Watching You, Watching Me

Paper Summary:

This paper briefly considers the history of reality television and its recent popularity explosion, reflecting on possible reasons for this surge of interest. The paper also looks at both positive and negative factors of different formats of reality television programs and their possible implications for society. An attempt is then made to define how this phenomenon relates to modern cultural identity.

Outline:
Introduction
An Historical Survey of Reality Television
Reality Television is a Misnomer
Cultural Catastrophe?
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"In 1973, the PBS series, An American Family, was broadcasted. Widely considered to be the first modern reality show, it dealt with the issue of divorce in today's nuclear family. A year later, the UK followed suit with a counterpart program, The Family, which portrayed a working class family in Reading; and in 1992, Australia broadcasted Sylvania Waters, which depicted a nouveau-riche family living in Sydney. All three programs were considered to be controversial (Wikipedia, Online Article, 2007), but all were also recognized as having that certain something that appealed, and that entertained, the general public. Over the next decade a wide variety of reality shows were broadcasted, with their counterpart productions being produced throughout the world, as world-wide television companies rushed to join a financially lucrative band-wagon. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Chyng Sun, Miguel, Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood, and Corporate Power, On-line Article, 2007, <www.mediaed.org/videos/CommercialismPoliticsAndMedia/MickeyMouseMonopoly/studyguide/MickeyMouseMonopoly.pdf>
• Ringsurf.com, Online Article, Why reality TV? 2007 < www.ringsurf.com/info/Entertainment/TV/Reality_TV/ - 15k>
• Spiked Culture, Online Article, Big Brother, Why Bother? 2007< www.spiked-online.com/Articles/00000006DE05.htm - 27k ->
• Wikipedia, Online Article, Reality Television, 2007< en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_television - 86k ->

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