Teaching American Reality TV Dr. Verena Laschinger Teaching American Reality TV 1

THE EASIEST WAY for ordinary people to achieve “15 minutes of fame“ (Andy Warhol) by publicly confessing their intimate secrets (emotional striptease) to strangers Dr. Verena Laschinger | Teaching American Reality TV | November 27, 2015

WHAT IS REALITY TV? “humiliation TV”? “wannabe TV”? “trash TV”? maybe... Dr. Verena Laschinger | Teaching American Reality TV | | November 27, 2015

a product of contemporary culture of contemporary culture 1. WHAT IS REALITY TV? → … definitely a product of contemporary culture as well as productive of contemporary culture Dr. Verena Laschinger | Teaching American Reality TV | | November 27, 2015

OUTLINE Definition History Travel / Tourist Gaze Labor What is Reality TV? Definition History The Amazing Race Travel / Tourist Gaze Labor American Identity Surveillance Sources http://lintvwthi.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/amazing-race-4.jpg Dr. Verena Laschinger | Teaching American Reality TV | | November 27, 2015

1. WHAT IS REALITY TV? ratings-driven low-budget productions sensationalist, dramatic, popular authentic, uses non-actors minimal writing, unpredictable outcomes rapid editing techniques, serial structure surveillance is agreed-on, voyeuristic circulates educational ideologies, and myths distanced from the veracity of the documentary Dr. Verena Laschinger | Teaching American Reality TV | November 27, 2015

1. WHAT IS REALITY TV? subgenres and sample shows reality crime (Cops, America’s Most Wanted) gamedocs (Survivor, The Amazing Race) dating (Bachelor) makeover/lifestyle (The Swan, The Biggest Loser) docusoaps (Here Comes Honey Boo Boo) court (Judge Judy) celebrity (The Kardashians) talent (American Idol, America’s Next Top Model) Dr. Verena Laschinger | Teaching American Reality TV | | November 27, 2015

The Amazing Race / Season 17 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKHVHmYaMxc Dr. Verena Laschinger | Teaching American Reality TV | | November 27, 2015

2. The Amazing Race → Labor of Leisure unremunerated 24/7 work shifts places of work and leisure individuals as capital Dr. Verena Laschinger | Teaching American Reality TV | | November 27, 2015

2. The Amazing Race → Creative Economy Work for the experience you crave! trophy money celebrity status travel adventure Dr. Verena Laschinger | Teaching American Reality TV | | November 27, 2015

2. The Amazing Race → Travel / Tourist Gaze time-space-compression the tourist gaze consumes its objects places into non-places into commodities Dr. Verena Laschinger | Teaching American Reality TV | | November 27, 2015

2. The Amazing Race → American Identity “What, then, is this new American man?“ – Hector St. Jean de Crèvecoeur pursuit of happiness around the globe errand into the global wilderness http://www.cbs.com/shows/amazing_race/photos/1001867/winners-gallery/55941/ uchenna-and-joyce-/ Dr. Verena Laschinger | Teaching American Reality TV | | November 27, 2015

2. The Amazing Race → Surveillance “the eyes of all people are upon us” - John Winthrop post 9/11 utopia of a panoptic society Dr. Verena Laschinger | Teaching American Reality TV | | November 27, 2015

3. Sources Thank you for your attention! The Amazing Race (CBS, 2001 - ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKHVHmYaMxc Andrejevic, Mark. Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched, 2004. Augé, Marc. Non-Places. An Introduction to Supermodernity, 1992, 2008. Crary, Jonathan. 24/7 Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep, 2013. Crèvecoeur, J. Hector St. John de. “Letters from an American Farmer”, 1782. Florida, Richard. The Rise of the Creative Class, 2002. Hartley, John, ed. Creative Industries, 2005. Hill, Annette. Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television, 2004. Miller, Perry. Errand into the Wilderness. 1956, 1993. Murray, Susan, and Laurie Ouellette, eds. Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture, 2004. Urry, John. The Tourist Gaze, 1990. West, Nancy Martha. Kodak and the Lens of Nostalgia, 2000. Winthrop, John. “A Model of Christian Charity,” 1630. Thank you for your attention! Dr. Verena Laschinger | Teaching American Reality TV | | November 27, 2015