Culture Theories Found In Reality Televison

Reality television shows are filled with popular culture theories.  There are the icons which can be found on American Idol, The Voice, and Survivor. Then there are the heroes which are found on Celebrity Apprentice.  Celebrities such as Dennis Rodman, Bret Michaels, and La Toya Jackson fight to raise money and awareness for their charity of choice. The last person standing will be chosen as the Celebrity Apprentice and have the honor of delivering a $250,000 bonus check to their designated charity (Celebrity Apprentice, 2013). The most common theory found in reality television is the stereotypes which can be found in the saucy, southern, six-year-old pageant queen Honey Boo Boo, to the hard-drinking, hypersexual Italian-Americans on Jersey Shore. These politically incorrect themes on reality television in the United States are hard to escape (Reality TV Casts Controversial Spotlight on American Stereotypes, 2013).

            The most interesting analysis is the popularity of reality shows.  I found this so interesting because of all the drama and stereotypes that are found in the shows. Viewers enjoy watching the cast fight, struggle, and just be basically “white trash”.  Reality TV allows Americans to fantasize about gaining status through automatic fame. Ordinary people can watch the shows, see people like themselves and imagine that they too could become celebrities by being on television (Reiss & Wiltz, 2001).

            I will think of popular culture differently because now I understand the definition.  Prior to taking this class, I thought that popular culture was the culture of popular people. Now I look at television, groups of people, and even my work environment and think about the individual’s culture. Why they behavior the way they do. I look at the different stereotypes that I hear daily and think about how it originated.  I really enjoyed this class and found it to beneficial in my own life.

References

Browne, R. E. (2005). Profiles of Popular Culture A Reader. Madison: The University Of Wisconsin Press Popular Press.

Celebrity Apprentice. (2013). Retrieved from NBC.com: http://www.nbc.com/the-apprentice/about/

Reality TV Casts Controversial Spotlight on American Stereotypes. (2013). Retrieved from Rianovosti: http://en.rian.ru/art_living/20130119/178877245.html

Reiss, S., & Wiltz, J. (2001). Why America Loves Reality TV. Retrieved from Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200109/why-america-loves-reality-tv

Reality Television Formulas

Reality Television Formulas

            The formulas that apply to Reality Television really depend on which show the viewer enjoys. Each show has its own story line that is filled with drama.  Some stereotypes that can be found are the aggression of African-American males, hillbillies from the south, lower income, and the list could go on. 

            The stereotype showed up on Bravo’s Top Chef. In the second season, one of the top chefs, Cliff, and African-American male, was asked to leave the show for “aggressive behavior” (Gaulin, 2007). In another episode, Cliff and another chef were involved in a physical contact.

            Villains also exist in Reality Television shows.  Take for insistence Simon Cowell from “American Idol”. Performers on American idol must pass through the insults of Simon. He never holds back his tongue, not even from his co-judges. Once, he asked a contestant if she had a singing teacher. She replied yes, and he asked her she had a lawyer. When the answer was no, he advised her to get one and sue her singing teacher (Anees, 2008). One of my favorite shows, “The Apprentice” there is the villain Omarosa. For Omarosa you either listen to her or you don’t she takes charge and it’s her way always. She is very fast at stabbing the other celebrities in the back.

            These two examples of different formulas of popular culture make these realities show such a hit. Viewers enjoy watching people argue; fall in love, relationships crumble, and hillbillies act like fools.

References:

Anees, S. (2008). The 15 Meanest Reality TV Villains. Retrieved from ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/15-meanest-reality-tv-villains/story?id=4694189#.UYPAaCnD9jo

Gaulin, P. (2007). Do Reality TV Shows Perpetuate Sterotypes About Young African-American Males? Retrieved from Yahoo Voices: http://voices.yahoo.com/do-reality-tv-shows-perpetuate-stereotypes-young-188121.html

           

Building Characters: The Work of Celebrity Impersonators

Building Characters: The Work of Celebrity Impersonators

            The Work of Celebrity Impersonators is aimed at explaining the occupation.  This article is intended to explain that being a celebrity impersonator is more than just putting on a wig or costume.  The author explains that like all performing artists, impersonators’ occupational identity can be problematic, as artistic work is often romanticized and misunderstood by others (Ferris, 2011).  Normally when people think of celebrity impersonators they think of some tacky act. This may be the case with a few impersonators. However, there are impersonators that have dedicated their lives to performing as a living celebrity or a historic figure. 

            This article takes a look at the two types of methods used by performers in order to transform into their given character.  The author uses ethnographic and interview data to explore the work lives of professional celebrity impersonators (Ferris, 2011). Ethnographic is defined as the research that deals with the scientific description of specific human cultures. This unconventional occupation requires the study of an individual and their interactions with others. It is the study that was theorized by Erving Goffman. Another type of study that is performed by celebrity impersonators is “role work”. This method is by far the most popular system in contemporary American film, theater, and televisions acting (Ferris, 2011). Role work is how individual act that hold certain positions. For instance, if you look at a librarian you will see that they are quite, soft tone to their voice and you can almost picture their shape, size, hair style etc.                        The author compiled the data for this article by interviewing twenty professional celebrity impersonators. Interviews were conducted in Las Vegas, Nevada, Branson, Missouri, and Central and Northern Illinois. The observations included onstage performance and the audience behavior.

