"Even if you do not watch reality television, it is becoming increasingly hard to avoid....Americans seem hooked on so-called reality TV" (Psychology Today, Reiss and Witz). Where did reality television begin? For years nonfiction films have been made and aired on television--documentaries of various sorts. However, "reality television" today is defined in terms of watching people, whether they are performing stunts, answering questions, or simply living their everyday lives. In both situations, past and present, viewers are voyeurs into a life that is not their own.
The version of reality television popular today is seen most clearly on MTV's The Real World and CBS' Survivor. The origin of reality television is often cited as PBS' The American Family in 1973, which documented the Loud family. Current reality series follow their subjects more closely and only today would The American Family be considered reality TV rather than documentary. Reality TV is a very immediate trend in America, and one that's appeal continues to grow. The format has become more popular in the last decade with the advent of The Real World, and has reached it is peak in the last two years with Survivor. The Real World especially has created similar series like Road Rules (where the cast travels together) and The Real World Road Rules (where cast members from each show's different seasons compete), which combines the popularity of MTV's series with Survivor. None of this could be possible without a large and loyal fan base.
Reality shows are in constant development, magazine articles comment on the trend, and mainstream movies, particularly 1998's The Truman Show and 1999's EdTV, prove that reality TV has become a staple of American culture. The immediate popularity of this television phenomenon is important to the study of the that group that makes its possible--its fans. Reality television fans are a group who are often regulated to the background because the genre is considered by many to be the worst popular culture has to offer. These fans, however, are a more influential group than one would expect, and their community proves that reality television is here to stay.
Mediaweek writer Allan James Frutkin recognizes the roles that both reality TV and reality TV fans play in today's popular culture:
[M]ore than anything else, a show needs to draw and keep viewers... There is one little series, MTV's The Real World, that has been running for ten years and remains a staple of the music channel's lineup. Created and executive-produced by Jonathan Murray and Mary Ellis Bunin, the series single-handedly created the 24/7, soap-u-mentary style of most contemporary reality series.
The Real World is generally agreed have "set up the current reality-TV infestation by filming a group of strangers nonstop in a contrived stressful situation," as US Weekly critic Tom Conroy writes in his review. The Real World was the first reality series to strike a chord with audiences. Beginning in 1991 in New York City, the show promises "the true story of seven strangers...Find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real" (The Real World). The popularity of the program surprised producers, and with each year the format has changed--cast members are required to work now, and the show moves to a new city each season. The Real World has developed a fan following that has enabled its eleventh season to air this year in Chicago with a viewership of over two million people per episode--a significant number for a cable network show.
The present-day influx of reality shows owes much to The Real World's format. "Would Survivor...have made it on the air if The Real World had not proved that turning a camera on a bunch of non-actors without a script could be as entertaining as many sitcoms and dramas?" asks Mark Peyser of Newsweek. The enduring popularity of The Real World assured television creators that there was a niche in the market for a show like Survivor, which is based on the documentary style of The Real World. In 1999, producer Mark Burnett pitched the idea to CBS. Sixteen Americans would be castaway to "outwit, outplay, and outlast" each other for a prize of one million dollars (Survivor). Like The Real World, the location changes each season--this year's cast competes on Marquesas Island. Survivor's main twist on the reality show genre is the inclusion of the game show element, with contestants that last an entire season instead of one episode. Like The Real World, the success of the show was unexpected. Survivor resulted in the most-watched show of 2000--fifty million viewers tuned in for the final episode. When the cable entertainment channel E! devoted an hour if its True Hollywood Story show to the original Survivor, it declared the show "more than a ratings juggernaut, it was a cultural phenomenon."
In a study of reality TV fans, The Real World and Survivor stand out as the best examples of the popularity of the genre. Both popular in America, with The Real World in its eleventh season and Survivor currently in its fourth, these shows provide a model for commercially successful reality series with growing fan bases. But despite the undeniable popularity of these show, reality TV is looked down upon by critics as "a genre that often caters to the lowest common denominator, and that seems to extol such base characteristics as deceit and greed" (Frutkin). In 2001, after the established success of Survivor, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences created an Emmy category for non-scripted programming. This award would be given during the daytime ceremony, however, and not at the more prestigious primetime Emmys (Frutkin). This reflects the industry view that reality TV programs are of a lesser quality than conventional comedies and dramas. Reality TV's place at the bottom of the television caste system is a position that reflects public perception of its fans as well.
