Opinion The perils of reality TV

The reality TV boom hit the US at the turn of the century,with shows such as American Idol and Survivor; earlier shows like Miss America Pageant never made the big time. Now,India is copying the trend. America’s selling-marketing attitude made them take big risks and gambles,and led to their becoming outstanding inventors,changing the way the world thinks and works. All such consequences that came with the evolution of America may have created American society to be forever agitated. In the US,every citizen is allowed to carry a gun for self-protection and defence as the crime rate is supposedly very high. As gun-toting people,their mental make-up is skewed towards being daring and aggressive. We cannot compare this with India’s culture that has evolved from ancient tradition,which espouses an attitude of compromise.

Let me illustrate with a personal experience. I once accompanied an American client from New York City to his suburban home in New Jersey after working hours. There was bumper-to-bumper traffic for miles. My client suddenly switched on a device atop his dashboard,which had programmed inside it several irritating sounds. The one he chose was the machine gun shot. In the colossal traffic jam,he attacked all the cars in front with gun shots,as though he was in The Terminator. I watched,amazed,having never seen such a thing in Europe. He laughed,saying that this way,time will pass faster,and we will not feel bored. By the time we reached,it had become his best stress-busting tool.

American entertainment is far removed from Indian entertainment,which is based on fantasy. But India is imitating America’s hybrid culture without really evolving,merely jumping from fantasy to reality in a short span of time. Americans have tired of blockbusters and scripted TV shows and have turned towards reality TV. I have no cribs against American culture,I love their Barbie doll and hamburgers,but when India blindly follows this culture,authenticity gets discounted. And originality all but dissipates into merely making money from TV advertisements.

Reality game shows and voyeuristic programmes are good for boosting TV ratings. However,when young performers have to take barbs from so-called guru and maha-guru judges,their morale takes a hit and their confidence breaks. How can they become artistes,as is the purported objective of these entertainment programmes? The performing arts cannot be taught facing a public forum; doing so intimidates children.

Famous silver screen actors and playback singers are often the judges on these shows. Actors today have the advantage of shooting take after take until the perfect version is captured on camera. So the public never gets to see their shortcomings and flaws. Singers dub with modern technology,recording line after line,multiple times and in multiple tracks. All voice imperfections are corrected with digital technology. Even when they perform in front of an audience,the musicians often have to play so as to make their mistakes less obvious. But when these artistes become reality show judges,it’s amazing how,sometimes with sugar-coated words,they bombard the young ones with high censure.

Undoubtedly,reality TV has helped underprivileged people express themselves,and earn money and fame,but criticising them on TV is an anti-artistic solution. Incidents have already happened where children have become severely unwell,even becoming paralytic with the shock of defeat. It appears that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights is enquiring into the long hours,remuneration and working conditions of children in reality shows,especially as employing a child under 14 is a crime.

Shombit Sengupta is an international creative business strategy consultant to top management. http://www.shiningconsulting.com