When we discussed reality TV in class, we discussed the people who became celebrities merely for having their lives aired on television. For example, Jon and Kate Gosselin. They have 8 kids; 2 sets of multiples. Twins and Sextuplets. Thats crazy, right? But why must we watch their entire lives on television? Are we that bored with our own lives? Personally, I would rather watch something with a plot line, but nonetheless I did watch the season premiere this year when the parents of eight kids announced that they were abandoning their marriage.
Jon and Kate, normal people who became celebrities for just living their own lives, are now an example of a celebrity car wreck. It’s very sad that they’re breaking up, but its even more sad that a record amount of people tuned in that night to hear them admit that sad fact.
As Henry Jenkins puts it in his article, “Buying into American Idol,” we, the television audience, wants to interact, rather than just sit back and watch television.
Nobody describes a car wreck like Dane Cook. Below is a video of Dane’s comedic take of a real car accident, rather than a metaphorical ‘celebrity car wreck’ but you can apply what he says about a car crash to what we see on Reality TV.
Jenkins, Henry. Buying into American Idol: How we are sold on Reality Television.
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