Awkwardness on Dutch television A research to identify the construction of on-screen awkward moments in nine contemporary Dutch reality-based television programs Author: Thomas de Boer University of Amsterdam Student number: 10764976 Master’s Thesis E-mail:
[email protected] MA Television and Cross-media Culture Supervisor: Dhr. dr. J.W. Kooijman Professional track - documentary Second reader: Mw. dr. J.C. Hermes June 2017 2 ABSTRACT Awkwardness has become a very popular form of humour in our society. Not only in real life, but on-screen as well. In this thesis nine reality-based programs of the Dutch television landscape are analysed on the awkward moments they show and how these moments are constructed. The different positions of respectively the maker, the subject and the viewer are all examined in relation to the construction of awkward moments. Drawing upon genre theories and the book on awkwardness of Jason Middleton, this thesis identifies how awkwardness is constructed in contemporary reality-based media products. Awkwardness is a strong, affective narrative tool that is used commonly, either intended or unintended. Keywords: awkwardness – conventions – genre – reality TV – humour – ordinary – social norms – Dutch television 3 Foreword I am writing this foreword of my thesis, the day of Donald J. Trump’s inauguration as the next President of the United States. It is no joke, it really happened. Something totally unexpected happened. The orange clown, who had the most minimalistic argumentation ever during his campaign last year, became the President of the United States. Apparently a man who said “Grab ‘m by the pussy!”, who starred in Wrestlemania 231 and who denies climate change, is able to be elected as the most powerful leader in the world.