Reality television is one of the most hated and beloved aspects of modern popular culture. Truly emerging in its current form only in the last twenty years, reality television has come to dominate television today, and has become a punching bag for those seeking to criticize global popular culture. Reality television has been called the “lowest common denominator TV” and “the pinnacle of trash culture”(Anders, 2012). In spite of these criticisms, reality television endures and is starting to be looked at, not simply as “the pinnacle of trash culture”, but as a lens to view society today. A topic that is beginning to be debated in the pages of academic journals and books is what, if anything, can reality television show us about the world whose “reality” it claims to portray. Reality television has the unique ability to broadcast real lives edited in a way to be exciting, entertaining, controversial, even thought provoking, and because of this reality television can be a factor in the shaping of the public’s moral or political beliefs.
This book will look at five case studies: Candid Camera's influence on American attitudes towards surveillance, the changing perception of homosexuality in reality television, O Bar Da TV's influence on Portuguese politics, Grande Fratello's influence on Italian politics, and Big Brother: The Boss' influence on Bahraini affairs.
This book will look at five case studies: Candid Camera's influence on American attitudes towards surveillance, the changing perception of homosexuality in reality television, O Bar Da TV's influence on Portuguese politics, Grande Fratello's influence on Italian politics, and Big Brother: The Boss' influence on Bahraini affairs.
