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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
slow-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
I fucking LOVE books like this (see also my utmost admiration for The Oscar Wars). Assessable cultural criticism is very much my shit. A few thoughts:
-what I wasn't anticipated was how much 9/11 shaped reality TV as we know it today; including casting, finances and profitability. So interesting.
-reading about some of these cast contracts (especially during the wild, wild, west, early days of reality TV) was WILD. For example, Project Runway had a clause that the producers of the show get ten percent of the winners profits IN PERPETUITY. Paying these people for the rest of your life?! You got me fucked up.
-Reading this title made me immediately think of The Hills and its iconic ending. I really wish she could have gone into the Laguna Beach/The Hills and other high school + post-HS reality shows of the early 2000s because they really had a hold on society for awhile. But maybe that's something to explore for the next book.
-what I wasn't anticipated was how much 9/11 shaped reality TV as we know it today; including casting, finances and profitability. So interesting.
-reading about some of these cast contracts (especially during the wild, wild, west, early days of reality TV) was WILD. For example, Project Runway had a clause that the producers of the show get ten percent of the winners profits IN PERPETUITY. Paying these people for the rest of your life?! You got me fucked up.
-Reading this title made me immediately think of The Hills and its iconic ending. I really wish she could have gone into the Laguna Beach/The Hills and other high school + post-HS reality shows of the early 2000s because they really had a hold on society for awhile. But maybe that's something to explore for the next book.
I am probably not the audience for this book… I have never watched survivor, big brother, the bachelor, American idol, COPS, etc. I also don’t watch those home flipper shows. In college I might have caught a few episodes of “the real world” or daytime talk shows because my roommate always had them on but I can’t remember watching any on my own (I did, however, watch soaps so I’m not here to judge anyone lol) I was also swept up in the early seasons of project runway and top chef.
The only “reality shows” I watch now are great British bake and ALONE. Admittedly, while recovering from a surgery, I did succumb to watching a few seasons of Love is Blind in the hospital, primarily so I had things to text my friends about. I hate myself for it and after the last season and the lawsuits now, I don’t know I can ever watch it again no matter how much I feel left out of a group text.
Background over…. REVIEW: I really enjoyed this book.
Overall it surprised me and in did alter my thoughts on reality tv.
For example, this book made me realize I watched far more reality than I thought. Example: I watched Americans funniest home videos as a child. That’s reality tv. I never would have thought about it or game shows in that way. Who of us didn’t watch jeopardy in the 80/90s? I also hadn’t considered things like Gordon Ramsay as reality but it is (not that I watch it).
I also didn’t realize reality tv went back as far as it did! I thought MTV created it in 1990s with real world but it’s been around much longer.
BOTTOM LINE: I think someone who watches reality shows will get a lot more out of this book than I did and will enjoy it more. That said I still found it interesting. I prefer a real documentary but I also won’t stop watching Alone anytime soon.
My feelings on whether reality tv is taking advantage of people still remains mixed.
The only “reality shows” I watch now are great British bake and ALONE. Admittedly, while recovering from a surgery, I did succumb to watching a few seasons of Love is Blind in the hospital, primarily so I had things to text my friends about. I hate myself for it and after the last season and the lawsuits now, I don’t know I can ever watch it again no matter how much I feel left out of a group text.
Background over…. REVIEW: I really enjoyed this book.
Overall it surprised me and in did alter my thoughts on reality tv.
For example, this book made me realize I watched far more reality than I thought. Example: I watched Americans funniest home videos as a child. That’s reality tv. I never would have thought about it or game shows in that way. Who of us didn’t watch jeopardy in the 80/90s? I also hadn’t considered things like Gordon Ramsay as reality but it is (not that I watch it).
I also didn’t realize reality tv went back as far as it did! I thought MTV created it in 1990s with real world but it’s been around much longer.
BOTTOM LINE: I think someone who watches reality shows will get a lot more out of this book than I did and will enjoy it more. That said I still found it interesting. I prefer a real documentary but I also won’t stop watching Alone anytime soon.
My feelings on whether reality tv is taking advantage of people still remains mixed.
getting burnt out on this one. maybe because i don't care about reality tv. but i'm 4 hours in and i don't know if i can commit to another 11 hours. maybe i'll pick it up again someday!
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
The perfect book to make you feel guilt about watching Wife Swap so much as a youth.
Nussbaum recounts the wide history of reality entertainment, from hidden microphone shows in the radio era on through the show that made a president out of a con artist. I know that I have a lot of moral depravity because after every chapter I’d find myself wanting to watch the shows mentioned, despite the horrifying conditions for both staff and participants. I would say, this book doesn’t delve much into the psychology that causes my amoral, prurient interest in people in pressure cookers. I think that may have assuaged some of my own guilt while reading, but, alas, that wasn’t really the book’s goal. SO, I guess I’ll just have to live with all that…
Instead, Nussbaum is interested in the history, and I will say, the salaciousness of that history will carry you through this one. In a lot of ways it shouldn’t be a “page turner”; a lot of sections are just descriptions of boardroom dealing about who bought the rights to what show. But in an ironic way, the most engaging parts of the book are hearing the horrors folks were subjected to on set. Which is a weird feeling since the book seems to be taking a position against society’s attachment to these shows.
In the last quarter, there was some discussion of failed unionization efforts for producers (who, I gotta say, hard people to root for in this book). But I wish she’d incorporated a bit more of a call to action or even just some history around how legislation (or lack thereof) and public perception around these shows were. I think that could have added more depth and contrast.
For example, the obvious standout in this respect was the chapter on The Apprentice, where it is super clear producers and contestants were aware of Trump’s raging racism, sexism and homophobia (including calling contestants slurs in recorded sessions). However, none of these producers did anything to check this behavior at the time and many dismiss any complicity in what has happened since they rocketed him to fame. Worth pointing out, post-publication of this book, Mark Burnett is now a Special Envoy to the UK; so at least one producer got to be a diplomat from this journey into hell.
Mainly, you will read this book and hate these people. But you will also hate Yourself. And I actually think that might be the mark of a good non-fiction piece. Well done Nussbaum, I am depressed.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced