notes toward a taxonomy of entertainment
Jul. 20th, 2007 08:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dsrtaoDifferentiate a game show from a reality show: a game show is a short duration event which relies on audience identification with the contestant(s). Knowledge questions must be sufficiently well-known (or plausibly so) as to not provoke feelings of inadequacy in the audience. Even if you don't know the answer, you should know someone who does or you believe does know. N.B. intellectual stratification of game shows - Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Win Ben Stein's Money.
Reality shows are long duration series which emphasize identification with situations and choices, or a large degree of schadenfreude. They are vicarious life simulators - like action movies and The Sims, there is a strong element of "what should you do in this contrived situation?" and subsequent reward/punishment evaluation.
There's also a subtext of finding the hidden rules - in-game evaluations are frequently guided by nonobvious but hinted-at rules. See So You Think You Dance where producer-supplied choreography and music often count for as much as actual dance skill.
More to say about crossovers where social-norm violation is an essential part of the shock value. If you don't have the time to build empathy, you can just throw in random verbal abuse or physical/mental discomfort. Eating bugs seems popular.
Reality shows are long duration series which emphasize identification with situations and choices, or a large degree of schadenfreude. They are vicarious life simulators - like action movies and The Sims, there is a strong element of "what should you do in this contrived situation?" and subsequent reward/punishment evaluation.
There's also a subtext of finding the hidden rules - in-game evaluations are frequently guided by nonobvious but hinted-at rules. See So You Think You Dance where producer-supplied choreography and music often count for as much as actual dance skill.
More to say about crossovers where social-norm violation is an essential part of the shock value. If you don't have the time to build empathy, you can just throw in random verbal abuse or physical/mental discomfort. Eating bugs seems popular.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-20 02:58 pm (UTC)Reality shows are about watching people lose.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-20 03:10 pm (UTC)The other bit is that there are occasional counter-examples: Weakest Link, which is ostensibly a game show but takes most of its features from reality shows.
We just saw Don't Forget the Lyrics, which is exhibits all the classic game show tropes while being almost completely unoriginal. Basically, the contestant sings karaoke and then a specific number of blanks are shown instead of the words while the music continues. If the contestant knows the right lyrics, they win. It does seem tailor-made for you to win a million dollars, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-20 07:25 pm (UTC)The other change in quiz shows is that in the beginning the idea was to see how smart (or knowledgeable) the contestant was. Then how much trivia they knew. Now how much like the average person they are.
In the first case knowing what you know could be rewarded, now its being ordinary. Audiences used to admire the contestant's brain power, now they try to feel superior.