The Impact Of Reality TV on the Teenagers in Mumbai
Nimish Satpute
St. Andrews College
Instructors : Prof. Meenakshi Kamat : Prof. Jenny Benoy
Abstract
Reality-based television programming has become a dominant force in television over the past seven years and a staple of most networks’ primetime lineups. This relatively quick change in the television landscape and the sudden increase in viewers’ consumption of reality television necessitate an investigation into the impact these shows are having on their viewers.
This proposal attempts to explore and understand the opinion of the students, particularly teenagers regarding their consumption patterns of reality
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Even though the star quotient is important as it attracts viewers instantly, reality shows keep viewers glued to TV monitor even when the presence of stars is less relevant. These programmes are bound to have positive or negative impact on society. Thus it is of great importance that the impact of reality shows on teenagers is assessed.
Objectives
The main objective of the study is to identify the various types of television programmes watched by the teenagers. Understanding the reason of watching such various reality shows and study the impact of these reality shows on the teenagers.
Hypothesis
It is assumed that regular teen viewers watched because they found it entertaining and that it was enjoyable to watch another’s life as it enhanced their own awareness about themselves. Casually viewers watched because they were bored or because that they enjoyed watching another’s life. And also that there is a majority of negative impact on the teenagers watching these reality TV shows.
Literature Review
Television effect on influence of social realities (Potter & Chang, 1990). Potter and Chang determined that based on their study “control measures [including age, sex, race, income, education and occupation] were found to be a very important factor in determining the cultivation effects” They conclude noting that the type of television program predicts cultivation more
In the study before researchers can understand the impact of reality programs on viewers, they must agree on how to define exposure to this genre. This would be defining the purpose of the study. The purpose of this study was to explore the conceptualization of RTV through the use of a program-centered method of determining distinct subtypes of this emerging genre. The RTV
The evolution of television content is currently steadily moving towards reality television shows. The shift from interest in fiction drama series to reality shows has turned the regular television viewers into addicted voyeurs. There have been diverse views on the effect of reality television shows ranging from support to criticism. George Will, in his article “Reality television: oxymoron” believes that reality television is making ordinary people degenerate morally and act stupid in the effort to please a disinterested audience. Reality TV shows are relying heavily on building extraordinary characters or events out of the norm and attract the attention of the audience. Kellner argues that the audience is enticed by “media constructs
Audience: The target of this piece is mainly millennials and those interested in Reality TV, however this piece reaches a wide range of viewers from young to old because of the vast audience that reality TV encompasses. Some chapters would be very interesting to people who have experienced and viewed closely the several reality TV generations periods that Kavka outlines in her introduction. The author reaches many audiences through the analysis of reality TV over an extensive timeline. Her intended audience wants to analyze the true definition of reality TV and its many intricacies.
In the study by the Girl Scouts Institute over 1000 girls ages 11-17 said that they regularly watched reality TV and “accept and expect a higher level of drama, aggression, and bullying in their own lives as well” compared to girls who didn’t watch
Some of the most popular television shows in today’s society are The Biggest Looser, Jersey Shore, and Big Brother. These programs and many others are classified as reality television. Reality television’s main purpose is to attempt to portray ordinary people in unscripted situations. Recently, however, many of these shows have achieved in creating the complete opposite, and have earned an immense amount of criticism as a result. Reality television programs are detrimental to society because they influence bad behavior among teenagers, do not produce authentic real life situations, and they humiliate many of the characters.
