of the tabloid culture, public figures had to
accept the fact that the media are becoming more interested in scandals and gossips
than new movie promotions or music records. However, it all went even one step
further. In the time of overproduction, the media also felt the need to produce
"celebrities" on their own, so they would be available all the time
and whose private lives would feed the public's need for irrelevant information.
And so everyone becomes a potential candidate for this new superstar. Talent is
no longer required. Being ready to expose your own life to the public is enough.
Considering the fact that television is the most powerful media, the format
of "reality show" was chosen as the most appropriate for introducing
the public with these superstars-to-be.
"The Osbournes"
One
of the most successful reality show programs that followed lives of famous people
was originally produced on MTV, the American TV station. The editors of
this music channel in 2002 realized that music videos have stopped being interesting
to the audience and that a new approach is needed in order to beet the competition.
They decided to create a new reality show program that will give access to
celebrities' life. The singer of "Black Sabath", Ozzie
Osbourne was chosen for the main actor and during the making of the show,
his son Jack, daughter Kelly and spouse Sharon, who until that time hadn't been
exposed to the public, also took part. This program, which in the beginning
seemed to be just an interesting idea, became a global phenomenon and the most
viewed TV show the MTV has ever made. Through as much as four seasons, spectators
from all over the world kept track of every happening in this extravagant family,
starting with Sharon's fight with cancer and Kelly's failing to build a career
as a singer, all the way to Jack's drug problems. When in the year 2004 the show
was ended, the Osbourne family already became a synonym for reality shows. Sharon
became one of the judges in TV competitions such as "Xfactor"
in England and "America's got talent". Kelly participated in
the show "Dancing with the stars", and Jack mostly spent his
time in rehabilitation clinics.
"The Newlyweds"
Following
the recipe, MTV already started a new reality show program in 2003 called "The
Newlyweds". This time, the focus was on Jessica Simpson and her new husband,
Nick Lachey. Jessica was formerly known as a pop-singer and Nick was a member
of the boy band called "98 degrees" that fell apart in the meantime,
as well as Jessica's career. This show brought a great deal of popularity to this
couple, and their private details served as entertainment to millions of people.
The show lasted until 2005, when the couple got officially divorced. Jessica's
youngest sister Ashley also got a reality show at that time. This show followed
her attempts to build a career as a singer.
"The Hills"
Just
when it looked as if MTV had a bit too much luck with reality shows of poor quality,
the year 2006 brought new successes. Producers came up with the idea to follow
the life of Lauren Conrad who was already famous for her participation
in the reality show called "Laguna beach". The show was supposed
to keep up with her arrival to Los Angeles and her beginning of work in the "Teen
Vogue" magazine. Still, Lauren insisted on inserting her friend Hadi,
with whom she will later become enemies due to disagreement with her boyfriend
Spencer. And so, the story was becoming more and more complicated, new characters
were arriving and these ordinary girls' lives became interesting to the whole
world. The show was named "The Hills" because it took place in
the high grounds of Los Angeles. The participants of this project will stay remembered
for their numerous fights, lame vocabulary and incredible superficialness. In
spite of all this, the stars of this show gained quite a lot of money. Lauren,
the main character, earned 75,000 $ per episode until she left it in 2009. All
she needed to do was play as herself. Besides that, every participant also created
his or her own fashion collection, perfumes and wrote a book on their lives.
"Paris"
One
of the most recognizable symbols of pop culture nowadays is, without a doubt,
Paris Hilton, known to all without real reason. This young starlet managed
to become famous worldwide in a blink of an eye because of her private video.
Although she comes from a famous family, she managed to create a brand out of
her name which today includes movie rolls, reality shows, music records, a few
perfume fragrances, fashion collections, canned champagne, dog food, hair extractions,
and the list goes on. Everyone makes laugh of her, but her yearly income is
counted in millions of dollars. Her grandfather, the founder of the "Hilton"
hotels, cut her off from his last will because of her improper behavior. For this
reason, she had to provide herself luxurious life and achieved to do so with no
real talent, just high ambitions.
Death is reality, too
The
question today is whether the media are using celebrities or is it the other
way round. Does an individual with no talent, at the moment when he or she
decides to become a public figure, makes a deal with the devil? It certainly seems
like many celebrities go through some hard moments in front of the cameras in
spite of the big money they earn. The best example for this is Jade Goody,
who participated in several seasons of the reality show "Big Brother".
When she found out that she suffered from cureless form of cancer, she accepted
to create a reality show even out of her death, allowing cameras to follow her
last days of life. Her excuse was that she wanted to provide financial independency
for her children.
In some cases, we could be looking at a perfect conjunction
of the media and the people hungry for fame. One side gets a popular TV show,
the other gets attention. Is the opinion of Andrew Warhol stated in 1968
true after all? Did we all get our 15 minutes of fame? If so, what will the new
form of global media named Internet bring to us? Maybe 15 seconds? Or what...?
(Published: 18.12.2009.)
