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University of Pennsylvania

From the SelectedWorks of David Grazian

2010

Neoliberalism and the Realities of David Grazian, University of Pennsylvania

Available at: https://works.bepress.com/david_grazian/9/ culture REVIEWS and the realities of reality television by david grazian

Along with mash-ups and Internet blog- tings in which -clad women devour growth developed in opposition to the ging, the meteoric rise of reality television live crickets for money. Others denigrate Keynesian approaches that shaped U.S. ccame to define the last decade’s pop cul- the with a whiff of snobbery, not- monetary and fiscal policy during the tural landscape for millions of Ameri- ing its tastelessness, its prurient lack of mid-twentieth century, from the New cans. In 2000 the commercial success of wholesome content, and its exploitive Deal to the postwar era of economic two new primetime series—Who Wants attempts to capture the lowest-com- expansion. Neoliberal principles are asso- to Be a Millionaire and —cata- mon-denominator of adolescent-minded ciated with global free trade and the pulted the reality genre into the enter- audiences. Yet shockingly few critics deregulation of industry, the weakening tainment mainstream. (Millionaire have attempted to unpack the socio- of union labor, a decline in welfare assis- earned the highest average Nielsen rat- logical underpinnings of reality pro- tance and social service provision, and ing among all television series for the gramming as a product of its recent the privatization of publicly-owned resources. Although neoliberal ideology The narrative conventions of reality TV echo the has largely dominated the bipartisan consensus that characterizes turn-of-the- most central policymaking paradigm in America in century American public policies from Reaganomics to NAFTA to welfare the last decade: the neoliberal agenda. reform to the recent bailout of the nation’s banking industry, its influence 1999-2000 season, as did Survivor the historical context, the George W. Bush reached its apogee during the years of following season.) In August 2000, the era. In fact, such a reckoning illustrates the Bush Administration (2001-2009), Survivor season finale attracted 51.7 mil- the extent to which the narrative con- an era marked by union-busting, rising lion viewers, making it the 13th most- ventions of reality television echo the corporate subsidies, and the deregula- watched television event of the , most central policymaking paradigm in tion of markets; the unraveling of the bested only by the decade’s ten Super American politics during the last decade, social safety net; the outsourcing of gov- Bowls, the 2007 NFC Championship the neoliberal agenda. ernmental functions to the private sec- game, and the Friends series finale. In Informed by the free-market theo- tor; and the abdication of responsibility 2001 the Academy of Television Arts and ries of the conservative Chicago School on the part of the U.S. federal govern- Sciences honored the FOX documentary of economics and its acolytes, neoliber- ment to protect New Orleans and other American High with its first ever Prime- alism represents a strategy of economic impoverished areas from the ravages of time Emmy Award for Outstanding Real- ity Program, and in 2003 the Academy gave its first Emmy for Outstanding Real- ity-Competition Program to CBS’s . Since the 2004-2005 season, FOX’s has annually boasted the highest average ratings of any other television program on the air, arguably making it the most popular TV show of the decade. Critics and snarky audiences deride reality television for the most obvious of reasons, notably its thoroughly contrived presentation of “reality”—the staged theatricality of ’s “board- room,” the insincerity of bachelorette

contestants, the highly orchestrated set- Photo by Monty Brinton/CBS photo Archive/Getty Images

68 contexts.org willing to work for free, rather than pro- much in common with reality television fessional actors, producers also avoid actors. On FOX’s Hell’s Kitchen contest- paying industry-standard union wages ants must live on the restaurant/studio to members of the Screen Actors Guild. premises (and are forbidden to leave These strategies represent more than unless chaperoned by a supervisor), work cost-cutting measures. By hiring mostly extremely long hours performing numb- non-unionized workers, the studios and ingly repetitive tasks, and subject them- networks that produce reality television selves to constant video surveillance. shield themselves from the collective Contestants on Survivor live in rain- mobilization of organized labor in the drenched shantytowns and literally entertainment industries. The union- starve while the world watches yet resistant nature of reality TV was reaf- remains on the couch. Moreover, since firmed during the 2007 Guild reality TV actors are nonunionized work- strike, when reality shows were left vir- ers (like their exploited counterparts in tually unaffected even as media pro- the developing world), they too lack the duction work in more traditional sectors collective-bargaining power that would came to an abrupt halt. otherwise compel their employers to pay

