INDIAN JOURNAL OF SCHOLARY

RESEARCH

ISSN: 2278 8271

Title:

REALITY SHOWS: AN ETHICAL COLLAPSE

Name of Author: Prof. Ashish Nathwani

Email: ashish.nathwani@yahoo.com

Mobile: +919824227223

Designation: Assistant Professor (Marketing)

Institution: Jaysukhlal Vadhar Institute of Management Studies, Jamnagar (Gujarat)

University: Gujarat Technological University

REALITY SHOWS: AN ETHICAL COLLAPSE

ABSTRACT

Ethics are a set of moral principles or values. Topic of ethics is largely talked about rather than

followed. The lines of good and bad might be clear but when people invest the fund they want a

beautiful harvest in return. Well, this time around the silver screen stands as a victim of the

thought let’s be anti-social; socially. There are numerous differences between working in reality

TV and television in general. For the purposes of this piece, when I refer to reality television, I

am referencing those shows like Roadies, The Big Boss, Swayamwar series, The Big switch,

Splitsvilla, and the like. Talk shows and variety shows would fall under a different category.

Influence of Reality shows on youngsters. How they affect the moral fabric of the society.

Reality Shows- Yes they have become the greatest find in television industry in the present

century. Use of abusive language and vulgarity dominated these shows. Shows like Emotional

Athyachaar, Sach Ka Samna and the like have caused relations to split, family ties to wither.

Indian cultures are eroding. As a crew member of a reality show, you might be exposed to people

suffering the direst of consequences. When participants surrender their rights to privacy, they

may not consider reality TV's long-term effects, subjecting themselves to potentially humiliating

events that harm their reputation. Viewers often wonder if reality TV projects real-life,

unscripted moments. Most reality shows, though, may edit programs to fit their own agenda,

presenting viewers expecting reality with inauthentic programming. Participants in programs like

"The Serial" (on channel V) claim what people do to come on camera. The present show Big

Boss (Season 6) can blow nasty issues over racism. Hundreds of youngsters, especially

teenagers, are talking about the topics that we've never talked about in the past. Will the next

decade witness a dusk of an innocent era?

Keywords: Reality shows, ethical issues, moral policing.

REALITY SHOWS: AN ETHICAL COLLAPSE

ETHICS

Ethics are a set of moral principles or values or a theory or system of moral values. However,

ethics are related to morality, but are not the same thing. Ethics are not a set of written laws that

forbid someone from performing a particular action. Ethics vary from person to person, and from

community to community, and the definition or interpretation of what is right and wrong can also

vary greatly.

REALITY SHOWS

Media around the world seem to have "discovered" that so-called "reality" shows are very

profitable, resulting in a growing string of such shows in recent years. Although not all are

successful, many do achieve significant popularity and cultural prominence. That does not mean,

however, that they are good for society or that they should be aired. The first thing to keep in

mind is that "Reality TV" is nothing new - one of the most popular examples of this sort of

entertainment is also one of the oldest, "Candid Camera." Originally created by Allen Funt, it

showcased hidden video of people in all manner of unusual and strange situations and was

popular for many years. Even game shows, long a standard on television, are a sort of "Reality

TV."

For the purposes of this piece, when I refer to reality television, I am referencing those shows

like Roadies, The Big Boss, The Big switch, Splitsvilla, Emotional Atyachar and the like. Talk

shows and variety shows would fall under a different category. Reality Shows- Yes they have

become the greatest find in television industry in the present century. Use of abusive language

and vulgarity dominated these shows. Shows like Emotional Athyachaar, Sach Ka Samna and

the like have caused relations to split, family ties to wither. Indian cultures are eroding. As a

crew member of a reality show, you might be exposed to people suffering the direst of

consequences. There are numerous differences between working in reality TV and television in

general.

Today's programming, including a new version of Emotional Atyachar to be aired on UTV

Bindass, goes quite a bit further. The primary basis for many of this show seems to be to put

people in painful, embarrassing, and humiliating situations for the rest of us to watch - and,

presumably, laugh at and be entertained by.

These reality TV shows wouldn't be made if we didn't watch them, so why do we watch them?

