According to Hill (2005) “there is no one
definition of reality programming, but many competing definitions of what has
come to be called the reality genre. The
reality genre is made of a number of distinctive and historically based
television genres, such as lifestyle, or documentary. These television genres have merged with each
other to create a number of hybrid genres that we now call reality TV, or
popular factual television.”
Hill (2005) defines reality TV as:
- “programming that blurred boundaries between fact and fiction.”
- “a slice of life observational modes of documentary film making, fictional drama rooted in real-life situations”
- “an entertainment idea that can be instantly accessed by audiences/users across different types of media – TV, radio, telephone and the internet.”
- formats “that included a gameshow element”, and “that seek to entertain by showing dramatic incidents in real life”.
Cathy and Reg in Cathy Come Home had a
strange ring for me. In 1960s working class London, my brother and I could have
so easily have been Cathy’s kids at that railway station. But that is the point, I think. Loach succeeds in grabbing my attention,
because I can relate to what he is showing me.
Through angles in the camera, close-ups, side on shots, drawing the
camera lens away and towards the characters, use of background noise instead of
music eg: traffic, all of which were new techniques at the time, he is able to
deliver a docudrama that is very very real to the viewer. The viewer feels like he/she could actually be on the street beside Cathy and Reg. The storyline itself depicts a situation that
could happen to any of us, and therefore the audience is drawn into Cathy and
Reg’s life and surroundings, and feels included, can empathise, and sympathise. Loach cleverly hit the note with the masses
with his docudrama / free cinema technique, and reached out to people pulled
out of the rubble of World War II, still trying to shake off the legacy of the
generation before. He brought the
reality of present day social issues, ie: homelessness, poverty, love, hope,
despair, family solidarity into the living rooms of the masses, with real
arguments, real sadness and happiness that anybody could feel at any time.
Programmes such as the BBC’s Panorama (1956) and World in Action’s Seven-up (1964)
also helped to bring the reality of other people’s lives into our living
rooms and were at the forefront of reality TV, as opposed to fictional fantasy TV.
Hill (2005) cites “British popular factual
programming is primarily from 6pm-11pm, the most competitive and most coveted
slot in the schedule”. It could be
assumed, therefore, that reality TV today is a convenient and cheap method of
providing watchable TV to the masses in order to maximize viewership and
financial return through advertising, endorsement or sponsorship.
I recently attended an audition for the
reality game show, Masterchef NZ. My
reason for applying for a place on the show was a passion for food and cooking.
After I had queued for many hours with many other applicants, signed a
multipaged contract vow-of-silence, and then was interviewed for only a few
minutes, I wondered why I was there.
After all, my motives for being on the show were to cook, but I very
quickly understood that there was far more to this reality machine than simply
showing people how well I could cook in front of an audience. This was all about the show and not the
food. Above all, I could see the
financial opportunities open to the Masterchef industry by using me as free of
charge tool to convey an everyday story about cooking in front of the
camera. Its many applicants seemed
driven by a dream that one of them could really win the prizes (and someone
would, its just many wouldn’t), but above all become something that they
weren’t already, and somehow remove themselves from their everyday existence to
touch stardome. Viewers, I think, buy into this
dream, but in a sense the reality is that it is not really going to happen to most.
Reality game shows like Masterchef are a
long way away from the reality of Cathy and Reg. I am sure Cathy (nor any of
her socio demographic generation) could never have contemplated the thought of a
passion for food, just putting any kind of food on a plate was a necessity not
a luxury. Cathy Come Home was filmed in
an era where tv was free-to-air, funded by the government and through tv
licences. Today, much of the TV we
watch has to be funded through advertising or sponsorship and ratings are
important. Reality TV in all its
sub-genres has come along way since the Sixties. I think reality TV today can
be used in a good way to convey an important message or point of view to the
masses and can also be viewed simply for entertainment, but also in a bad sense
it can prey on everyday people’s innocence and trust to simply make money for
the industry itself.
References:
Hill, A. (2005) The reality genre. In A.
Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular
Factual Television. (pp. 14 – 40). Oxon: Routledge.
Panorama:
1956 Behind the scenes view of BBC Television.
(1956). Retrieved October 12, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G36AaMDFdM&feature=relmfu
World
in action: Seven-up series documentary 1964 Part 1.
(1964). Retrieved October 12, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngSGIjwwc4U
Masterchef
NZ: (2012). Retrieved October 12, 2012, from http://tvnz.co.nz/masterchef-new-zealand/ta-ent-masterchefnz-index-group-3125704
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