this post was submitted on 26 Dec 2023
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Chapotraphouse
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I guess it depends on how you define reality show. Are home buying/renovation shows reality TV?
Anything which is a contrived scenario but not dramatised. So yes, home reno is reality TV.
I mean yes it is reality TV, and does serve the same purpose of telling boomers "Yes, everything is fine", but it's from the opposite direction of a freak show.
Instead of atypical people getting punished, it's folk conservatives would approve of getting rewarded by buying million dollar houses.
Hmm. I haven't really watched anything like that but presumably the contestants face various dilemmas to make the show interesting.
In that case it would be the same. Commoditising the angst of contestants.
Not really, the dilemmas are "He wants something mid-century-modern, she wants something more traditional" and then they buy or renovate a house and both people explain why this house fulfills their requirements (or forget about them) and how happy they are with their new house.
But also those shows are just adverts for the various retailers of construction supplies, fixtures, and furniture used in them.
All free to air is mostly product placement. That's why reality TV is so popular.
Of course it goes without saying that most if not all tv as we know it wouldn’t exist without advertising
One of the formats I really hate is "let's laugh of people in debt" where the actors have fucked up personal finances due to irresponsible spending but then, when the grown up experts intervenes, scolds them for being stupid, makes a budget for them and forces them to sell their motorcycle/caravan/other expensive luxury item things are going to be fine. None of the actors are poor, they are just really bad with money but that format has completely muddled the public perception of what poverty is. It is right wing propaganda spreading the lie that "financial trouble" is a question of individual responsibility and morals.
My dad has been wrongfully detained before, yet he still can't comprehend that maybe the cop shows where loitering drunks are being baited into acting aggressive so the police have an excuse to play basketball with their skull might be wrong.