The relationship of the critic and producer to the television fan is crucial. With reality TV, the fan is at the bottom of this hierarchy, commonly perceived as an obsessed individual with nothing better to do that "spy" on others. Executives tend to have a lower opinion of the viewers who tune into these shows, and see their audience "as highly malleable, capable of seemingly endless manipulation" ("The Television Text" by George Bagley). For example, NBC's Fear Factor, a series which dares its contestants to perform stunts for money, emphasizes safety precautions because "There's no guarantee that a viewer might not want to do something crazy" (Frutkin). Reality TV is presently very lucrative, and production companies have been quick to jump on the bandwagon. The genre is nevertheless seen as a trend, and a passing one. The public, the industry believes, will watch whatever is successful at the time--"the audience could care less what form a program comes in" (Frutkin).
The low public and critical opinion of reality TV casts an equally dark shadow on its fans. Reality television is often criticized for glorifying immorality and emphasizing the negative aspects of human interaction. Critics point to the popularity of CBS' Temptation Island, a show where young couples were tested to see if they could remain together--fans were assumed to be drawn by the possibility of illicit sex (Reiss and Witz). The Real World and Survivor come in for their share of attempted sex and betrayal as well:
This time around, [The Real World's] producers have gone to great lengths to encourage the new cast members...to think sexy: The living space comes complete with a Jacuzzi, an assortment of sex books and a shower with two heads and a peekabo curtain (Conroy).
TIME magazine critic Josh Tyrangiel found the second installment of Survivor to be less fulfilling than the first season, characterized by its famed back-stabbing techniques:
Reality TV is supposed to coarsen the culture, accelerating American's highly anticipated slide into the Sodom-Gomorra metropolitan area. Survivor: The Australian Outback proved to be a huge letdown. Tina Wesson, sweet part-time nurse from Tennessee, took the million dollars... It was all very touching. Now please bring back the naked fat guy.
Since reality TV often focuses on the competitiveness and personal drama of its cast, it becomes an assumption that these must be the values of fans as well. Executive producer Mark Burnett of Survivor admits that viewers may be " 'drawn into the negative a bit more than the positive' " (quoted in Frutkin). A profile survey in Psychology Today attempts to define the actual values of reality TV fans. The survey states that "one of the main differences between fans of the show and everyone else is not an interest in sex but a lack of interest in personal honor--they value expedience, not morality" (Reiss and Witz). Fans are interested in scandal, but also in the cast members' reasons behind that behavior--a mixture of qualities that captures "the spirit of competition paired with the opportunity for payback" (Reiss and Witz). This view of reality TV fans as less moral individuals than regular viewers is a popular one.
Though reality TV fans are stereotyped themselves, they seem drawn to the sameness that exists from year to year in reality television. The Real World is especially known for "all the angry black men, outspoken gays, and naive virgins featured over the years" (Peyser). This season features similar characters--Theo, a young homophobic black man; Aneesa, a nineteen-year-old lesbian from an interracial marriage; and Cara, a young woman from an upper-middle class background who is single for the first time in her adult life. This cast fits the mold that The Real World has long established--some are critical of the others' ways of life, some are attracted to each other, and all participate in talking about the others behind their backs. Survivor has adopted many of the same stereotypes--of the sixteen members, there is usually a black male, a homosexual male, a variety of young men and women, and an older man or woman. The fans have come to expect a certain kind of interaction between these established characters, particularly when it comes to romance. Every season, The Real World house is fitted up with bedrooms that must be shared, often by a coed couple. Survivor contestants must answer questions put to them by producers about their sexual preferences (E! True Hollywood Story). All this is an attempt to spur on certain behaviors that an audience expects and reacts to.