            The data found that celebrity impersonators practice vocals, they study the behavior of their character by viewing endless movies, shows, or videos. They read about their characters life and keep up with any changes that their character maybe experiencing in their personal life. Building their character is critical to an impersonator. It is what either makes them or breaks them. Impersonators form a convincing charisma to represent the characters identity.

            To become the character the impersonator practices the behavior. They transform into the celebrity. The article discusses how this transformation may cause character confusion which wasn’t on the impersonators part but the audiences. Confusion about the character tends to occur more in the eyes of the children and sometimes fans. (Ferris, 2011)

            I found this article logically organized from the introduction of the study to how the study was going to be performed.  The author included the interviews which included Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Rod Stewart, and Neil Diamond.  Each impersonators experience into becoming the character was noted.

            The key idea that I am taking away from this journal article is that stereotype image that has been given to impersonators is incorrect. Impersonators work just has hard if not hard at becoming their character. It takes a lot of time, energy, and effort to transform into a believable character. That it’s not just about looking like the individual it’s about studying their behaviors.  

            The main reason I picked this journal article was my experience with impersonators. In Columbus, Ohio an Elvis impersonator by the name of Mike Albert performs. Being a huge Elvis fan, I was surprised with a trip to see him perform. My first thought was that this guy was just making money off of Elvis that there was no way he could look, sound, and have the same mannerisms. I was totally wrong. I had a great time and found myself overwhelmed by his performance. He even threw scarfs out into the audience. If the lady in front of me wasn’t in her 70’s I would have knocked her down for that scarf. Like anything in life there are good and bad, but everyone deserves a chance. 

References:

Ferris, K. O. (2011). Building Characters: The Work of Celebrity Impersonators. The Journal of Popular Culture, 44(6).

Heroes and The Cult of the Celebrity in Reality Television

To look for a hero in reality television show I think you need to look at shows such as Real Stories of the Highway Patrol, The First 48, and The Biggest Loser.  The First 48 is about the first 48 hours of a real-life homicide investigation (The First 48, 2004). The show is filmed in various cities across the United States.  Each show will follow two or more investigations in different cities.  The heroes in this reality show are the detectives and at times the witnesses for coming forward with the information.  Being in law enforcement myself I know that the dedication and personal sacrifices that are made in order to complete a high profile case such as a homicide.  These detectives put in hours and hours of work especially in the first 24 to 48 hours in order to bring justice to the victim. When it comes to witnesses, many people want to close their doors and pretend nothing happened. They don’t want to get involved for several reasons. So to find a witness that comes forward in this type of investigation can add much needed information.

            We are saturated with reality television shows.  It seems like every day a new show is aired and normal people become new celebrities. The cult of the celebrity is formed by the viewer who makes it a weekly event when the show is aired. With American Idol where ordinary people are attempting to reach fame viewers are consumed with the performances, judges, and votes.  The only reason these reality shows participates gained there celebrity status is due to the show.  In Storage Wars, Dan and Laura Dotson are getting rich quick. The only explanation for this is the large crowds that gather at the Freedom Storage in the desert between Los Angeles and Palm Springs. Months ago only a handful would show up for such event, today 119 individuals have come to watch the Dotson’s sell off the abandoned refuse (Cava, 2011) .

            I am a Storage War junky.  I love watching the stars of the show battle to get a storage unit. I watch rerun after rerun. 

References

Cava, M. R. (2011). 'Storage Wars' strikes it rich with colorful stars. Retrieved from USA Today: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2011-01-28-storage28_CV_N.htm

The First 48. (2004). Retrieved from TV.com: http://www.tv.com/shows/the-first-48/

Reality Shows Sterotypes and Rituals

Reality shows and stereotypes go hand and hand. In the past two decades unscripted TV has taken hold of the American airwaves, there have been a number of cases where the TV show has portrayed and even focused on behaviors that are used to stereotype individuals due to their race or cultural. Nothing creates drama better then confrontation; routinely producers choose families or contestants who display exaggerated stereotypical behavior and personality oddities.

             One show that comes to mind is Duck Dynasty.  This reality show is about the Robertsons family business of all things, making duck calls.  The show takes place in rural Louisiana.  The first stereotype that viewers will recognize is the redneck behavior of the cast.  The reason this show I feel has become so popular is due to the social niche of being millionaire rednecks.  The family business remains un-industrialized. At the Duck Commander headquarters, the duck calls are handmade in a room by men dressed in camo pants and beards. Each duck call is tested by blowing into the call.  The show challenges traditional ideas about what a multimillion dollar company is, and who runs it (Duck Dynasty).

            Some of the rituals that are seen in Duck Dynasty are the value of family and religion.  Both of which can be viewed as stereotypical “redneck” values. All of the main characters are family members or close friends and all are employed at the Robertson’s business. Each episode ends with the entire family sitting down for dinner and saying a prayer. The Robertsons belief in God and family is very strong throughout the show.  Phil who is the grandfather in the show always makes time to take his grandchildren fishing and Kay who is the grandmother likes spending time in the kitchen with her granddaughters.

References

Duck Dynasty. (n.d.). Retrieved from Common Sense Media: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/duck-dynasty