Reality television fulfills public’s voyeur desires
By Daily Bruin Staff
June 9, 2002 9:00 p.m.
 Fear Factor, SpyTV, Blind Date Reality television shows
including "Fear Factor," "Spy TV," and "Blind Date" allow viewers
to indulge in their voyeuristic fantasies.
By Katie Leff
daily bruin contributor
kleff@media.ucla.edu
Voyeurism is in vogue, and in recent years television producers
have been cashing in on a phenomenon that has captivated the
country.
Reality television allows audiences to laugh, cry, and live
vicariously through every day individuals experiencing things that,
until the moment they are broadcast, most people only dream
about.
Whether people tune into these shows because they contain
elements audiences would like to experience themselves, or to laugh
at the mistakes of others and celebrate for not being as socially
inept as the people on television, reality programming is a
cultural phenomenon that has exploded in the media.
One of the most popular manifestations of the genre is the slew
of dating shows that have bombarded the airwaves. Shows such as
“ElimiDate,” “Blind Date,” “Fifth
Wheel,” and “Rendez-View” present young singles
looking for love, adding humorous touches such as graphics, thought
bubbles and commentary to further enhance the audience
experience.
“People of all ages understand it because they’re
either going through it, or they can relate to it because
they’ve been there and they know the ups and downs of dating
and how difficult it is,” said Tom Kline, producer of
“Rendez-View,” “Blind Date” and
“Fifth Wheel.”
 Spy TV
The universality of reality television is the fuel for the fire
which is quickly spreading across television programming and into
homes everywhere. Regardless of one’s reason to either go on
the show, or to watch from home, everyone is interested in
dating.
“Love is a subject that will always fascinate people.
Maybe it’s finding a life mate, or a soul mate. Maybe
it’s just finding someone decent to go out with in
L.A.,” said Alex Duda, the executive producer of
“ElimiDate.”
The universal desire for love and the anxiety that comes with
finding it fosters a broad market that appeals to a voyeuristic
society. Viewers tune in to see real life translated on their TV
sets.
“This happens in bars all over the country every night.
We’re just putting cameras on the process of natural
selection,” Duda said.
This process of natural selection is sped up is taken back to
its survival of the fittest roots on CBS’s
“Survivor,” one of the first to hit in this batch of
reality shows. On this program, the goal is not true love, but
endurance in a series of competitions and eliminations in order to
put themselves in the running for a final cash prize. This type of
reality programming appeals to a different audience, but the source
of attraction is the same. Audiences are given full access to the
daily actions and inner thoughts of ordinary people doing
extraordinary things.
“It’s refreshing to see everyday people getting some
of the spotlight, rather than just seeing movie stars all the
time,” said Presley Weir, a CBS News Associate.
The same element of being human that encourages people to gossip
about the lives of their friends, family, and even total strangers
is what fosters an audience for reality television. Much like a car
crash on the side of the freeway, glimpses into the interior
workings of other human beings is often times shocking, yet
impossible to turn away from.
It was this theory that spawned what is often called the
forerunner of reality television shows, MTV’s “The Real
World.”
 Spy TV
On this show, seven strangers are picked to live together, to
find out what happens when people with different backgrounds and
points of view are left in close quarters. Their daily lives are
taped, then edited together for the entertainment of the MTV
audience. Part of “The Real World” experience is time
in the confessional, a private moment for the cast member to dish
the dirt on the other roommates, what’s happening in the
world, or what is going on in their own life.
There is a cyber version of this, in the form of online diaries
on Web sites such as DearDiary.com and LiveJournal.com. Real people
keep diaries online that are free for public perusal for anyone who
wants to log on and have instant access to their most private and
innermost feelings.
“I think LiveJournal appeals to college students more
strongly than most people. Part of this is because college students
tend to be more social and outgoing than most, but a lot of it is
because the technology is second nature to them. They were raised
on the Internet and they aren’t afraid of it,” said
Mark Kraft, the business manager for LiveJournal.
The journals are kept under screen names, but what is written is
often intensely personal and the true identities of the writers are
many times revealed by name and even picture. This is simply
another forum for the voyeuristic nature of society to manifest
itself.
 Blind Date
“Online journals proved a comparatively safe and
supportive environment for people to express themselves. The risk
of putting yourself out there is minimal in some ways, since your
journal is just one of many,” Kraft said.
Whether the aim is money, love, creative expression, or just a
chance to be seen on TV, the effect on audiences is the same.
People like to know that they are not alone, that there are others
who are going through the same life experiences that they are and
often make the same mistakes. This universal need for validation
has been marketed, the result of which is the recent influx of
reality television upon the media. Despite the changing needs of
society and the fickleness of television audiences, the human need
to relate has provided a market for this genre.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re straight, or gay,
or whatever; everyone still has to deal with the same stuff,”
Kline said.
