The Faux Authenticity of Reality Tv

The Faux Authenticity of Reality TV Saturday night, you have nothing to do so you turn on the TV, and the first show it displays is Man V.S. Wild. You wonder whether or not this show is true in its content, because the host could be getting some support behind the scenes. Reality TV is not truly authentic because the word “reality” has been trivialized, the content in the shows are often times distorted, and the advertisement for the shows portray only insignificant scenes. “Reality” in reality TV has morphed into the idea of entertainment rather than its definition being truth. The intention of these programs was, at first, to portray genuine occurrences in the lives of everyday people. Over time, TV stations and producers have twisted it, turning these situations into exaggerated truths. For example, in the show Operation Repo, two hosts are out to tow a construction vehicle because of the owners lack of payment. Almost immediately a verbal fight breaks out, then a physical fight, leading to the owner operating his vehicle, intentionally damaging the hosts’ truck, causing another physical fight. In reality, people argue for their car, but would not use physical violence or damaging property as a solution. Operation Repo is meant to show real life repossessions, but these situations the hosts are experiencing, are more of a sensationalized version of reality. Producers add more drama and fighting to make the show interesting to the viewers. Reality TV suggests you are seeing everything going on behind the camera, but you may not be seeing all of it. On Dirty Jobs, host Mike Rowe experiences different and usually filthy jobs, explaining how they are accomplished. One episode shows him inspecting a sewer, but throughout the program, the professionals are doing the job while he sits back and makes comments on it. Scenes of him making

jokes or freaking out because a rat ran across his lap, are the main focal point of the show, not what the job truly entails. In commercials for specific TV shows, producers and editors show scenes from the show that grab the viewers’ attention and convince them to tune into the program. Advertisements for TV shows for example, Dirty Jobs, portray scenes of Mike joking or standing in feces. These scenes the advertisement portrays are more than likely only a few minutes long in the full episode and are unimportant to how the job works. By limiting the advertisement to these unimportant, but entertaining scenes, they are not showing the reality of the job and they are also not illustrating the reality of the show itself. Reality TV shows are not authentic because creators add scripted scenes to make the reality of a situation entertaining, therefore diminishing the definition of “reality.” Secondly, producers cut out authentic scenes and add drama or humor that are of no relevance to the actuality of the situations faced throughout the show. The accuracy in reality shows is also unreal because advertisements only advertise the unimportant scenes.