Reality on TV

The glut of reality TV shows, internationally and locally, spells an unwelcome shift in viewer discernment.

Reality TV–a misnomer, as their settings are fabricated and controlled–is compelling (albeit voyeuristic) viewing for many, and hugely profitable for broadcasters and sponsors.

Shows such as the enormously popular Big Brother and Fear Factor can create a numbing moral void. It would not be too tenuous to draw an analogy between these shows, and hardcore pornography.

Like hardcore pornography, both shows (and many like them) rely on the debasement and objectification of their participants.

In one striking example, South African contestants in a recent episode of Fear Factor were asked to perform such degrading acts as eating the raw genitals and anus of an ostrich. This is not entertainment; it is perverse and degrading.

The dehumanisation of the (admittedly voluntary) participants in reality TV shows of that kind is not always quite as transparent as that. Indeed, in the case of Big Brother, the audience is urged to become party to the act.

The brutality of a mob loudly jeering an unpopular “housemate” (whose character defects usually are not criminal in nature) may be masked by the sheer entertainment value of it all. Yet it should give us pause to reflect on the callousness of a society that should really have advanced beyond the pillories of medieval civilisations.

As the participants in pornography are objectified, so are the contestants in many reality TV shows, stripped of their intimate privacy for the prurient entertainment of the viewer (and the amoral enrichment of the producers).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that pornography “does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure…” (paragraph 2354). These sentiments may well be applied to many reality TV shows.

Although the debasing effects are not dissimilar, the Church has placed no strictures on reality TV. Indeed, it would be inappropriate for the Church to do so at this stage, because–unlike pornography–not all of reality TV is by definition negating human dignity.

Nevertheless, we, the viewers, should be aware of the ethical impact of the entertainment we avail ourselves of, and examine our conscience if and how such material might impede us in living our faith.