Trust and Distrust of TV reality shows
I was asked two questions on a reality tv board the other day and thought my answer would be a great post. It describes my feelings towards trust and society in general.
"How do reality shows affect our trust of society? each other? business? Do we trust Mark Burnett? Do we trust Donald Trump? Do we trust what we see in reality shows?"
A lot of us on the board know about manipulation in editing to make a story out of chaos. There has always been specualtion that winners are predetermained, especially this season, seeing Kendra was perfect for the job while Tana was not. Trump is the one hiring, so people aren't involved in the decision. So, it is not determained when Trump actually makes up his mind.
Does Burnett manipulate video so he can alter Trump's decision? Not on purpose, but Trump's fail safe is Carolyn and George, who are on-site to see who is working to their best ability. He trusts them.
As to the question of trust in reality shows--there is some distrust. In voting shows like "Idol" it comes from not knowing the voting results. People wonder if the producers manipulate votes in order to garner better ratings.
In shows like "Survivor" and "The Apprentice"--its not really reality as much as showing us a story and seeing how it plays out. There maybe things we didn't see that could effect the outcome of the "kicking someone off". Burnett tries to make sure all the angles are satisified, but sometimes you do get something slipping through the cracks.
For the Amazing Race--there are some rules and situations that might be manipulated. An airplane leaving the terminal and appearing to come back to pick up racers for instance. Time is compressed and manipulated to make it seem closer than it is.
In all, we should know by now media can be manipulated and we shouldn't trust everything we see. But we can enjoy it anyways.
"If reality shows do indeed diminish our trust of society, each other and business, what are the consequences of that loss of trust? Please tell me how a lack of trust affects you, your actions, and your relationships. "
I become more aware of what I am watching and take some reality shows more for entertainment value that an historical document of society. From the earlyist documentry ("Nanook of the North") there was manipulation of facts and actions in order to make the show seem more entertaining.
Do I distrust society? Yes because its not perfect and people will be people. They act differently in certain situations and a million other factors are always worked in. Do reality shows cause this distrust? No. I know that the show is being manipulated and that some things are made to seem one way, when it was actually the other.
I know that I must adjust to other people's decisions and to trust people when I know I can trust them. How do I know? When I know I can trust them. Earning trust is getting harder and harder nowadays, but you know that if you and your fellow person want the same short term goal, i.e. winning a task, than you can be sure they won't shoot themselves in the foot by not helping you.
The whole deal is, its up to you to monitor what you can trust or not. This is up to your brains and your gut. If it quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, more than likely its a duck. Unless its some robot dressed up like a duck. That's why you don't trust 110%. Just 90%.
My two cents
posted by MarQ w/a Q @ 9:49 AM
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