Photo by F. Micelotta/American Idol 2010/Getty Images for Fox Consider also where reality televi- them a living wage. In fact, it is rare for Aspiring Idol Jermaine Sellers made it sion creators produce their shows. They reality TV actors or performers to even to 2010’s top 20 before getting the have increasingly taken advantage of the be identified as workers, which is how boot. globalization of markets and flexibility studios evade child labor laws on the sets Hurricane Katrina. of national borders that neoliberal poli- of “family-oriented” reality programs. At first glance, neoliberal dogma cies make possible. It is no accident, for (On the exploitation of child performers and reality television seem worlds example, that many seasons of Survivor on reality TV, see Hilary Levey’s essay fea- apart—that is, until one considers have been shot in Third World countries tured in this issue.) exactly why the entertainment industry undergoing rapid economic develop- developed the genre in the first place. ment, where local authorities regularly While the production of reality television Much ink has been spilled about relax labor laws, child protections, health employs neoliberalism’s economic prin- the emergence of reality-based pro- codes and environmental regulations in ciples, the genre’s narrative conventions gramming as illustrative of the post- the interests of remaining “business reflect its morals. Competitive programs modern blurring of boundaries friendly.” These countries include , celebrate the radical right-wing values separating fact from fiction. But it bears Thailand, Panama, and Guatemala— championed especially by free market remembering that TV studios and net- some of the same developing nations in Republicans. Both Survivor and The works introduced the first generation of which underpaid and mistreated work- Apprentice require sixteen or more par- reality television shows—notably the law ers manufacture and export plastic toys, ticipants to fiercely compete against one enforcement shows COPS and America’s branded sneakers, and other pop cul- another in winner-take-all contests guar- Most Wanted—in response to the 1988 tural ephemera for the international anteed to produce extreme levels of Writers Guild of America strike. Their market, all in the name of free trade and social inequality. Although team mem- goal was to create a form of program- laissez-faire capitalism. Similarly, recent bers are initially expected to work coop- ming that would be largely immune seasons of The Amazing Race have been eratively on Survivor, they eventually vote from union tactics from sit downs to filmed in China, Cambodia, Vietnam, their collaborators out of the game in picket lines. Since reality television shows Thailand, and Malaysia. naked displays of individualism and self- do not rely on traditional scripts, pro- Sweatshop laborers who work and interest—it’s like the last days of Enron, ducers avoid the risks and expensive live in crowded factory and dormitory only with war paint and coconuts. costs associated with hiring unionized spaces in offshore export processing Meanwhile, programs like The writers. By casting amateur participants zones in Asia and Latin America share Apprentice emphasize the prestige of

Contexts, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 68-71. ISSN 1536-5042, electronic ISSN 1537-6052. (c) 2010 American Sociological Association. All rights reserved. For permission to photocopy or reproduce, see http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp. DOI: spring 2010 contexts 69 10.1525/ctx.2010.9.2.68. culture REVIEWS

CEOs and the entrepreneurial acumen of wealthy businesspeople— much like the Bush cabinet, which fea- tured former senior executives and board chairmen from Alcoa, CSX, Goldman Sachs, Halliburton, and yes, Enron. Like any flexible corporation undergoing a period of restructuring (especially in an era of increasing unemployment and poverty), audiences expect layoffs at the conclusion of every episode. Participants are encouraged to place their desire to win above personal loyalties, but not their slavish (if rarely reciprocated) devo- tion to the boss, of course. Most notably, on shows like The Apprentice the mis- Photo by David McNew/Getty Images deeds of elite business institutions or Members of the Writers Guild of America during a 2007 strike that focused on the their arrogant captains of industry are working conditions of scribes for so-called reality programs. never challenged or questioned—only the actions of powerless, temporary rap producer and impresario Sean “P. deregulated labor market. employees are for dissection and sec- Diddy” Combs. Other reality shows sim- Although the very design of com- ond-guessing. (Recall that the decade ply chronicle the trials and triumphs of petitive reality programs like The Appren- bore witness to the really real collapse sycophantic interns as they labor away tice or Hell’s Kitchen guarantees that of not only Enron but Arthur Andersen, at their non-remunerative jobs, gaining nearly all players must lose, such shows WorldCom, Lehman Brothers, Bear valuable experience answering phones inevitably emphasize the moral failings Stearns, Washington Mutual, and count- and checking names off clipboards at of each contestant just before they are deposed. Typically carried out by all- Survivor’s team members eventually vote their knowing judges and hosts, this smug moralizing becomes practically unwatch- collaborators out of the game in naked displays of able on programs like , in which fitness trainers personally criti- self-interest—it’s like the last days of Enron, only cize the show’s overweight (and typically with war paint and coconuts. working-class) contestants for their poor health. In such instances, the contribu- less other companies operating in dereg- gala events. The MTV reality tions of neoliberal federal policy to ulated industries.) portrays the central heroine, increased health disparities in the U.S.— Other reality shows feature young Lauren “L.C.” Conrad, happily interning notably the continued lack of affordable people competing for the “opportunity” at Teen Vogue while assisting high-end and universal health care, and cutbacks to work as low-wage service workers or fashion designers like Marc Jacobs. in welfare payments to indigent mothers no-wage interns in the glamorous worlds Although Conrad’s insanely cushy made- and their children—are ignored in favor of music, fashion, and magazine pub- for-TV “internship” does not particularly of arguments that blame the victims of lishing. Some of these programs feature involve doing much work beyond gos- poverty for own misfortune. On reality literal competitions in which contestants siping with costars and jet-setting to weight-loss programs, there are no col- vie for the chance to work as an under- Paris, The Hills nevertheless succeeds in lective solutions to rampant inequalities ling for a celebrity, such as VH1’s I Want seducing young female viewers to seek in wellness and health—say, an organ- to Work for Diddy where winners were out fortune, fame, and even romance as ized boycott of inner-city supermarkets awarded jobs as personal assistants for exploited and disposable workers in the that do not sell fresh yet inexpensive pro-

