Do reality TV talent shows such as The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent challenge the concept of being a "Star"? Why might this be so?
“Stars almost never wed or shack up with ordinary folk, and this only reinforces the “us and them”
Talent shows have been around for years; one of the first reality TV shows to air in the U.K was Opportunity Knocks in 1987. Shows like these give chances to the ordinary public to become overnight celebrities. TV ‘stars’ consist of characteristics that the so called ‘passive’ audience aspire to be like. In recent years many winners of talent shows such as Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor don’t conform to the stereotypical portrayals of ‘stars’. But do the shows really challenge the concept of being a ‘star’ or is it just a marketing strategy? In this essay I will be answering the question: Do reality TV shows such as The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent challenge the concept of being a ‘star’? Why might this be so?
The first thing to do is to establish, what a star exactly is. Our perception of what makes someone a star has drastically changed according to many critics. Today’s celebrities are merely talentless individuals seeking fame according to Piers Morgan who states in a Guardian article “Jordan, Jodie, Jade, Alicia, Tara, Lady Victoria ... the names trip off the tongue like Marilyn, Ava and Audrey. But none of them can actually act, sing, dance or write” . During the 1950’s the succession of Marilyn Monroe had begun, she became what every man wanted, and what every woman wanted to be. She ticked all the boxes of what a conventional ‘star’ should be “Monroe may have been a wit, a subtle and profound actress, an intelligent and serious woman” [Dyer] but most of all her selling point was her sexuality. Her ‘image’ became a phenomenon, “in the fifties, there were specific ideas of what sexuality meant...and because Marilyn Monroe acted out those specific ideas...she was charismatic, a centre of attraction” [Dyer]. So maybe ‘stars’ are meant to conform to the public’s expectations, but that doesn’t make them a star does it? For whatever the reason Monroe is now an iconic figure and remains to be. Similarly Elvis Presley caused hysteria amongst teenage fans during the 1950’s because of his “blatantly sexual gyrations, particularly the one that got him nicknamed ‘Elvis the Pelvis’” (IMDB). He had the looks, he could sing and he danced the way his fans wanted him to. He conformed to all the expectations of the ‘permissive society’.
There has been an up rise in reality TV shows, Britain’s Got Talent, The X Factor and Got to Dance, to just name a few. They give a chance to ordinary people to show off their talent in hopes to win the show and achieve stardom. The viewers follow the journey of the contestants’ right from the beginning through the auditioning process to the end, where one contestant is crowned the ultimate winner from the viewer’s votes. Through certain media shots and parallel music the production company are able to create a certain feeling amongst their viewers. The very famous ‘sob stories’ on reality shows make us feel sympathy towards the contestants. Having an insight about their lives make us feel that they are similar to us, unlike the conventional stars of the past who carried a sense of mystery with them and made audiences feel that they were special, alienated or ‘stars’. The notion of reality makes us as audiences to expect something that is familiar to us: we expect reality stars to be “Complex, interesting “human beings” whose unique talents and gifts are accompanied by traits that are commonplace and familiar to ordinary people” [Charles Leon]. Winners of shows such as The X factor and Britain’s Got Talent have become revolutionary. The story of Susan Boyle swept across not only national but also international. She became an overnight celebrity through her incredible voice. Initially her presence made people frown, and close up of Piers Morgan showed his disgust in Boyles gyrating. Other shots of the audiences showed people making faces and laughing at her. There was a sense of hegemony and prejudice as the audiences laughed, making the ‘ordinary’ Boyle seem inferior and the judges seem superior. However this was all turned around when her extraordinary voice echoed through the hall and the speakers of the TV sets at home.
Americanisation has changed our perception of beauty. We are repetitively exposed to the same faces, with the petite figure, flawless skin and the amazing talent. Through repetition we start to accept these images to be a part of the norm. The representations of these perfect people become the foundation of our opinions according to Rayner, Wall and Kruger to claim “the effect of these representations is cumulative and, as we saw with stereotypes, they deny the complexity of human existence and reduce it to a basic issue of right or wrong” . But through the revolution of Reality TV we have become accepting of other representations which previously we denied as we were ‘passive’ audiences. Through online forums, and voting, audiences are able to voice their opinions and chose who they accept and reject. This process naturalises the repetition of unconventionally beautiful people. Boyle’s success started to bloom as every aspect of the media wanted a piece of her. Through the gossip in magazines and interviews the viewers of BGT were able to gain some form of personal identification as her private and ordinary life was presented to the public. The first thing that struck people about Susan Boyle was her image. She wasn’t considered to be what we conventionally expect beauty to look like. But with the change from passive audiences to active audiences, more and more people prefer to see someone who they feel reflect ‘reality’. Boyle then went on to coming second in the competition but won the best success she could ask for.
The reason for the shift in acceptance is the revival of not only reality TV but also ‘natural beauty’. Nine in ten women would change the way they look if they had the chance to. Most people lack self confidence due to this reason. However thanks to channel four for their groundbreaking shows, the nation is on its way to recovery. Gok Wan is a fashion icon, a style guru, who has hosted one of the most self esteem raising show: How to Look Good Naked. Wan takes some of the most ‘real’ women who feel low about their looks and sets himself up to making them feel better about their appearances without dieting and cosmetic surgery. The target audience of the show are primarily women and with the show airing every week and more and more stories about women being presented on the show, the public become aware of the issue and soon enough accept that the way people look is inevitable and that people don’t have to look like stereotypical beauties to be beautiful or accepted in society. The copycat theory suggests that as the public are repetitively exposed to something they start to copy this. This is prominent through shows such as The X Factor where the public become the contestants.
However we shouldn’t applaud reality shows just yet. Though we see some winners challenging the stereotypical representations of stars, most winners conform to the stereotypes and some conform to the conventional expectations of a star after taking part on the show. “The trouble with ordinary heroes is that they don't stay ordinary for very long” Susan Boyle transformed in front of our eyes, the comparison of the way she looks can be seen through the contrast of her first audition and her last performance in the competition. This process happened in front of our eyes, so maybe it suggests that we like the idea of having someone ordinary become a star, but we don’t particularly accept their appearance for long?
Hegemonic values are always presented to us on a daily basis. The production company will always try to put their values across to the public. The media “are part of a battleground in which different power elites fight for supremacy in terms of the acceptance of their ideas” . With so many other shows around, every show must try and gain as many viewers as possible by setting views and ideologies which inevitably the passive audience take on board. Though I have previously said that the audiences have become active, but when certain ideologies are represented every week, every year then the audience become passive, where the values are injected into them. On The X Factor’s judging panel there are four respected people. Simon Judge is the boss and with his massive production SyCo TV, he is able to control every aspect of The X Factor production process. This enabled him to present certain hegemonic values yet also seem humble with comments where he commends people for their effort and their past stories.
We are a nation obsessed with celebrities, reading autobiographies, gossip magazines and following celebrities on twitter. I believe that as the ordinary public, we like the fact that stars are different from us. It makes their lives seem more interesting than ours. It’s a sense of escapism to follow the rich and beautiful. The fact that they are different from us makes us like them more, as we are just ‘ordinary’ people and there is nothing sufficiently interesting about us. Although we like the idea of making stars out of the normal public, we’d still rather see people who are true stars, those who conform to and exceed our expectations of a star. Shows such as The X Factor and BGT just give a sense of hope to the public, that they too can become stars (rich and beautiful). I think that even with reality TV shows we see real ordinary people become stars, but they are still the conventional ‘stars’ take Alexandra Burke for instance. She was skinny, beautiful and had an incredible voice from the beginning, which is why she won, people like to see something extraordinary on their TV sets, not something ordinary. We mustn’t forget that reality TV shows are also produced for entertainment values and that’s what people want to see...entertainment.
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Monday, 3 January 2011
Task Five
Do reality TV talent shows such as The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent challenge the concept of being a "Star"? Why might this be so?
Introduction:
• Explanation of what the stereotypes of a Star are, with examples of a few famous faces.
• How has this changed, example of controversial winners now?
• Rise of reality TV, this is because of the gratifications if offers viewers (how they get to chose who wins).
• But do they challenge the stereotypes? End by posing a question, but hint out my answer, (which I think is no, they do not challenge the stereotypes of a star, because after the contestants win they change their image to fit the contemporary landscape.)
First Paragraph:
• Ownership and control – SyCo TV, Power of Simon Cowell, ITV is an entertainment channel. Maybe I can link hegemony? Piers face when he sees Boyle?
(“Ideologies do not remain fixed or static. In many respects, the media are part of a battleground in which different power elites fight for supremacy in terms of the acceptance of their ideas.”) AS Media Studies: The essential Introduction – Philip Rayner, Peter Wall, Stephen Kruger.
“It can be argued that the effect of these representations is cumulative and, as we saw with stereotypes, they deny the complexity of human existence and reduce it to a basic issue of right or wrong.”) AS Media Studies: The essential Introduction – Philip Rayner, Peter Wall, Stephen Kruger.
• Talk about auditioning process on shows, how certain shots influence the viewer’s opinion on certain contestants, then link this to...
(“One way in which ideology works through media texts is by the simple process of repetition. This is particularly true of repeated representations across media forms which can have the effect of naturalising a way of seeing an issue so that it seems that no other interpretation is possible.”) AS Media Studies: The essential Introduction – Philip Rayner, Peter Wall, Stephen Kruger.
• Linear narrative, how the viewers follow their story and then also hear about them on different platforms (Use quotations of how YouTube helped create the hype around Boyle) link this to...
• Maybe if you can identify with the contestants then you like them more and give them a “star” quality?
Second Paragraph:
• Historical examples of talent shows and compare their winners to our winners, link this to...
• Context, what the period of time was like, the rights of people, who were famous etc.
• How are “stars” now and why? (Talk about the moral panic of obesity and anorexia leading to the revolution of programs such as How to look good naked and you are what you eat, which tell people to embrace their body as perfection is impossible to achieve).
