So, Just What is Reality?
August 21, 2000
7:30 a.m.
We watched Spinal Tap this weekend. For those that may not know, this is a Mock-umentary of a fictitious old English rock band as it tours the states. Rob Reiner directed it. It's really quite funny. I also spent a little time at the Big Brother web site, reading articles about the people there. This is a show that, like it's cohort Survivor strikes my nerve. I've mentioned before that a person from Columbus was on Big Brother, though, and so I've watched it fairly often. Among the more interesting things to see are the reactions of the home towns where these people come from. George's (BB) hometown is strongly behind him. As is Rudy's (Sur). I'll say only that Columbus did not fare as well in their support of Karen Fowler. Recently a columnist in the local paper has written two scathing articles about "reality" shows, and about people who get into them. I think this is interesting. What is it about real-time shows that bother people? I mean, few people seem upset over Behind the Music or Biography or even Spinal Tap (which, if you're looking for strange behaviors, how about watching a documentary about a band that never existed, huh?). But make it a real time show, and suddenly people are all over the place screaming how this is not reality. I think that's bunk. Survivor is one reality. People form alliances. They vote in certain ways to get what they want. They get frustrated with people, and they argue, and they play the game because they pretty much have to. This is reality. If you don't believe me, let me have a few words about corporate America at its finest. It's just a more exposed reality from the one they enjoy in the privacy of their own home. Same for Big Brother. Poor Josh (a twenty-something young man of the House who has been constantly manipulted in his attempt to decide how to react to the three interest(ing/ed) young women that have been in the house) is in a different reality. He's young. He's trying to figure stuff out. And he's making mistakes right before the eyes of however many viewers that show has. These are mistakes that almost every male of the species can understand -- and every female, too -- though I'm sure the emotions of these two genders are totally different when they think about it. One of the reasons people cherish their privacy is that we are all pretty much imperfect. We all make mistakes. But this is reality. By that I mean that people aren't acting much differently than they do in real life...it's just that we're all a bit more embarrassed about it. I spoke to Lisa recently about this. "You know," I said. "If everyone had a camera on them 24 hours a day, the world would be a far more forgiving place." "What?" "Well, think about it. Everyone makes mistakes." "Yes." "If you see someone else do something wrong now it's really easy to crucify them, but if you knew it was just a matter of a half hour until someone else was going to see you mess something up, maybe you would be more willing to forgive the little things that make us all human." And I think that's true--though I'll admit to being overly optimistic at times. One of the things that people get into watching are the little talks that go one behind each other's back. On Survivor it's discussions about votes and who should go and who shouldn't. It's discussions about what pissed eachother off and what didn't. On Big Brother it's the nomination process, and it's the closed quarters that drives people a it crazy. They talk about each other, and we on the outside play at being mystified at why they would do that when they know they are on television. But in our hearts we know better. People watch other people. It's why storytelling will never die as an art form. People hang on stories, waiting to see what will happen next. People talk about each other. They do it on television, they do it in their living rooms, they do it at their desk at work. If you knew you were being monitored 24 hours a day, I believe you would still talk about people. It's impossible not to. But over time, I think two things would happen. First, we would get more lenient in our judgement of people. And second we would grown genuinely more tolerant of others situations, thereby changing in fundamental ways. Sure, there's more. You can't have a major shift in the culture like that without there being more effects. But that's what I think. "I still wouldn't do it," Lisa said when I was done with my exercise in creative sociology. "What's that?" "I still wouldn't do Big Brother." "Why not?" "I don't need anyone watching me brush my teeth, thank you."   Have a great day.  Can I get immunity from this entry, Ron? Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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