The stereotype of fans is not complete without considering one of the basic principles of reality television--voyeurism. The June 26, 2001 issue of TIME magazine featured an article on Survivor that summed up its appeal in one short phrase: "We like to watch." Critics often use words like "spy" and "peer" to describe The Real World--"In the series' eleventh season, we get to peep at seven attractive young adults" (People critic Terry Kelleher). The idea of a group of people watching the lives of others, and of not only enjoying it but considering it entertainment, is a disturbing one for American society. Fans are criticized for their "blatant voyeurism" and their obsession with the "shameless exhibitionists" who appear on the shows (Reiss and Witz). For most critics, the appeal of watching others live is the foremost reason viewers are drawn to reality television--and another reason to suspect the genre's fans of being lower on the television social scale than other viewers.
Know Your World Extra critic Noel Neff calls reality TV a way to gain celebrity status: "Some people will do just about anything for money. Others will try just about anything to get on television." The Psychology Today survey concludes its findings by stating that "the attitude that best separated the regular viewers of reality television from everyone else is the desire for status" (Reiss and Witz). Critic Timothy Malefyt of Brandweek writes that reality TV celebrates the fact that "people are famous just for being themselves." Fans become involved in the lives of cast members because they know that this could be them--reality TV has made it possible for anyone to become a star. Critics and the general public tend to see this need for celebrity status as somewhat pathetic. In his article "Look At Me, Leave Me Alone" in The American Prospect, Joshua Gamson writes that fans are drawn to reality TV only because of the value American culture places on its celebrities.
This is an extraordinarily ocular culture, and one that rewards the looked-at, so it ought not be surprising that lots of people are ready to be watched. Being looked at, being visible, being known about, is a currency. You can cash it in for money or office, and even if that's not what you're after, the logic of celebrity remains powerful: you aren't anybody until you've been on television.
Despite this acknowledgment of a certain cultural pressure, Gamson is highly critical of the hypocrisy of fans. The irony is that fans relish in watching the private moments of others even while complaining about their own lack of privacy in today's technological world. There are "more than enough people willing to watch, all the while complaining that 'the media' are too intrusive, sticking their microphones in the midst of private grief and joy and intrigue" (Gamson).
Through popular criticisms of reality television, its fans have developed a reputation for being immoral, voyeuristic, and fame-hungry--all in all, less intelligent and cultured than other television viewers. This perception of the reality TV fan has become stereotype, one populated by its use in mainstream Hollywood films like The Truman Show and EdTV. These films were released in 1998 and 1999, in response to the critical attention reality TV was already beginning to receive. Both films portray reality television as a cultural evil, and both highlight the stereotypical role the fan plays in encouraging that evil.
The Truman Show, directed by Peter Weir and produced by Paramount Pictures, is the story of Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey), a man whose entire life has unknowingly been lived on television--"An entire human life recorded on an intricate network of hidden cameras, broadcast live and unedited twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, to an audience around the globe" (The Truman Show). Truman lives inside a giant studio; all his friends and family are actors who are directed by executive producer Christof (Ed Harris). Throughout the film, Truman becomes aware of the inconsistencies of his life, and begins to realize what is and is not real. The end credits--and the story's points of view--are divided into three parts: "Truman's World," "Christof's World," and "The Viewers." While the worlds of Truman and Christof are frequently at odds as Truman struggles to discover the truth and Christof tries to contain him, the viewers blur the line between fiction and reality even more. As the film progresses, fans are introduced to the film audience. The first fans in the film are two parking garage attendants who watch Truman's show in their booth. They appear after Truman's wife, the fictional "Meryl" played by Hannah Gill (Laura Linney), coyly suggests that Truman "come to bed." Immediately, as the film cuts to the disappointed parking attendants who comment "you never see anything anyway," fans of the show are linked to an avid interest in seeing sex.
The stereotypes continue--the second group of fans is led by two waitresses who work at the "Truman Bar." They have complete knowledge about everything on the show, and while they provide the film audience with background information, they also highlight how completely immersed in the show fans are. Any real drama in Truman's life is often undermined by shots of Christof directing the "scene" or of fan reaction. The most dramatic moments are punctuated by the more extreme Truman fanatics--a man who lives in his bathtub with a water-proof remote control, two elderly ladies who hug pillows with Truman's face stitched onto them, and the patrons at the Truman Bar. When Truman finally escapes, shots of the fans become more frequent. There is a clear alliance between the fans and Truman, but any positive aspect of the fan world is undermined by their complete devotion to the very show that is keeping Truman captive. Christof is very aware of this dynamic. When he explains the truth to Truman at the film's finale, he cries, "Say something, god damnit! You're on television! You're live to the whole world!" The fans cheer when Truman steps out into "the real world," but the last line in the film belongs to a fan. As the TV screen in their booth becomes static, the parking garage attendants reach for the remote and ask, "What else is on?" The fans are only concerned about Truman because he is on television--they are obsessed with his life because they can watch it all, and once The Truman Show ends, all they desire is another show to entertain them.
EdTV could very well be that show. Directed by Ron Howard and released by Universal Pictures in 1999, the film is clearly in conversation with The Truman Show. In EdTV, the constantly-viewed star of his own television series is aware of this fact, "a conscious and willing exhibitionist" (John Calhoun, "Bright Lights, Low Living"). Ed Pekurny (Matthew McConaughey) auditioned for producers at the fictional cable channel True TV. The new "EdTV" show will follow an ordinary person as he lives his life, "no script, no editing, all day, all night, all true" (EdTV). The appeal of The Truman Show was a supposedly ideal life--EdTV represents an ordinary one. Despite Ed's average life--or better put, because of it--EdTV draws huge ratings. The main drama in Ed's life is his attraction to his brother's girlfriend Shari (Jenna Elfman) and their attempts to have a private relationship while the cameras roll and the public watches. The True TV producers know their audience. After selecting Ed, one comments, "If he's good, great. If he's bad..." The show's developer, Cynthia (Ellen DeGeneres), interrupts-- "Even better."
Like The Truman Show, EdTV introduces its film audience to the fans slowly. Shots of fans increase as the show gains popularity. The first fans reflect the public opinion that reality shows are trash. An African-American wife hushes her husband when he tells her to turn the show off. A girl in a college dorm insists "he's cute" while her roommates shake their heads. These first fan scenes demonstrate the show's appeal to viewers of every race, class, and age. The next fan group, a homosexual couple in Manhattan, cements this idea. "I do not know. It is just--just let me watch," one tells the other as he is inexplicably drawn into the banality of Ed's life. These fans are voyeurs, too easily amused by the novelty of being able to simply watch.
The true dramatic moments in Ed's life are undermined by the constant presence of the camera crew and shots of fan reaction. Ed is on television and therefore famous, and as the show becomes more popular, the executives try and shape Ed's reality with the introduction of a new love interest in Jill (Elizabeth Hurley) after fans decides that Shari is not sexy enough for a life on television. EdTV becomes scripted, and on night fifty-four of the show, the "sex episode" airs. Cynthia has found Ed a date so desperate to be on television that she will do anything. The film audience is treated to a wide variety of fans--from Chino State Prison to the University of Florida--throwing parties to commemorate this television milestone. By now Ed has become wary of his life on television, and despite the producers being "go for sex!" Ed does not sleep with Jill. With his privacy gone for good, Ed quickly loses interest in being on television. Like The Truman Show, EdTV pits the fans and the star against the producers while emphasizing the irony of the situation. The fans will not stop watching and so the station will not take Ed off the air--unless he can uncover some private information about the producers that will spur them into cancellation. "After all," Ed says, "why should anyone have any privacy?" In the end, Ed's life returns to normal, but not through any help from his fans. It is not public information that frees Ed from EdTV, but a disgruntled Cynthia who knows her colleagues' secrets. The viewers, as the final fan scene shows, want Ed to continue. The husband of the first fan watches as EdTV is canceled. When static takes over the screen, he sits back and mumbles, "What the hell do they expect us to do now?" The perception of the fanatic, voyeuristic viewer is the lasting one.
