Reality shows began as early as the 1940s-1950s in the western world. The Indian mass started to taste the reality genre in the late 1990s and by early 2000s it gained popularity. It was a most talked about subject and still is (I wonder) when people met each other, be it in the village or the town or the city. It became more of a fad among the crowd to talk about the shows. Gradually the shows crossed regional boundaries and every household in every state were witness to the most famous show on earth THE REALITY SHOW.
At present there are so many types of reality TV. Game shows, Cookery, Sports, Talk shows, Talent hunt, Treasure hunt and the list goes on. In India there is a home made version for almost every other reality TV shown in the west. Personally, to me the time is not far away where our privacy would be invaded and broadcasted world wide. It reminds me of the movie 'The Truman Show'. The point I'm trying to come at, is that we have a surplus of reality shows. There are so many of them that you switch channels, 9 out of 10 would be airing just the same type in a different language under a different name, the content would be no different.
There is no more reality spice left it these shows. Most of them are fabricated and scripted to suit the audiences solely with a profit motive. Their aim is to attract more viewership so as to sustain in the media industry and in order to achieve it, reality has to be TAILOR MADE. So isn't "reality" a misnomer???
I had watched a few of these shows and was religiously following them when it began a trend among the Indian market. But after a couple of months I lost interest and started to hate it. How many times would you be able to see the same material with only the faces changing? Anybody would get bored.
I was fortunate or should I say unfortunate (whaterver :-)) to witness a talent show elimination round where there were 3 contestants left and one of them had to go home. There's background music, camera focusing on the judges, the parents of the contestants, the praying friends and the comperes. This goes on for a few minutes and finally with great difficulty the judge is about to announce the name.
Cut!! commercial break.
The judge looks at the name and announces it. BANG!!!! the hapless artist breaks down on the stage, then drama follows.... the compere tries hard to console the artist, his friends cannot watch him. The judges have conflict of opinions and there is a long debate or should I say verbal rift among them.
Cut!! again commercial break.
Finally the verdict is out. The artist gets another chance to flirt his talent and nobody goes home. The contestants are hugging each other, the judges come over to the stage to show their affection. It is such a perfect world. Everyone is happy.
Now you judge for yourself "How real are the reality shows?"
