Today in class I realized why the film was called "The Truman Show". Truman is True Man, as Truman is the only real person on the set of the television show. Everything else about his reality was completely scripted, right down to the times when his neighbors would walk past his house. This idea of scripting reality carries over into reality television, which is widely recognized as scripted. The Hills is famous as a reality television show that has very little basis in reality. On reality contests such as American Idol and Last Comic Standing, the producers have control over who stays and who goes home.
In class we also discussed how the news is scripted, and how there are only a few story types we are presented with. We discussed how the weather became scripted by the Weather Channel. I started to make connections to my prior class, social psychology, where we thought about how real life is often scripted. When we think of a first date, we think of the awkward picking up of the girl at her parent's house, the romantic comedy movie, the dinner at Olive Garden, and the terrifying kiss good night. Real life, through constant media reinforcement, becomes scripted. When consumerism is written into the script, that's where the bureaucracy wins.
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I have to agree on several levels. The Hills is the most ridiculous program ever. And it seems like lots of people take cues from the girls of the show on how to behave. All the drama in the show, suggests life is drama. When really, life doesn't have to be drama. We say drama is inevitable, but not to the degree shown on the show. Television tells us how things should be. Television gives us a basis for interpreting everyday interactions and activities. Relationships are most times evaluated on their connection to what is shown in media. For instance, people seem completely dissatisfied when their significant other does not act how the leading roles in romantic comedies do. In romantic movies, the guys always say the right things, they always bring the flowers and open doors. In real life when we aren't given these things, we sort of feel slighted. But why? Why have we started to reflect upon our lives through the lens of scripted tv?
Scripted tv shows and movies all have the same story. We talked about how all books tell the same story. Everything borrows mechanics of previous works. Intertextuality tells us that everything exists because something else exists. Everything is an open text and silences are always there. The extent that media relies on these mechanics, however, makes it all boring. When you turn on the tv you know exactly what you are going to see. Why do we have this fascination with tv when we are just watching the same thing over again? Reality shows in general can't exist. Nothing is completely reality. Everything on the screen has been edited. Everything has been chosen. Look at Real World. The character types are the same every year or whenever the show comes on. They rely on these very diverse personalities to clash and create the drama. The entire show is scripted around the carrying of very narrow type casting. There is nothing real about what is seen. Its a very staged environment.
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