IS REALITY TV BAD???
The first said to be reality
TV show was An American Family, it aired in 1973 on PBS. The camera’s followed
the Loud family a family of 5 where the parents went through a divorce while
Lance the oldest brother openly admitted he was gay on TV. According to daily mail.com newspaper the loud family was the
Kardashians of the 70s...attractive, wealthy, dysfunctional. Just as current
reality stars have stated opening up your home to America is not always good.
In 2001 Lance Loud died from HIV complications he received a lot of backlash
from the media by being gay on TV in the 1970’s. Reality TV also keeps the stereotypes alive
by how Black women are portrayed in entertainment. Because black female roles
are still limited on TV society would rather see women that look like them but
not necessarily act like them. “It is
not just the genre of reality TV that produces the fear of negative black
imagery. Black female representation on television and in film is so scarce
that any woman cast in these roles is believed to have the power to stunt the
progress black women have made in society.”(Warner, 2015) So I ask the question
should we be grateful we have this platform of reality TV even though it may
hinder some?
THE YEAR OF BLACK WOMEN ON
TV
Its no secret that today’s
Top TV shows are played by black actresses, Scandal, How To Get Away with
Murder and Empire. Before Kerry Washington made her scandal debut the last show
that featured an African American woman in a network drama was in 1974 the Get
Christie Love show. Shonda Rhimes the writer of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How
To Get Away with Murder thinks it’s about time Black actresses are getting
noticed. When Shonda accepted her Director’s Guild award for diversity she said,
“She’s ticked,
she said, “because there still needs to be an award. Like, there’s such a lack
of people hiring women and minorities that when someone does it on a regular
basis, they are given an award.” (Wiltz, 2014) Is this just a money thing?
There will be more Black women on TV because it makes sense, it’s a smart economic
move so why not? African-American buying power is projected
to reach $1.1 trillion next year, it makes smart business sense to populate
television shows with all different types of people. But will these actresses
get full recognition? Scandal is one of ABC’s hit moneymakers but Kerry Washington
hasn’t been the winner of any award show because she plays a role where she
carries on an affair with the “white” President of United States. Even though I’m grateful society still has a
lot of work to do accepting minorities and putting them on TV.
THE
NEXT GENERATION
Even
though I Love classic TV I will not make it as a successful Television Producer
if I try to create the same shows. TV today is very competitive and I will have
to bring something new and fresh to the table. Old school won’t work I have to
tell stories that my generations and future generations can relate to Not the
Cosby’s nor The Real Housewives of any place. Shonda Rhimes said it the best TV
has to look like what we look like. “It’s who is telling the stories,” she says,
“because the people telling the stories are the people deciding who you see
onscreen, they’re the people who are deciding who are in the writers rooms,
they’re the people deciding on the crew.” (Berman, 2015)
Independent
TV has also made a huge impact on how people view TV not only can I turn on the
TV but I can also use my computer to follow several web based programs, this is
the new era and there are multiple ways to reach your audience today. “ITVFest has created a
trusted doorway for indie artists to take the next steps in their career, based
solely on the merit of their work and their professionalism,” (Meek, 2105)
WILL
STREAMING TV KILL LIVE TV NETWORKS?
Television
now works with it’s subscribers convenience my favorite shows I have to watch
it Live the day it comes on the time it comes on but that’s not convenient for
all. My daughter likes to stream her TV shows or record them so she can binge
watch and I have a subscription to Netflix and Hulu…eventually will this effect
TV networks? “Traditional television assumes your time is scarce and it has you
for a few precious hours before bed. The streaming services assume they own
your free time, whenever it comes – travel, holidays, weekends – to fill with
five- and 10-hour entertainments.” (Poniewozik, 2016)
Success
of streaming TV shows have open up doors for writers that haven’t been noticed
for networks or regular TV. Streaming
companies can afford to take risk unlike major networks and more creative
people can shine this way. The Orange is the New Black is a Netflix original
and has won several awards already the only downfall I see with this is what if
a person can’t afford to pay for streaming TV.
I must admit I
love no commercials and the big networks have taken notice and decided to cut
there commercial time in order to compete with streaming TV services “it seems as thoughthe big networks have decided that the best way to
compete with a commercial-free service is to lessen the amount of the commercials shown and charge more for them.” (Gonezales, 2015)
Well I participate in both the streaming world and regular TV I need both to survive!
References
Warner, K. J. (2015). They Gon'
Think You Loud Regardless: Ratchetness, Reality Television, and Black
Womanhood. Camera Obscura, 30(88), 129-153. doi:10.1215/02705346-2885475
Gomez, P. (2015). SCANDAL CREATOR
SHONDA RHIMES My Year of Yes. People, 84(20), 73-76.
Lansky, S., Trianni, F., & Berman, E.
(2015). Shonda Rhimes on Raising the Next Generation of TV Producers. Time.Com,
N.PAG.
GONZALES,
D. (2015). Thanks to Netflix, TV Will Have Fewer Commercials. PC Magazine,
15-17.
http://gu.com/p/4fkbm/sbl
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