So it goes and don't fear the reaper and such. And with death being such a real part of life, it was only inevitable that death would be a part of the newest form of entertainment since the sitcom, reality TV.
Reality TV - sorry, "unscripted TV" - is itself a pretty damn strange bastard. It professes to be about real people doing real things but let's be honest, real people just aren't that interesting. That's why people watch "reality". And why a show about a 9-5er who goes home to eat whatever dinner they can scrounge up and then sitting in front of the TV, while no doubt more real than what you see on Bravo, will never be made.
No, just like the terms single cam and multi-cam describe different ways of shooting scripted comedies, reality describes a different way of shooting a game show or, at the least, a directed TV roman a clef.
Of course there are exceptions. DEADLIEST CATCH is a good one. Yeah, there are storylines in there that writers develop and sure they show only the occurrences that are interesting. But no scenario had to be contrived. No drama really had to be ratcheted. Alaskan crabbing is one of the most dangerous professions on the planet, a true big balls man vs. nature undertaking and riches go to the hero but at the very real risk of death. In 2010 the season ended with Captain Phil Harris having a stroke onboard and later dying; a cast member was found dead in a hotel in 2011 and last season ended with the announcement that a crew member on a fellow trawler died as one of the main cast members lost his finger to a hook.
These deaths are part of that job. Whether the camera crew was there or not, many people have gotten hurt and died crab-fishing before and many will do so after the cameras leave. I've always liked reality shows that aren't contrived out of thin air, that celebrate real life and death. Shows that reveal truths and journeys I wouldn't normally see. And if deaths happen in these organic settings it's not the fault of the camera crew.
But other deaths have cast a pallor over the format, especially ones that are unnatural, that should and could have been avoided. Just recently two folks died in France's version of Survivor, KOH LANTA, over in Cambodia. First a contestant died of a heart attack; then the doctor on location who treated him and failed to save his life killed himself over buzz that he didn't act quick enough. Thing is, this isn't the first time such a thing happened. In fact, for a list of shows that have been similarly plagued check this Grantland article - suffice it to say it's evidence some bastards are willing to die to be famous as our nation and, hell, our world grows more and more conscious of fame. The "look at me culture" has never been more sickeningly and universally pervasive in the history of mankind than it is right now. And people are dying for it.
Or here's another recent reality death: Shain Gandee.
MTV essentially invented modern Reality TV with THE REAL WORLD. Then they reinvented it with JACKASS, a show about a bunch of crazy bastards pulling stunts and painful skits, and LAGUNA BEACH, a show revolving around the drama inherent in the vapid lives of spoiled, gorgeous young people living in scenic Laguna Beach California. Then the stock market crashed and as people grew poorer, MTV realized they had to cater to an average kid who was broke as a joke and not only wouldn't relate to LC and her drama, would probably resent it. So they created TEEN MOM, centered on mostly "working class" teenagers pregnant and/or with child". To counter that downer they created JERSEY SHORE about a bunch of guidos getting sloppy drunk and laid in surroundings familiar to every semi-debauched bastard in the mid-Atlantic.
Combine all those and you get BUCKWILD (not to be confused with the white chick from season 2 of FLAVOR OF LOVE), a show about teenagers from rural America who like to perform backwoods stunts like epic mudding sessions and extreme ATV-ing.
Shain Gandee, a star of the show, was found dead of CO poisoning in his '84 Ford Bronco the other day. They think it was because mud got into the exhaust pipe and flooded the truck. And technically, yes, he was a big mudder before the show. But the thing is, no doubt the fame and the money made him feel he had to keep living up to this personality. Hunter S. Thompson once lamented that he had to live up to the Hunter S. Thompson character and at the end that was no doubt a big part of the reason that he wrote very little worth reading after the 90's - and why he shot himself.
Reality TV, like it or not, is a global presence and increasingly a value cue. Kids see spoiled brats and self-centered Kardashians they'll want to do that. They see roided up cokeheads GTLing to get girls DTF, that'll be their goal for the summer. But even more, the reality curse seems to be growing as we come up with more and more ways to exploit mostly everyday people. How many marriages have been broken up immediately following reality shows (Hulk Hogan, Jessica Simpson, like at least a third of the housewives)? How many young people have been vaunted to the stature of demi-gods only to quake and crush under the pressure when they realize they're not talented, just lucky (Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, most of the stars of THE REAL WORLD who you can find serving you at various Sunset Strip restaurants as they put off college for another year to pursue acting)? And how many have to have their depravities celebrated to death before we decide it's not the kind of trash the world needs put out there (Whitney Houston)?
All I'm saying is that Reality TV, like it or not, now has a responsibility to the world. Sensationalistic trash - "guilty pleasures" as folks call them - has gotta be detrimental to the viewing public. But when people are dying doing it, it's time to reassess what we're putting out there. You can say all you want "the public wants to see teenage moms marrying mormon grown men and living in a mansion in Myrtle Beach where they can vote their children off week to week" but know what else a lot of people like? Crack. That doesn't make it okay to sell it.
Reassess your values people. And think - is another season of physical challenges in tropical locations or another series about drunk teen party animals really worth folks dying over? The fervent capitalist may say yes but the moralist must say no. I would think. Because what really frightens me is the prospect that someday somebody will say "Hey, with these people, this combo, one of them just might die - and that would bring in HUGE ratings." At which point we might as well just go back to public executions.
This weekend find something to do that's more interesting than sitting on your hungover ass watching the REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA marathon. Like, I dunno, walking around outside.
- Ryan
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