Tappress - Reality TV Stars: What Will They Do For Fame?

January 11, 2010

Reality TV Stars: What Will They Do For Fame?

By: Erin O’Brien

Tappress
 

How far are people willing to go to make money or further their careers?  What are they willing to give up and who are they willing to use?

The days when you had to be on American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, America’s Next Top Model, or Last Comic Standing in order to get ahead in your chosen profession are long gone.  Now, it seems that shows like The Real World, Survivor, and The Amazing Race can be parleyed into a ridiculously prosperous career. 

There seems to be some confusion and maybe a little bit of suspicion amongst the general public as to whether this is purely a coincidence or if it was the master plan all along.  We often hear about struggling actors or singers who appear on reality TV shows, only to later go back to their true careers with a more widely known name. 

It’s a growing trend that living in a house with six other people that you just met, drinking all day long, and generally looking like a complete idiot equals a start to career in entertainment.  Some of the most famous examples are Mike "The Miz" Mizanin, who was a longtime participant in the Real World and its sister shows and now enjoys a career as a professional wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment and Elizabeth Hasselback, a former Survivor contestant who is now one of the co-hosts of the view. 

Whether this is because of genuine public interest in these individuals, or are the television networks just trying too hard to be a part of this new craze in programming?  According toVH1 executive vice president Michael Hirschorn, the reason these people are so popular is that they are a part of shows that have “the liveliest genre on the set right now. It has engaged hot-button cultural issues—class, sex, race—that respectable television... rarely touches.”  The interest in these kinds of stars increases the amount of media attention that they receive, especially from the tabloids, catapulting normal people into overnight sensations. 

Though this process is wildly viewed as a way to extend the fifteen minutes of fame, reality show participants that are not out of control in this pursuit seem to be the most easily forgotten.  Paul 'Bubble' Ferguson is not a name that most people would remember, but he was a part of the second crop of Big Brother contestants hoping to gain fame as well as win some money.  Sadly, “Bubbles” was never overcome with the desire to run around naked, pick random fights with his roommates, or get arrested for disorderly conduct, and people just got bored of him.  After he failed to catch the interest of the viewers, he has been reduced hosting an unpopular online show.

Many viewers have expressed a feeling of being lied to about the authenticity of the shows as, most just seem like they might even be scripted.  There has been a considerable amount of controversy over the “reality” behind such shows as Laguna Beach, The Hills, and The Real World, as it just seems a little bit too convenient that the participants of these shows manage to create some kind of drama on a weekly basis without fail. 

However, when the networks make it too obvious that the show’s drama is all predetermined, even the most forgiving and easily fooled fans will begin to take notice.  The Real World: Hollywood, the most recent target of this criticism, had many fans questioning how there could be any legitimacy to a show that had a cast made up entirely of entertainment business hopefuls that were not acting all that well.  They seemed to be trying way too hard to be cool and create excitement at the same time. 

Wannabe reality stars are following a trend of taking their desperation to an all time low now with the involvement of their children.  How the parents can justify this is unimaginable.  Obviously the network executives have no problem exploiting them, because they will be making money off of the ratings. 

The media has even taken note of this.  Shows like Jon and Kate Plus Eight are in the spotlight more than ever due to the parents desire to stay in the public eye despite a very ugly divorce.  The biggest question raised seems to be, do they see how this is affecting the kids?