Abstract: UNDERSTANDING REALITY TELEVISION Su Holmes and Deborah Jermyn, eds. London: Routtedge, 2004, 302 pp. In a recent issue of Cranta (no. 86), Andrew O'Hagan discusses between films and personal experience, referencing particular and complex ways in which people identify with, and engage in, moving images. In an astute comment, O'Hagan writes that movies and real life share secret things to do with one another... that only hard-hearted could fail to (180). This describes something of connection that binds viewers to narratives on film and television, and it highlights mysterious ways in which audiences take meaning from, and interpret, what they see on screen. But what happens when these images not only call out to viewers at level of narrative, but also make claims about being real? In other words, if narrative, fictional worlds connect with viewers' inner lives, how might one characterize power of unscripted, nonfktion images? Do these images provoke a heightened sense of identification on part of viewers? Do they also encourage a greater degree of anticipation during viewing experience? Do unscripted scenarios hold promise (fulfilled or not) that anything can happen? One might consider, then, role of unscripted narratives in current cultural milieu, which has seen documentary films (Fahrenheit 9/11 [2004], Capturing Friedmans [2003], Spellbound [2002]) and unscripted reality-television shows (Survivor, American Idol, Queer Eye for Straight Guy) generate enormous fan bases and strong numbers, either at box office or in Nielsen ratings. Film studios and television networks have witnessed and responded to this surge in popularity of unscripted media; cable and network television in particular have attempted to capitalize on this phenomenon. The cable television network Bravo has even produced a five-part documentary called The Reality of Reality-thai is, a metareality show-with segments such How Real is Real? and Behind Scenes. Reality television, which promises to unveil things as they are, has generated its own reality show (with its own portrayal of the real). In this context, unscripted television has become an important site of public debate over past decade, and this is why essays collected in Understanding Reality Television, edited by Su Holmes and Deborah Jermyn, are so welcome. Focusing on how reality programming creates new challenges for existing analytical approaches in television and cultural studies (16), Holmes and jermyn have assembled a highly readable and even exciting collection that should be of keen interest to students, academics, and critics alike. The strength of Understanding Reality Television lies in variety of topics it addresses and accessibility of its essays. Holmes and Jermyn's introduction both sets stage for essays that follow and offers a compelling discussion of its own about several key issues in critical study of reality television-debates concerning definitions, terminology, cultural value, and representation of everyday. Holmes and Jermyn examine theoretical space that reality television occupies, from way in which participants and contestants talk explicitly about politics of how they are being 'represented' at level of text itself (12), to reality television's very self-reflexive and self-conscious interplay between different programme forms (6). They argue that debates about reality television should not be abstracted from their relationship with a range of existing critical, theoretical and methodological paradigms, and that these debates can provide an opportunity for experimentation and exploration, at theoretical level (18). Holmes and Jermyn make a concerted effort to incorporate essays that cover a range of areas, addressing reality television's history and reception, issues of class, gender, race, and community, well questions concerning celebrity and temporality. …
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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