Amc 's Freakshow : Normal Is Dead

In the article "Why the Audience Mattered in Chicago in 1907” there was an element in the population that was left out of the mainstream focus of the entertainment business. Their cry out for attention created enough noise in the industry that caused laws to be put into place to protect the youth from the hypnotic effect of the big screen.

This problem of living vicariously through their children is not isolated to sports, it expands into the realm of music, dance and even pageantry. In Princess by Proxy: Explaining Extreme Pageant Moms (2012) the author Martina M. Cartwright Ph.D., R.D. shared the findings of her research. Child beauty pageants have been a part of our society for over 160 years. This strange fascination with dressing little girls with make-up and fancy clothes only to cast them out on a stage to be judged has claimed a corner of our society. Not only do the kids, who at a very young age, are trained on how to walk, smile and pose. They are limited on a very controlled diet, so they do not gain weight. Later given sweets as energy to get through the day’s events. For these kids, being paraded and judged is just a routine.

Freak shows ceased to exist because it came to be morally questionable, exploiting and dehumanizing to the performers. Attending freakshows became socially inadmissible. The twenty-first century, the “unusual” body as entertainment has gone from a spectacle to a private viewing. Media and entertainment are predominantly consumed through television and the internet, which can be enjoyed from the comfort of one’s own home. This brings the idea of “guilty pleasure,” allowing people to enjoy questionable content in private, free from humiliation or judgment. Reality television has gone beyond the extent American Horror Story has. Rather than reflecting on the history of the freak show, reality shows have brought the freak show back to life in

The tremendous moral decline in America is startling, but not sudden. America has suffered from a bankruptcy of ethics for decades. This lack of morality is very evident in such ubiquitous mediums as the entertainment industry, and the beliefs concerning this topic are as varied as the people who hold them.

Motive of Author: To analyze the evolution of reality television as a genre. To discuss the various methods that reality TV invokes in order to entertain its audiences. To discover the definition of reality TV through examining several generations of reality TV over the years.

A central theme within Ruth Ozeki’s My Year of Meats is the idea of authenticity. It appears in the very core of the show My American Wife!, where the goal is to find “authentic,” “attractive” wives with attractive families and lifestyles so that BEEF-EX can make meat look appealing to Japanese viewers. However, many characters in the book have different views on what authenticity means, and the definitive definition is never revealed by Ozeki. In fact, My American Wife!, the authentic reality show, is one of the least realistic parts of the entire book and a reflection on the lack of authenticity in today’s reality TV shows. Although authenticity is projected as subjective, as My Year of Meats shows us, one will find nothing “real” or “genuine” about reality TV, which is negatively impacting our society.

It can be very easy to judge someone based on their appearance. During spring break, I had met another member of my family I didn’t know about and to me she looked like she was mean and selfish. We began to hang out more and I started realizing that she was very kind and not mean or selfish. She didn’t only care about herself and I was glad that I met her. She was funny and we all hung out together with my family and played games and looked at rocks on the beach at night. I got to know so much about her that were interesting. Therefore, Rodman Philbrick wrote the book “Freak The Mighty” so that we could learn that looking at somebody doesn’t show who they actually are.

Given this considerable chain of influences, the film functions in this book not simply as another representation of freaks, for there is indeed a growing cinematic tradition, but as the foundational text through which authors and artists in the twentieth century came to understand the freak show. Freaks is not a documentary about sideshow culture, but it became a point of reference for all subsequent representations of that culture, ensuing that the freak show, as Browning envisioned it, remained a vivid aspect of popular culture

Do you know the guiltiest pleasure of the American public? Two simple words reveal all—reality TV. This new segment of the TV industry began with pioneering shows like MTV’s The Real World and CBS’s Survivor. Switch on primetime television nowadays, and you will become bombarded by and addicted to numerous shows all based on “real” life. There are the heartwarming tales of childbirth on TLC, melodramas of second-rate celebrities on Celebrity Mole, and a look into a completely dysfunctional family on The Osbornes. Yet, out of all these entertaining reality shows arises the newest low for popular culture, a program based on the idea of a rich man or woman in search of

James S. Miller, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, challenges, “Is what we are shown on reality television, in fact, real?” (94). In James Miller’s essay, “Rule Maker … Rule Breaker,” he discusses the different viewpoints on reality television shows. To producers, reality television shows are perceived as real; however, to actors and actresses, reality television shows are perceived as fake (Miller 94-95). While James Miller introduces both perspectives of reality television shows, the perspective of the actors and actresses is accurate because reality television shows are an exaggeration of real life. Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dance Moms features the famous Abby Lee Dance Company. The

Reality Television is a genre of television programming that documents unscripted situations and actual occurrences. The genre often highlights personal drama and conflict between characters to a much greater extent than other genres. (Lyle, 2008)The paper seeks to analyze the codes and conventions of authenticity used in the TV show American Choppers based in Orange County, New York. This reality-based TV show outlines the lives of Paul Teutul Sr., his son Paul Jr., makers of the universe 's most magnificent, one-off a kind custom chopper built around a specific theme (Mazzarella, 2008). Every scene catches the daily dramatization of this impulsive relationship the father and his son has, who are also a team as they fight impossible due

“Reality shows are everywhere, from cable and broadcast television to the Internet. Reality TV programming has generated millions of viewers,

Circuses and amusement parks deal in pleasure and distraction. They offer a break from one’s otherwise mundane and commonplace life. Beale is suggesting that television, even news programs such as his, are a sort of parallel to this concept. Nothing seen or heard on television is real; it is simply made for the amusement of the viewer. Beale conveys this by supposing, “Television is not the truth.

One study has shown good responses to a reality program relating to cosmetic surgery. Results indicated that the participants viewed the program positively and endorsed the importance of physical attractiveness. They also believed the psychological benefits and entertainment value it can bring to the reality TV show (Charlotte N, 2012). This proves that physical appearance does

What do you think of when you hear the word entertainment? Do you ever wonder why it’s the way it is? Have you wondered what forces, ideas, and people have molded and shaped it over time? How does entertainment affect culture and a society? These are questions that might have many different answers of varying explanations and magnitudes. For centuries, people have looked to a multitude of different things to do as a way to escape their normal lives and to have fun. So then came various forms of entertainment. Although it may not seem so at first glance, taking a more critical look at the similarities that our society shares with the Brave New World’s society may yield some shocking discoveries.