"Reality
TV encourages people to pursue celebrity status, and discourages the value of
hard work and an education."
In this critical investigation i am going to look at why it is so frequently discussed that the new craze 'structured reality' television better known in recent times as 'dramality' television, (a cross between drama and reality television) and ask the question are these programmes to blame for our culture being 'dumbed down?' I will be discussing is it this a true statement and to what extent? My key focus on the hit series 'Geordie Shore.' A show that follows eight northerns on their talentless, argumentative and drunkard adventures. They now have been deemed celebrities and have endorsements round Britain, this poses the key question which is in fact my hypothesis: modern structured reality television is dumbing down British culture and television.
In this critical investigation i am going to look at why it is so frequently discussed that the new craze 'structured reality' television better known in recent times as 'dramality' television, (a cross between drama and reality television) and ask the question are these programmes to blame for our culture being 'dumbed down?' I will be discussing is it this a true statement and to what extent? My key focus on the hit series 'Geordie Shore.' A show that follows eight northerns on their talentless, argumentative and drunkard adventures. They now have been deemed celebrities and have endorsements round Britain, this poses the key question which is in fact my hypothesis: modern structured reality television is dumbing down British culture and television.
The history of reality television has developed rapidly throughout the years. From the early days of cinema verite right down to structured reality television. All having one similar key concept which is called ethnofiction. This is essentially a type of narrative where the characters speak directly to the audience regarding the situation of what is being shown. So why has this changed throughout the years, and why has it dumbed down our culture? "I think that reality TV is so bad. It is a tool by the media to not make people think." Once reality television came onto the screens in a documentary style like cinema verite which showed the raw honest truth that we never saw for ourselves. Often with a strong political message where the camera never lied, however now it lacks substance and any meaning other than watching young people get drunk and aspiring to have such a lifestyle. This brings us to believe that the camera showing the truth through the prior years is now in the complete opposite state, and reality television in the modern era is for sheer entertainment value.
There is a numerous amount of evidence to suggest that this hypothesis can be deemed true. The modelling theory is young audiences in particularly the target audience of Geordie Shore is an imitation of behaviour or pareses. This theory is essentially glorified in the programme as the cast members tend to make up slang words and instantly they would 'hashtag' the word and through the use of new and digital media promote it via social networking sites. With these talentless role models having such influence to their audiences another theory that could link to this is the disinhibition theory. This is the idea that the younger generation (who structured reality shows like Geordie Shore target) disagree or object to something but once seen on television frequently by stars they become acceptant of these things. Desensitization theory says that people will become less affected by certain things that once bothered them and eventually it won’t seem as offensive to them any more. This could be anything from smoking, drug use, swearing right down to sexual activity.
