Returning to the Roots of Reality TV
Last night, MTV premiered its new “reality” series titled College Life:
“College Life” debuted Monday night on MTV, and we got to see the first look at reality TV on a budget. “College Life” is the networks first attempt at recording people’s live without the high-tech camera crews.
For this new series, the college students are recording their own lives. If this venture works for MTV, it could open new doors to reality TV. -GaySocialites.com
This new idea of real vs. reality makes my mind churn on overdrive. I was obsessed with MTV’s The Real World during high school (1998 – 2001) and I never once questioned the redefinition, and ultimately bastardization, of the word ‘reality’ or even the word ‘real’ in the title of the show. To me, it was what it was, and like any other television show, scripted or not, if I looked up to the characters, I would often try to imitate their lifestyles.
Now comes a new storytelling method—as GaySocialites.com’s Charles Winters wrote in the above post—that may change the face of reality television. I’m excited for this shift back to traditional storytelling without the glitz and glamour of scripts and high budgets. The tools have changed, like every character being equipped with a video camera, but the idea of the characters sharing a story without a sense of altered identity seems like just what the doctor ordered.
At the peak of reality television, I created a digital collage titled The Real World: Pittsburgh, where I depicted a dramatic moment of a fictional episode. I focused on the roommates of the house as well as the entire production crew and set that viewers rarely see.
The Real World: Pittsburgh
2007-8
digital inkjet
16″ x 28″ (40.6cm x 71.1cm)
detail
detail
detail
detail
A kind of timeline could go like so: The serendipitous timing of the HBO movie Grey Gardens breathes new life into the original documentary following Jackie Kennedy’s relatives. The 1975 documentary captured an honest relationship between subject and camera—neither knew exactly what the other’s role was. Then The Real World camera took control and told the roommates to go on living and to pretend like the production crew wasn’t there. Then The Office came along and found a concept to deal with the ridiculousness of pretending the crew wasn’t there. Now College Life arrives with the crew completely obliterated. But you’ve got to wonder if a narcissistic generation feels the presence of a phantom production crew.
All this real vs. reality makes me think of a quote from The Rules of Attraction: “Stood for two hours to get into the Sistine Chapel, which—now that it’s been cleaned—looks fake.”
ITTET, it makes sense that budgets are cut and television shows are created in different ways. This shift in storytelling confirms my interest in capturing reality within the Society of 23 with little fanfare and simple tools. I plan to use more first-person documentation of my characters. You know, get it dirtier to appear more real. Oh geez, more alteration? Will it ever stop?
