Reality Shows. How real are they?

Ok so my dear Laksh, here goes your essay! Reality TV serials. Well the first thing that we remember when we talk about reality TV shows is the question as to how real they are. What started off as a sincere attempt to include real characters in the shows has been marred by rising demands for more TRP, increasingly flaring tempers and contestants challenging the very format of the shows. We have also witnessed a dramatic shift in the way these shows are handled. The base line is, one wonders what’s so real about reality shows these days!! Be it the idiosyncrasies on Big Brother or the constant bickering on Splitsvilla. Be it the contestants challenging the judges’ decisions on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa or the worthless quality of Indian Idol. Where is the reality?

                There’s one good thing in it for the movie producers though! The gargantuan number of reality shows being aired means there is no dearth of an episode in which the stars of a new movie cannot become guest judges and rather than judging the contestants, go on chattering about the movie and create free publicity about the film. Interestingly though, such movies hardly tend to make a mark on the box office!!

                Another uniting factor in these reality shows is how soon they divert from the main topic. A dance show, for example, will take only a couple of episodes to start showing the way the dancers rehearse and how they take the rehearsals seriously and what not. Do they really think that we will fall for that? And why is every show always about the trials and tribulations of the contestants? Why can’t there be happy times for them as well? How come they express their ugliest emotions only when they are on camera? How come the cameramen always manage to get the perfect shot each and every time? How does he manage to get so many different types of shots of the same precise moment so that you get zoom in, zoom out, right pan, left pan, sepia tones, black & white effects and God knows how many effects in those same moments? Are these effects stage managed?

                It really baffles me when the judges start fighting amongst themselves. This is one aspect of reality shows that I have never really been able to grasp. Why is there a consistent difference of opinion among the judges regarding the performances? Why is it that these differences are always shown on TV? I fail to understand why they are not edited out. Has TRP become so dependant on controversies? Why don’t you people try to get some quality in the shows just for a change? Why don’t you get rid of the controversies just for a change? Why don’t you try to make just one clean, pure episode just for the sake of the brains of the viewers?

                One more thing. What is this affinity that you have for viewer votes? Don’t you have confidence on your own judges? If that’s the case, why don’t you change them? Don’t you have confidence on your own choice of judges and participants? Why do you run a show where you yourself are confused? Just to get people involved, you introduce such rotten concepts. It’s your show isn’t it? Introducing such polls gives the participants a golden chance to purchase dozens of SIM cards themselves and put in thousands of votes for themselves! What’s the use of keeping the polls in that case? The number of votes as such does not represent the number of viewers and you know that. Why are you kidding yourselves? Why do you think that shouting the fallacy at the top of your voices has the potential to make it a reality?

                All this puts a question mark on the credibility of these shows. You say they are reality shows. Ask yourself this one question: Are you sure? Are you certain that these shows are real? Are you certain that’s the level of your creativity? If yes, do you really think you are in the right place? Frankly speaking, I am not so sure. That may be one of the many reasons why I don’t care for any of these reality shows. You check your own premises.