When Chuck Klosterman writes that real people are starting to think and act like a certain archetype when cast on a reality television show, I don't think he is necessarily right. I understand the point that he is trying to make, in that there are so many reality tv shows nowadays that people who are cast for a new show or season maybe know what to act like to get their '15 minutes of fame' from their stint on tv. Klosterman's idea of repetition is very important in making this point as well, because of all the exposure that we have to reality tv stars. But on the other hand, I don't think that it is all the cast mates' fault behind acting to encompass a 1 dimensional archetype.
I feel that the editing process takes a HUGE role in making people seem like they are 1 dimensional on screen. With the digital editing processes and technology we have, we can make people say sentences that have never even been formulated in their mind. I think that many people on reality tv shows are manipulated and edited to portray an archetype, not acting like it. I think of a reality show I enjoyed as a teenager, called The Hills, starring Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag. I remember being unhealthily emotionally involved in the show for so long, then a few years after it was cancelled, reading and seeing so many sources that quoted Lauren saying that the 30 minute episodes were so manipulated, slanted, and warped summaries of what actually happened that she didn't even recognize most of the situations. Nowadays, I follow Lauren, Lo, Audrina, Heidi, Whitney, and everyone else on various forms of social media and I feel that they are very normal, multidimensional human beings who don't really fit into a social archetype at all.
I never watched The Hills, but I kind of know the storyline. Like you, there are people that get so involved with the show, but not knowing how manipulated the story is, gets the entire wrong story. If reality TV filmed until they had a season full of drama, they'd probably have to film twice as long so this type of editing makes it faster.
ReplyDeleteI agree characters don't always have to act like a certain person or archetype. They show and producers can have as much influence on how the person is portrayed as the person or character themself.
ReplyDeleteEditing does play a huge role in the making of the show. It is amazing how much editing is done and how much we are able to edit without any big notice.
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