Reviews and criticism of both The Truman Show and EdTV have picked up on this stereotype, and for the most part, condone it. In his review of EdTV for The Nation, Stuart Kiawans describes Ed's fans as "people who forgo their own sexual and emotional lives for the pleasure of watching Ed's." Gamson describes the escape scenes in The Truman Show as being merely "ratings-grabbing" events for an audience with an "insatiable appetite for the televised life." The fan representations in these Hollywood films take up where written criticisms leave off, spreading stereotypes. Fans want drama in whatever form they can get it, and as long as it is entertaining, nothing else matters.
Amongst themselves, however, fans of reality TV have an understanding in the face of such harsh criticism. As George Bagley notes in his essay "The Television Text:"
[A]s of October 1998, nearly ninety thousand individuals contributed to just one of many internet discussion groups devoted to one of cable TV's more popular programs, MTV's The Real World. Topics in these discussion groups ranged from the relative health of cast members to their anatomy, their respective accents, and the dynamics between them all. These numbers tell a larger story. Incidents like the Super Bowl have come to be known as television events, and despite the term's overuse in broadcast promotion, it implies nonetheless a kind of uniform attraction, at the very least some kind of congruence among the audience, some kind of mutual appeal sustaining the breadth of popularity characteristic of these programs.
Reality TV has become an "event" in its own right--the final episode of the original Survivor was declared "the most talked about television event of 2000" (E! True Hollywood Story). And while these shows are still looked down upon, fans do feel the need to gather and discuss the events of the shows. As Henry Jenkins notes in his article "Television Fans, Poachers, Nomads," the television fan can find a common connection with others by stating, "I am part of a community...which has defined itself through its dynamic, productive relationship to television."
Television fandom is a fairly new group, and one that has taken on a more active role in the last twenty-five years despite being marginalized as obsessed fanatics. Jenkins' description of the "Trekkie" stereotype as "brainless consumers, trivia buffs, social misfits, desexualized... people confused about the line between fantasy and reality" can be transferred to reality TV fans as well. Television is so commonly seen in America as an instrument of brainwashing that avid fans of all sorts are criticized.
To speak as a fan is to accept what has been labeled as a subordinated position within the cultural hierarchy, to accept an identity constantly belittled or criticized by institutional authorities. Yet it is also to speak from a position of collective identity (Jenkins).
Television fans may have a more difficult time organizing than other groups since viewers can exist in every race, age, class and social group, as well as in all parts of the country. Reality fandom as an organized group operates, as Bagley notes, most frequently on the internet. Online discussion provides anonymity for fans and protection from general criticism. Especially for shows like Survivor and The Real World, which draw the most frequent comments, the internet is the perfect source for a fan community.
Websites, chatrooms, and message boards devoted to reality programming in general as well as to specific shows are very common on the internet. Fans exchange their own ideas about the shows, but are also aware of how they are seen by the greater public:
Is it just me or does it seem to be a wonderful thing to be able to watch other people's lives? Just to see what happens to them is a thrill in its own way. All of my friends say that they think it is a stupid concept but once they watch one episode [they're] hooked on it. Every time I watch I want to go on the show. If they only had a show in Philly and I knew how to get on I would be there. Well how do you feel??????? ( ) www.mtv.com/realworld
.This message, posted on an MTV website devoted to The Real World, encapsulates most of the concepts the reality TV fan values. It expresses why he/she is a fan, addresses the public impulse to ridicule reality television, admits to the undeniable appeal of the show, and asks for commentary from fellow fans. This post sums up many of the ideas expressed about television fans in Jenkins' article, and highlights the anonymity of the internet and the mixture of fantasy and reality that fans embrace in reality TV. Through such observations, it becomes apparent that the reality TV fan is interested in sex and scandal and gossip, but is also aware of the truths of reality TV, the manipulation of producers and the genre as a commercial product. More than just the stereotype, the reality TV fan is a complex mixture of obsessed voyeur and concerned viewer.
