Bad Is Not The New Good
As the new season of CBS’ SURVIVOR is getting ready to air, the network is making a big deal in promoting the man they are hoping will be the breakout “star” of this cycle, Russell. They’ve built an entire ad campaign around the guy, including this commercial in which he lies about being a New Orleans native impacted by the events of Hurricane Katrina.
The campaign highlights everything that is now wrong with reality television. During SURVIVOR’s first season (and this is true of pretty much every early reality show, including THE REAL WORLD) people were put into an environment that they weren’t familiar with and their interactions were just about as genuine as could be captured on film under the circumstances.
Now, we get “characters” thanks to casting directors and show execs who figure we will no longer tune in to see the challenges, but need to be brought in by “villains” such as Russell and their outlandish behavior.
THE REAL WORLD exploits young people by putting them in a situation that is anything but real (“You’re living in a pimped-out suite in Cancun!”) and then providing them with an endless supply of alcohol to inspire the young people to new heights of lunacy. The most recently concluded season included a threesome, at least two alcohol-fueled hook-ups that destroyed relationships and potentially lives, and numerous violent encounters. One young woman, Jasmine, had an obvious alcohol problem which, when combined with her desperate, needy, almost neurotic need for male attention, led her to act out in ways that definitely made her a danger to herself and, potentially, to others.
Of course, the producers can sit back and say “Hey, this is reality!” as a way of removing any responsibility for what happens from their own shoulders, but the truth is that were it not for a stack of waivers three-feet deep, you can bet your ass the powers that be would drown in lawsuits brought by those whose “real” lives they “helped” manipulate.
VH-1 has learned the hard way the danger of casting “characters” as opposed to real people when Ryan Jenkins, a man cast on not one but two of their “reality” shows allegedly killed his ex-wife before hanging himself. But if the current casting trend continues, how long before tragedy occurs during taping or even during a live broadcast?