Either we find them entertaining or we find them so shocking that we are simply unable to turn

away. I'm not sure that the latter is an entirely defensible reason for supporting such

programming; turning away is as easy as hitting a button on the remote control. The former,

however, is a bit more interesting.

YOUNGSTERS & REALITY SHOWS

Influence of Reality shows on youngsters. How they affect the moral fabric of the society. A

jackpot to make viewers glued to their sets unaware of time or the sensibility of what they are

viewing. The success of these shows lie in the simple ingenious formula of creating real life

situations. For once Indian audience was relieved to get out of the Saas Bahu traumas and the

larger- than life characters of daily soaps. They were happy to get a view into other peoples’

lives into their household, their privacy. And when celebrities volunteered to open up the masks,

stand raw in front of the camera depicting their natural colors, what more can the audience ask

for? When these shows succeeded in getting TRPs their concepts became weirder and wilder!

Use of abusive language and vulgarity dominated these shows. The impact of such scenes on the

younger generation is a social concern.

Indian cultures are eroding. We hear this day in and day out. And what is happening in the

society is only being depicted in the visuals. Jobs in MNCs, easy access to money, night clubs,

disco, etc. are the priorities of today’s youth. Yes westernization is welcomed with open arms but

not with the vices like teenage affairs, live-in relationships, break-ups, extensive use of drugs and

alcohol consumption. These are all pointing to the low morale of the younger generation. When

the Supreme Court legalized live-in relationships westernization has almost got a legal sanction.

We may feel these privileges are available only to the upper class societies who are more

exposed to the changing trends. But media only worsens the harm by providing a tainted image

of the new generation to the general public. As it has always been debated Media has its good

and evil. Visual media has a very strong impact on the viewers. And hence they have a moral

obligation to the society while screening such programs. Privatization of National media may

have allowed a wide variety of programs for the viewer but it has also increased publicizing

immoral and irrelevant content without censoring. And such contents are offered to a wide range

of audience ranging from children to teenagers to adults.

THE (REALITY) SHOW CASING

The Money

Until you've proven yourself on set, in a writer's room or wherever you might end up, the money

you've heard so much about in Hollywood rarely makes its way to the crew. Salaries are often

extremely low because of budgetary restrictions, and a high demand for production jobs.

Meaning, if you're not willing to work for X amount, there are dozens if not hundreds behind you

in line who will. So be realistic about your expectations when you're first starting out. One day,

you might find yourself generating great wealth from the entertainment industry -- but when

working on a reality program from the ground up, you won't see much green in your wallet.

The Subject Matter

The thing that makes reality television so great is exactly the thing that keeps a lot of people

from being able to work in it. As a crew member of a reality show, you might be exposed to

people suffering the direst of consequences. Although it's human nature to want to reach out and

help these people through their situations, it's also your job to help capture these moments for a

nationwide (or worldwide) audience. That's not to say you have to deny your human side, but

you have to understand going in that you might see the absolute worst happen to a person, but

that your only job is not to help counsel them through it, but to capture it on film.

Fig-1: The Show Casing

The Reputation

Unfortunately, there is a stigma to working in reality television. Even within the entertainment

industry itself. It's a relatively ugly occupation and because your job is to stand idly by while real

people go through sometimes traumatic situations, people might start to judge you. Somehow or

another, you will have to work through this on your own. The "thick skin" you've been hearing

so much about as you start your career in Hollywood starts developing on shows like these.

The Anchor Factor

In the hunt for better anchors for his reality shows like Roadies & Splitsvilla, Raghu Ram

(Raghu Ramalingam) took up the carge himself and disguised himself as a very dominant and

important feature for all the seasons of Roadies (on MTV). Mr. Raghu Ram displays lot of HR

issues in his interview, but we cannot advocate that for a case study. Producers of Big Boss also

experiment with the stars like Arshad Warsi, Amitabh Bachan, Sanjay Dutt, etc. Salman Khan's

brazen life makes him perfect for Bigg Boss.

REALITY FEATURES

Relationships: There is an old saying Relations are made in Heaven and maintained on earth but

reality shows believe Relations are scripted for entertainment and dented for sensation. The long

established and highly respected relationships are put on question and humiliated for better TRP.

