The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Spring 5-2011 "Reading" The Apprentice: Commerce, Culture, and the Manufacturing of Reality Sharon Simpson Terrell University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Part of the Mass Communication Commons Recommended Citation Terrell, Sharon Simpson, ""Reading" The Apprentice: Commerce, Culture, and the Manufacturing of Reality" (2011). Dissertations. 692. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/692 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The University of Southern Mississippi “READING” THE APPRENTICE: COMMERCE, CULTURE, AND THE MANUFACTURING OF REALITY by Sharon Simpson Terrell Abstract of a Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2011 ABSTRACT “READING” THE APPRENTICE: COMMERCE, CULTURE, AND THE MANUFACTURING OF REALITY by Sharon Simpson Terrell May 2011 This study examines the six original seasons of the reality television series The Apprentice as a postmodern, cultural artifact. Grounded in Burke’s (1967) “literature as equipment for living,” and Brummett’s (1984) consideration that televised content constitutes literature, the theory of “televised discourse as equipment for living” provided the guide to examine the series. Hall’s (1980) “reading against the grain” oppositional reading technique was utilized to interrogate both the manifest and latent content. The content of the series may indeed provide the audience with a guide to ideological beliefs of both commerce and culture, thereby creating a manufactured reality for its viewers. Discussions include the genre of reality television, marketing techniques that utilize modern sponsorship with product/brand placement, consumerism, social commentary, business discourse, and the mythos of the American Dream. ii COPYRIGHT BY SHARON SIMPSON TERRELL 2011 The University of Southern Mississippi “READING” THE APPRENTICE: COMMERCE, CULTURE, AND THE MANUFACTURING OF REALITY by Sharon Simpson Terrell A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved: Chris Campbell_______________________ Director Fei Xue_____________________________ Kim LeDuff_________________________ Gene Wiggins________________________ David R. Davies______________________ Susan A. Siltanen_____________________ Dean of the Graduate School May 2011 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the Mass Communication and Journalism faculty of the University of Southern Mississippi for all of its contribution to this project. I am forever grateful for their support that allowed me to continue my academic journey. I extend a special acknowledgement to my dissertation director, Dr. Chris Campbell, for his passion of social and communication studies and his insight throughout this process. I also extend my gratitude to the other members of my committee, Dr. Fei Xue, for his dedication to the art of advertising, Dr. Kim LeDuff, for her guidance and dedication, Dr. Dave Davies, for his dedication to historical methods, and Dr. Gene Wiggins for his Southern humor, lightheartedness, and dedication as both professor and administrator. On a personal note, I would like to thank my husband for his love and support throughout many years of my pursuit of educational goals. I would also like to thank my family and friends for their generous love and support. And lastly, I would like to acknowledge Dr. Hazel Cole, for being a trusted friend and colleague that offered guidance on emerging from the doctoral process, not only accomplished, but whole. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………..………………………………….….ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS…………………………………………….……………….…iv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION……………………………..………...……………...1 Theoretical Grounding Methodology II. LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………..………..……..11 Reality Television as Media Anomaly Ideological Analysis The Apprentice Series III. THE APPRENTICE AND REALITY TELEVISION COMMERCE…...86 The Apprentice Promotion Scheme Leveraging The Apprentice Brand Business Discourse in The Apprentice Consumption and Trump’s American Dream IV. THE APPRENTICE AND SOCIAL DISCOURSE…………...……….145 Gender Representations Provocative Topics Race and Cultural Representations Sexual Orientation Age Representations Manufactured Reality Character Creation Oppositional Reading: Analysis of “Cruise Control” V. CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………..……...……206 Summary of Findings Limitations Recommendations for Future Research Final Comments v APPENDIXES………………………………………………………………………….226 REFERENCES………………………...………………………………………….……243 vi 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Peruse any television guide and it would be difficult to miss the sheer number of “reality television” programs littered across the television landscape. Many critics had believed that reality television (RTV) would most likely constitute a fad in programming, and fall by the wayside. However, the current has proven to flow in the opposite direction of the critics’ predictions. Viewer interest has risen in this type of programming, and networks have adopted it with fervor. In fact, RTV programs ranked second in the top two categories of the most-viewed types of television programs of 2009, eclipsed only by the broadcast of live sporting events (“Reality, Sports and SciFi,” 2009). The RTV genre has emerged as a multi-faceted phenomenon that has left an indelible footprint on network/cable programming. It has also become a staple of postmodern American popular culture, having been woven into the veritable American zeitgeist. The presence of reality-based programming on prime-time television has clearly changed the way that people watch television, and also changed what people expect to see each night when they turn the television on (Butsch, 2006). As boundaries are crossed, genres mixed and hybrids created, at times this can result in serious journalism being peppered with the latest fluff details of the happenings on RTV. One such national television broadcast reported on the latest roadside bomb that had killed eleven troops in Afghanistan. The serious report on the nation's affairs, segued into a story about Snookie, a character on the MTV-produced, low-brow RTV program Jersey Shore, and the fact that she had gotten into a drunken brawl that ended in a man punching her in the face. If one has not followed at least one RTV program over the years, be it Survivor, Big Brother, American Idol, or a host of others, print, newscasts, entertainment news, 2 and the Internet, are replete with the reporting of the minutia of the unfolding drama of many of these programs. Because of the vast reach of these programs and the press that they create, even if one does not watch these programs as part of their television viewing, they probably know some of the outrageous storylines and characters. Biressi and Nunn (2005, p. 11), refer to RTV as water cooler TV; that is, television that attracts large audiences and becomes part of the popular discourse of everyday life. Public opinion does vary about RTV programming, but generally they tend to be polarizing and people either “love it” or “hate it.” These programs are pointedly marked by their misnomer of “reality TV” as they begin with the promise of “presenting the real,” but fall short, opting instead for a bait- and-switch technique that results in a manufactured television reality. This creation of RTV can be particularly troubling when the information that is presented as real to the viewing audiences is not. The drama is cleverly positioned to deflect any suspicion of the constructed reality that the viewers are watching. However, even if viewers were aware that what they are watching is not real, surveys have shown that many viewers simply do not care about the verisimilitude of what they are viewing (Murray & Ouellette, 2009). The real danger lies in the socialization from the manifest and latent content that is contained in the text of the program. Messages can create alignment or support pre- existing hegemonic ideas and ideals about society. These programs may indeed set up its own paradigm of relative RTV hegemony. This has created a need for researchers to address the economic, visual and cultural dimensions of RTV. At times, scholars ignore highly popularized culture media products such as RTV. These programs may be dismissed as fad or low-brow television fare, not deserving of 3 scholarly attention. However, with the rapid rise of RTV to the forefront of popular culture and its substantial domination in the production of primetime programming, it has emerged as a significant social text. Scholars have begun to assess the genre’s intersection with audiences, media economics, and its cultural relevance (Andrejevic, 2004; Holmes & Jermyn, 2004; Kraszewski, 2004; LeBesco, 2004; Lewis, 2004; Stern, 2009, p. 52) Some scholars have been diligent in analyzing not only the phenomenon of RTV, but also the rich content of RTV programs. Murray and Ouellette are a team of scholars that are constantly expanding the literature by seeking out research on RTV theory. Their presentation of essays have been invaluable to this research.