In the media, reality TV stars like Snooki and Kim Kardashian are on the rise. Most channels on television have at least one reality show, from following housewives to remodeling homes of real life families. However, there are some reality programs that display bad examples, especially for young audiences that are keeping up with each episode. On MTV people see girls being drunk in public, addicts doing drugs, and young girls raising babies at young ages; these are situations seen on reality TV shows. Jeremy W. Peters’ “When Reality TV Gets Too Real” and James Poniewozik’s “Why Reality TV is Good for us” inform readers about what the general public can view on television and how it affects the minds of children. Reality TV shows such as
Today while watching a movie or television show on cable, there were four to five minute breaks of commercials. Most of these commercials consisted of new reality shows. If they were not new, then it was the dates for when they old shows would make a comeback and start another season. Reality television has been in our lives since the 1940s. Although, the shows that were on years ago were much less vulgar than they seem to be now. It appears reality television continues to go down the wrong road. It is seen in many popular reality shows where the characters are almost getting praised for the bad behavior that they show on camera. This is important to know because it is has become a very popular thing for many people to watch, especially young teens. This gives the people in the shows the opportunity to be a role model for teens who might be looking elsewhere other than parents or peers for someone to look up to. It has also been shown that more teens would be interested in signing up to be on a reality show for the chance to gain fame by just about living their life. Reality television has done more harm than good to our society. For the most part, the shows today are showing more things that effects our teens in a more negative way. This left me with the question on does reality television really affect us? There are positives and negative effects on its viewers as well as the effect is has had on the culture of today’s society.
According to Lori Gottlieb, cultural critic and family therapist tells us that “Teens are naturally curious about other people’s lives and want to know how their own lives compare,” I agree with this statement from personal experience. When I was a pre-teen my thoughts always circled around “ when will this end, I tired of it, and do other girls have to go through what I go through on a day to day basis” and resulting in curiousity of others lives and if they were going through the same thing I was at the time. There are also some points where reality can help girls for example inside the article “What Reality TV Teaches Teen Girls” by Meredith Melnick states that “ 65% say such shows introduce new ideas and perspectives, 62% say the shows have raised their awareness of social issues and causes” honestly I agree with this cause it could help adults understand anothers situation, but it can also help the young children by putting themselves in anothers situation and change their perception on veiwing life . I have done this many times and each time it was for the better. I also grew up in a situation where my mothers family were very close minded while my dads family were very open minded and no matter the situation they will listen to both sides of a story and tries to understand and analyze their
Reality TV burst onto the television scene in the early 2000s’s. Shows such as, The Bachelor, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and American Idol are just a few of the hundreds of reality TV shows that are capturing the hearts of Americans on a weekly basis. The effects go unnoticed by the viewers, but as these shows are watched, they begin to take over the personality of the audience and are changing the way people perceive the world today.
At the end of a long day, relaxing in front of a television, watching a favorite show will hit the spot just right. Comparisons between the audience and the reality stars will take place whether it is noticeable or not. And finally, reality TV will continue to attract an abundant audience do to the constant changing of topics and
This research will focus on the negative impact of reality TV and analyse facts and examples of influence from reality TV shows. The information provided and studies are referred from year 2000 till present hence it will be based on most recent popular reality TV shows.
Showing these programs make teens take a step back and reevaluate their lives. Yes, the teens on the show become famous but it’s still a hard struggle. The viewer witnesses relationships that don’t work out, new parents that can’t see their friends as much, and money issues. All these factors are portrayed and shown to teens. As a result, teens see that’s not how they want to live their lives. These shows help the public by giving adolescents real life examples of what happens to people going through teen
In this research paper, I will be talking about the negative effects of reality television on its viewers and how it affects the American culture of today’s society. People may disagree and say there are positive effects, I realize that. On the contrary, the negative effects seem to outnumber the positive effects. Reality TV stars are becoming huge role models with teenagers, rather parents
For close to a decade, the ethics behind the existence of reality TV have been questioned. While there are ardent viewers of reality TV, researchers and other scholars disapprove them, and claim that the world would have been in a better place. Reality TV shows, especially in America, are extremely profitable to media owners, and this has increased their popularity in the recent years. The main target audience for these shows are teenagers and women, who spend a lot of time discussing about them, even hours after the shows. Most of the reality shows in America and other parts of the world have common ideas. The most fundamental aspect of most reality TV shows is that they display people who go through embarrassing, painful and humiliating ordeals. This is what the reality shows expect their audiences to be entertained, and presumably laugh at the situations the people go through. For this reason and many more, it has been found that they are more detrimental than entertaining to the society, and therefore, the world would be in a better place without them (Pozner 89-91).
Kids also have mistaken this show for an excuse to experiment with sexual desires. While high school students are taught to abstain from sex in numerous health classes, they learn from MTV that a lot of teenagers participate in sexual intercourse. This gives them the idea that sex is normal for young teens and that they should join the bandwagon too