Message boards and chat rooms are especially filled with gossip about the shows. Fans cannot merely watch the lives of others--they must talk about them as well. This fits into the stereotype of the obsessed fan, especially since so many fans appear to have intimate knowledge into everything that happens on the show. Reality TV fans have a sense of humor about their obsessions as well. They often make fun of the cast, passing judgments and gossiping. At the same time, acknowledging the cast members as celebrities, the fans seek answers and advice. CBS has made this possible on their website for Survivor fans, allowing them to chat with former cast members. The fans in these situations use screennames that proclaim their devotion to the show or to a specific member-- "Survivor_Fan_9," "HuntersLuvSlave," "survivorfan," "Patriciasnumber1fan." Many of these names, and the fans behind them, go so far as to profess love for a cast member in a combination of awe for celebrity and an obsession with voyeurism.
Regardless of this, most fans are truly interested in what really went on during the taping, and what happened that the producers didn't put on screen, showing a clear awareness of how television is altered for commercial appeal.
The responses to many of these questions are surprisingly politically correct. The former Survivor castaways from this session, for example, avoided discussion about romance and racial issues, and praised the production for its accuracy. Though this may be due to the confidentiality agreements common amongst Survivor producers and contestants, fans continue to ask, and at the very least they are able to create connections with other fans. They often go online at certain times of the day so that they can talk to one another specifically. One comment from The Real World message boards reads, "Have I told you lately that I like you???? Your views are almost always the same as mine." This is another issue Jenkins mentions in his article, as he explains that fans are so often belittled and criticized for their devotion to their shows that they form an alliance with a community of others as a defense. Within that community, and even outside of it, members feel much more secure.
Some of these fans, however, could be conceived as being the "fanatic" that Jenkins describes as having to do with "zealotry, false beliefs, orgiastic excess, possession, and madness"--the "psychopath" fan popular among mainstream criticism. These are the people who pull everything they can from the show. They speak of minute details and are able to compare them with other episodes and other seasons. Some of these fans speak of the show as if it was scripted, referring to "next week's storyline" (www.mtv.com/realworld). These fans are characterized by complete involvement. This is a key factor for fan involvement in Survivor, where much of the drama lies in predicting who should and who will be voted off next. This is the sort of fan who, like this character from EdTV, would say, "Honestly, I try not to go to the bathroom until Ed does, so I do not miss a thing."
The stereotypical fan may exist, but the overall fan base of these reality TV shows, from regular viewership to ultimate fanatic, should be expected. There have always been large followings behind fictional shows (Jenkins discusses Star Trek and Star Wars fans), and the premise of being allowed to enjoy watching so-called "reality" seems to demand attention from viewers. Although the fans are aware of the manipulation of producers and editors that goes on behind the shows, they become caught up in the "this is real" pitch line. Viewers are able to become voyeurs without having to go out in search of that experience. The adventure is brought to them through television and sold to them through advertising, all of which keeps emphasizing the supposed factual realness of the shows and the ordinary people they feature. When fans see these "TV personalities" on talk shows, be it a Real World Reunion or a Survivor guest on The Morning Show, the fan is hearing about the personal experience that they watched unfold. Watching an actor do publicity does not have the same effect on the reality TV fan. The issue of a desire for celebrity returns, but the cast members' "ordinariness allows the average person to relate to them better than if they were great stars" (Malefyt). These other appearances by reality TV participants seems to be a "bonus" for fans, who might tune into a new show only because they are a fan of the reality television guest star.
A fair summation of the reality television fan base is described in Jenkins' article: "The fans' response typically involved not simply fascination or adoration but also frustration and antagonism, and it is the combination of the two responses which motivates their active engagement with the media." This is most noticeable in the online community which heralds the ideas of fans by giving them an outlet to form a community. Spurred by the appeal of watching the lives of others and the criticism they receive for enjoying that watching, fan groups organize to express their beliefs. Despite the stereotype and mainstream backlash, fans see reality television as an experience, and they will not be deprived of it.