Many relationships

Tears: Tears has formed a part of strong content on reality shows. Tears are therapeutic. That is

the reason why we watch emotional, tearful and melodramatic films. We cry, but it makes us feel

good, happy and fulfilled.

Fig-2: Figure Highlighting Features Of Reality Shows

Sugar-coated stories: The feast of the whole show many times is wrongly presented and

narrated that the sugar coat on the matter is very hard to digest for the audience. Putting yourself

in a burning furnace cannot be your way of proving bravery. Some of the reality shows seems

not to be concerned about what is their actual story or subject. There is no goal by highlighting

odd habits of contestants on national television. Many go to such an extent in terms of language

and wardrobe that they do not remember the finishing line.

Unusual acts & species: There is no fun in eating or swallowing the worms when your audience

is irritated rather than entertained. The name of species also is not known by the contestants and

they may want to respect them rather than being human monster.

CONCERNS OF REALITY SHOWS

Content: The subject matter of many reality shows can be questioned easily by the moral

policing of the society. If the content was like how to be a good employer, a good sales

representative, etc. than it is acceptable. But content of the shows like Emotional Atyachar (on

UTV Bindass) & Gumrah (on Channel V) are not acceptable on national television. May be

people are fed up of watching daily sops with saas-bahu concept but this are not proper

replacements.

Damage to reputation: Performing or participating in the reality shows other than talk-shows

always has the risk of severe damage to reputation of a person. The tasks or the situations

wherein the celebrities are performing may not be appropriate for their remaining career.

Disturbed family and personal life: Reality shows have the risk for contestants to disturb their

family life or personal life. Many upcoming models or actors have wasted time and career by

choosing reality TV shows as a start to their career. Many families have parted because of

performing certain acts in reality shows.

Lack of Privacy: Celebrities live public life in on-screen & off-it. Once they are on any reality

show, they are paid price for revealing their privacy to media at large. If you apply to appear on a

reality program, you have no grounds to complain about lack of privacy, or that you cannot

control what ends up on TV. Every stipulation usually appears in personal and location release

forms, as well as informed consent forms. No one is concerned how Dolly Bindra likes to behave

with others. But when she presented a language unacceptable to general life, she became a

noteworthy star for Big Boss Season-4.

The Editing Process and Inauthenticity: Viewers often wonder if reality TV projects real-life,

unscripted moments. Most reality shows, though, may edit programs to fit their own agenda,

presenting viewers expecting reality with inauthentic programming. Such actions may result in

exaggerations of events or painting participants in an inaccurate, non-flattering light. Many

shows like The Big Switch, Splitsvilla, etc run for TRPs based on unedited footage and uncut

scenes as they find that the audience is interested to see what actually they don’t have to see.

Fig-3: Elements of Concern for Reality Shows

Decaying Culture: Youth want to follow their icons on the TV and when they see their icons in

various strange acts, they belive nothing is much stranger. Youth do not only see such acts like

privacy talks and abused behavior but they also try to follow them in their real life. Girls might

want to study what is to be done to enter Splitsvilla (on MTV) or Gumrah (on Channel V) and

most of the boys might practice biking and swallowing worms to enter Roadies (on MTV) or

take a better grooming lesson to get a break on Superdude (on UTV Bindass).

Offensive language & behavior: It is often cruel, exposing the participants to gross humiliation

for our amusement. This makes it the modern equivalent of going to laugh at the lunatics in

chaos. The language content of many reality shows are filled with many ‘F’ & ‘B’ words. Many

acts which spoil the morals of the society and decade the value of human beings are displayed

for public entertainment without producers’ caring about social results.

CONCLUSION

TV today is an instrument of mass deception where most news misinforms us, entertainment is

rarely anything more than gossip and debates are a loud rattling of the same empty vessels over

and over again, organised by emptier and louder hosts. The biggest argument made in favour of

the show is that it is at least bringing the issues out in the limelight. Hordes of people are talking

about how the show is exposing topics that we've never talked about in the past. By telling you

more and more about things that matter less and less; TV blinds you to the truth that may be

lying at your door step. Funny thing is the people on TV just act like that for the show itself; they

don't realize that they are corrupting the minds of younger viewers by acting on camera. As the

concluding remark: Let’s hope reality shows will someday become REAL or PERISH.

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