There are a considerable amount of shows that purport to be “reality” shows, of which, those that are participants in such, are in theory, being shown to us, as they really are, within the construct of that show. The main appeal, then, to those that watch and are engaged in those types of shows, is the impression that the viewer has, which because they perceive these people that they are viewing, as being real and therefore relatable to them, thus allows the viewers of such to believe that they are getting an inside view of those participants, and hence often a vicarious pleasure from it. For a certainty, the show producers, want the audience to feel either a kinship with those that they are viewing, or in absence of that, then for the audience to feel a superiority to them, because the viewers would feel that they are, despite their own personal flaws, of superior character to these “reality players.”
What the audience typically doesn’t know or perhaps doesn’t really care about, is how much manipulation is being done behind the scenes which they are not privy to, when it comes to them viewing the thirty or sixty minute show, which has literally seen produced hours upon hours of video for each episode --that has subsequently been heavily edited and manipulated by those that are the producers of that reality show. The very first thing that producers of reality shows know, is that they aren’t interested in a show in which there isn’t any conflict or drama, because that isn’t going to get an audience engaged or absorbed, whatsoever. This thus means, that when it comes to the actual participants, so of, producers are looking for characteristics that are more akin to narcissism, selfishness, two-facedness, impulsiveness, and the like, for that makes for good conflict and a captivating drama.
So then, in reality shows, positive characteristics, such as kindness, empathy, niceness, and generosity are always meant to take a back seat to greed, personal gratification, aggrandizement, and deceitfulness. Additionally, because reality show producers aren’t interested in showing the mundane, especially in consideration that so many of the audience viewers live themselves lives of mundaneness, commonality, and sameness, they make it a point to thus accentuate that which is more out of the norm, than what most of us experience, in our everyday lives – so that, for those members of the audience that perhaps fantasize about this or that, they can thus take some vicarious pleasure in seeing such, actually enacted by someone else, in their stead.
So too, the producer of these shows have an additional duty of often selling to the participants that they themselves are always a disinterested and neutral mediator, looking out for everyone’s best interests, when often, the point of their private conversations with participants, is to successfully exploit people’s vulnerabilities and weaknesses so that the “reality” of what so subsequently happens makes for a better viewing show and for a better drama -- for without necessary conflict, trickery, duplicity, and spitefulness, from those that are the reality show participants, the reality show is in danger of its viewership tuning out, from boredom.