The Reality Behind Reality Shows

chillibreeze writer — Ruma Das

The sight of the young and talented Sinjini Sengupta lying motionless at NIMHANS, Bangalore, has raised many questions in our minds, not only regarding the necessity and mode of handling of reality shows but also the role of enthusiastic and overzealous parents goading their children towards stardom. The allegation, leveled by the parents of this high school student, is that she became partially paralyzed due to depression on being humiliated by judges at a reality show. Let us not debate as to whether the allegations are true or not but ask ourselves certain important questions –

Are we in India today actually ready for such physically and psychologically demanding shows?

Are youngsters not being forced to jump into the race for stardom prematurely?
Is it not time that we actually pause and think of the efficacy and utility of such shows?

To understand the actual nature and usefulness/utility of these shows we first need to know what a reality show actually is.

Reality television is a genre of television programming, which presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events and mostly features ordinary people. Participants are often put in exotic or abnormal situations, coached in certain ways by off screen handlers. Events that are presented on screen are manipulated through editing and other postproduction techniques. These programmes not only promise big money but also overnight stardom. Hoards of youngsters are drawn to these shows. The portrayal of such unscripted situations actually began1940s in the U.S.A. “Allen Funt’s Candid Camera” considered to be the “Grand Daddy of Reality TV Genre” debuted in 1948. In the years that followed popular shows like Beat The Clock, Miss America, Big Brother, Border Security, Motorway Patrol etc. were televised from different parts of the world.

In India the concept is relatively new. It has taken the country by storm as reality television has the potential to turn its participants into national celebrities, at least for a short period. However, in return for such stardom contestants have to often undergo tremendous psychological stress when they are admonished and humiliated for not performing well. Some critics have claimed that the success of reality shows is due to its ability to provide ‘schadenfreude’ (i.e. enjoyment taken from the misfortune of someone else), by satisfying the desire of viewers to see others humiliated. Moreover, the outcome of these shows mostly depends on audience poll. Voting often in a country as vast and varied as India is influenced by religious and regional considerations. Consequently often the deserving are eliminated. Moreover, as reality show participant Arpita Mukherjee has claimed,”Audience vote is an ambiguous system as most of the competitors who are not talented win music talent hunt reality shows…………not a transparent process.” Personal biases amongst teachers and judges in talent hunt shows cannot be ruled out.

Such shows have already started taking their toll. Viewers have witnessed participants, crying inconsolably and collapsing on the sets, judges bickering among themselves and abandoning shows, hysterical families complaining about decisions. The most to suffer are young children who, unaware of the ways of the world join the race. Renuka Chowdhury, Union minister for woman and child development has rightly commented, “The reality shows are operating in an unregulated market. We want to bring in regulations so that the children get better conditions for working.” She has even spoken of introducing code of conduct for judges. We hope adequate measures are taken and some control is exercised over these shows in order to provide wholesome entertainment. Parents should allow their children to grow up normally and happily and prepare them adequately for the real world, which they will eventually have to face.

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Ruma writes for chillibreeze.

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