Saturday, January 19, 2008

FYI: They Think We're Stupid

Whether you watch religiously, own the entire DVD collection, or "only watch because your roommate watches," I think it's safe to assume that most young Americans and many young people in English speaking countries have seen or heard of television shows like "Laguna Beach," "The Hills," "The Simple Life," etc.
Whatever your opinion of these types of Reality Shows may be, we all know that they are fake, yet, for some reason we like to pretend or at best, turn a blind eye to the level of scriptedness and intense ammount of editing that go into these Reality Shows to create "real drama."

But the UK media is no longer buying it, or at least choosing to no longer perpetuate the idea that what these shows are airing is real.

The following message is displayed before each airing of "The Hills" and "Simple Life" on Channel 4 in the UK:

"The following programme may contain scenes that have been created purely for entertainment purposes."

We all like to see beautiful tan people, so Im sure this type of disclaimer will not hinder anyone from watching, but Im glad to see someone has decided to end the lies...or at least begun to tell some of the truth.

Although the mini-disclaimer being shown in the UK probably doesn't go far enough, I don't think Im going to hold my breath waiting for networks in the U.S. to jump on the honesty train.
Oh, there is that one network, Fox News Channel...I heard they are fair and balanced.

3 comments:

Real Emails from Coworkers said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Real Emails from Coworkers said...

My old comment looked like it was written by a third grader.

The point is - do you really think that it is a good thing that the UK television stations display that warning? Are UKers really dim enough to not realize that all of those shows aren't "real?"

If you actually think they are, then maybe you should just keep living in your world of naivety and ignorance, although ignorance seems a bit too strong of a word. Let's just go with fucking stupid.

Nob Hill Forreal said...

i dont think youre considering the target audience for these shows. 25 yr-old males, who LIVE in southern california are NOT the target. These shows are targeting the 13-17 yr old crowd - probably female more than male; and probably more middle america-ish. the type of person who is going to put this "california lifestyle" up on a pedestal. i wouldnt call 13-17 yr olds stupid, just very very impressionable.

i used to always ask the younger people in my last company who were from out of state: "did you think all of california was going to be like 'the oc'"...and they (male AND female) almost always answered yes.

what that tells me is that young people outside of CA are either BUYING the portrayal of what is "real" or just straight up lying to themselves because the TV "reality" is prettier.

I think the UK warning is great, its finally starting to tell the truth, and taking responsibility for what is really manipulation of the truth.