70 contexts.org duce—only individual moral failures that aware youth representing a range of Now that we have begun yet can be repaired by a belligerent drill ser- viewpoints and perspectives. Pedro another decade, perhaps the increased geant, breaking down the souls of his Zamora was a 22-year-old HIV-positive progressive and populist yearnings of the charges in a televised theater of cruelty and openly gay AIDS activist; Rachel times might not only counter our long- that lasts until the season finale. Campos was a 23-year-old Hispanic- standing neoliberal consensus in Ameri- Perhaps the mirror-image of com- American Republican who volunteered can politics, but inspire new and petitive reality programs like The Biggest for former U.S. congressman and Secre- innovative ways to produce entertainment Loser are home makeover shows in tary of Housing of Urban Development media and as well. At the which a TV network rebuilds the house Jack Kemp; Mohammed Bilal was a 24- very least, I’d settle for more diverse offer- of a family victimized by extreme hard- year-old African-American and Muslim ings of reality television, particularly a ship, whether a natural disaster or debil- singer-songwriter whose alternative hip- selection of programming devoid of con- itating illness. On ABC’s Extreme hop group Midnight Voices wedded servative ideology, shameless treacle, and Makeover: Home Edition, charismatic host Ty Pennington grants miracles to On reality weight-loss programs, there are only the misfortunate. During the 2005-06 season, for example, the show’s cast and moral failures that can be repaired by a belligerent crew took part in community rebuilding efforts in the Gulf region in the after- drill sergeant. math of Hurricane Katrina. But while programs like Extreme Makeover: Home urban rap, jazz, funk, and world beat to even, perhaps, live crickets. Edition may seem uplifting, their mes- a politics of social activism. Along with sage is no less neoliberal than The aJewishliberalcartoonist,anAsian David Grazian is in the sociology department at the Biggest Loser: like health care, housing American medical student, a devout University of Pennsylvania and is the culture editor for is never a right to be provided to all cit- Christian, and an eccentric bike mes- Contexts. He is the author of Mix It Up: Popular Culture, izens by the state, but a luxury sporadi- senger, this dynamic cast helped make Mass Media, and Society. cally granted to the poor by affluent the San Francisco season among the private donors. Notably, home makeover most beloved and compelling in the shows rarely spotlight fair housing series’ history. organizations that lobby state and fed- Ten years later, the 2004 season of eral agencies to provide adequate hous- The Real World was shot in Philadelphia, ing to the destitute. Instead, Pennington and featured seven great-looking but and Co. rebuild the domiciles of the hard-drinking nightclubbing post-ado- most telegenic members of the so-called lescents required to build a playground “deserving” poor as acts of corporate for disadvantaged youth under the charity, just as Bush proposed that pri- supervision of the community-outreach vately-run, faith-based community part- wing of the Philadelphia Soul arena foot- nerships should replace the role of the ball team. (At least one or two cast federal government in delivering social members showed up to work hung over services to the needy. on most mornings.) In Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, pop culture critic Chuck Is there hope for reality television? One Klosterman quotes a former Real World might recall that the medium’s offerings fan who explains her diminished enjoy- were not always so homogenous. In July ment of the show without mincing 1994 MTV premiered the third season words: “MTV used to pick people for of The Real World. Set in a Lombard that show who I could relate to. Now Street house in San Francisco, the show they just have these stupid little kids who featured a diverse group of politically act like selfish twits.”

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