It is everywhere.
From 10 years younger and What Not to Wear to You are What You Eat, Life Laundry and Extreme Makeover - it is all about humiliating people because they have been living their lives wrongly.
They have had cake; they have not been shopping; they have not moisturised (or cleaned their teeth); they have allowed the natural ageing process to progress, well, naturally.
The programmes conduct themselves around the pattern of the perfect fairytale narrative - if you are good; have an advisory fairytale godmother; go into battle and fight dragons (see the dentist/ have liposuction/ go shopping / get haircut) - then in the end you get the booty.
But actually you don't get a prince - you get to love yourself more.
I love these shows because you know where you are with them; you can watch the magic happen before your eyes and feel satsified that good work has been done. At the start of the show you can feel confident that all will be well at the end. (And you can express disgust at how much they eat; how little they exercise; how crap their house is; how messy they are. (Nice bit of schadenfreude tv in fact.)
Transformations are visible - from outcast to star; from nobody to celebrity; great stuff. The perfect fantasy.
This may be a good thing, but I for one am finally feeling a bit sick of feeling that I am not up to scratch if I just meander along. Whilst the programmes always show this happy ending, their message is, that unless you are following certain life patterns, holding certain values, fitting with certain norms, you are closer to the nobody at the start of the programme, than the somebody at the end.
We all seem to have to have a plan, a mission a way of improving ourselves.
Obviously there are all the books too.
I just wondered how all this happened... and I find it a bit depressing all this focus on the individual and this notion if there's something wrong, then it must be because you need to fix yourself.
There is something in here which fits with arguments about the social model of disability I think.
About Me
- Joolz
- Sheffield, South Yorks, United Kingdom
- I am an academic interested in New Literacies, Digital Lifestyles, Informal Online Learning.
6 comments:
That's a shame you are disenchanted with these shows, Dr J, because I was hoping to be chosen for one about people who feel they're a bit thick, which could be called "So you think you're stupid?". After the initial humiliation stage at a pub quiz, you get sent to a few evening classes, some one-to-one tuition, and if then up to Harley Street for a frontal lobe peel. Patent pending.
Bloody marvellous CityB. I had an idea a few years ago called 'fuck up your house'. But there is now one very similar. It's where you start witha nice house and then make a few changes using cheap materials and doing it as fast as possible.
I was promised a backlash against reality TV a few years ago, but so far it's continued its unchallenged rise. Shamelessly Swamping TV schedules so no other kind of programming gets a look in.
What luck I've left the country though and so don't get to angered by it and can watch 'super nanny' or 'you are what you eat' when i'm home under the guise of "i'm only home for a few days, so i've got to watch whatever's on" without feeling I'm leaving my morals and standards in the biscuit tin.
Joolz, thanks for your comments on my blog and the handout, it's great!
Yep I agree it is great to sit back and let the formula do its work I agree.
Glad you like the 'handout' thing!!
I think it would be v. g. if we had 2 or 3 academics (me Dr Joolz and JM) and we went in and SORTED other people's deep confusions.
Like,
What is digital literacy?
critical literacy?
the epistemological unconsccious?
This could all be filmed at a specific site in Sheffield and would be THRILLING to watch.
Whoops I think we already do it somewhere else....
You are so right.
I saw something similar on tv yesterday. The most amazing trasjh ever. It was Anthea Turner telling people how to fold towels and thus beconme the prefect housewife. (Date check ... 2006).
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