Introduction:
• Explanation of what the stereotypes of a Star are, with examples of a few famous faces.
• How has this changed, example of controversial winners now?
• Rise of reality TV, this is because of the gratifications if offers viewers (how they get to chose who wins).
• But do they challenge the stereotypes? End by posing a question, but hint out my answer, (which I think is no, they do not challenge the stereotypes of a star, because after the contestants win they change their image to fit the contemporary landscape.)
First Paragraph:
• Ownership and control – SyCo TV, Power of Simon Cowell, ITV is an entertainment channel. Maybe I can link hegemony? Piers face when he sees Boyle?
(“Ideologies do not remain fixed or static. In many respects, the media are part of a battleground in which different power elites fight for supremacy in terms of the acceptance of their ideas.”) AS Media Studies: The essential Introduction – Philip Rayner, Peter Wall, Stephen Kruger.
“It can be argued that the effect of these representations is cumulative and, as we saw with stereotypes, they deny the complexity of human existence and reduce it to a basic issue of right or wrong.”) AS Media Studies: The essential Introduction – Philip Rayner, Peter Wall, Stephen Kruger.
• Talk about auditioning process on shows, how certain shots influence the viewer’s opinion on certain contestants, then link this to...
(“One way in which ideology works through media texts is by the simple process of repetition. This is particularly true of repeated representations across media forms which can have the effect of naturalising a way of seeing an issue so that it seems that no other interpretation is possible.”) AS Media Studies: The essential Introduction – Philip Rayner, Peter Wall, Stephen Kruger.
• Linear narrative, how the viewers follow their story and then also hear about them on different platforms (Use quotations of how YouTube helped create the hype around Boyle) link this to...
• Maybe if you can identify with the contestants then you like them more and give them a “star” quality?
Second Paragraph:
• Historical examples of talent shows and compare their winners to our winners, link this to...
• Context, what the period of time was like, the rights of people, who were famous etc.
• How are “stars” now and why? (Talk about the moral panic of obesity and anorexia leading to the revolution of programs such as How to look good naked and you are what you eat, which tell people to embrace their body as perfection is impossible to achieve).
Task Four
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/_mmagpast/MM30_real_women.html
Goody and Boyle: A tale of two (real) women.
“The Susan Boyle story symbolises the start of ‘new media’s’ power in disseminating information and allowing audiences to be part of the construction of a story; at the same time it highlights the rise in influence of new technologies such as YouTube and Twitter.”
“Within days, Boyle’s’ performance was the ‘most watched’ video on YouTube and the singer had achieved international fame by the end of the week”
“her next appearance on Britain’s Got Talent was eagerly anticipated; the impact of the sudden fame on a ‘simple woman from Scotland’ was discussed and her physical appearance and its changes became a story in itself”
“Now the hype has died down it’s worth considering what the story was really about. ‘Woman can sing’ is hardly news even if ‘contestant in TV talent show can sing’ is slightly more unexpected. Boyle appeared to be newsworthy in the first instance, not because she could sing but because of the way she looked”
“Susan Boyle surprised people because she does not meet audience expectations: she is a middle-aged, plump woman who has talent.”
“The most common positive representations of women, in today’s media are as being thin, young and attractive. Despite the recent ‘Size 0’ debates, the idealised physical image of women is still very narrow and often a woman’s accomplishments are secondary to her physical appearance. Myleene Klass for example is a classically trained pianist. This fact has been played on in recent Pantene ads but the main point of the campaign has been that Myleene has great hair.”
“What is clearly visible in people’s faces is mockery and disdain because Boyle did not present the image expected of women singers. She was immediately judged on her appearance and seen to be ‘other’, an outsider in a culture that favours physical perfection, grooming and youth”
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/_mmagpast/mm26_stars.html
Star Struck
“Stars have a persona; a recognizable image constructed through their physical appearance, on-screen roles, and media coverage of their off-screen life.”
“To be a star is to represent glamour and an aspiration to succeed.”
http://media.edusites.co.uk/index.php/article/understanding-representation-stereotyping/
Representations
“Representations change over time depending on society’s view of a social group, and are influenced by cultural and legislative changes and, arguably, by media texts. Social groups that are now represented in a progressively more positive way include working women, homosexuals, ethnic minorities, the disabled and the homeless.”
“Many people think that if you point a camera at an event or person the ‘reality’ of that event or person will be immediately apparent. Seeing something through a lens changes not just the perspective and size of a person but also how the audience perceives that person.”
http://media.edusites.co.uk/index.php/article/understanding-reality-tv/
Understanding Reality
Programmes created to entertain a large audience involving putting real people in manufactured situations and filming what happens. The entertainment values are increased with a competitive element and audience involvement using interactive voting to eliminate contestants. Examples include: Strictly Come Dancing, The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, The Apprentice.
Reality TV has become an important part of celebrity culture as it creates and maintains ‘celebs’ such as Jade Goody, and reinvigorates faded personalities in reality shows such as I’m a Celebrity Get Me out of Here.
Goody and Boyle: A tale of two (real) women.
“The Susan Boyle story symbolises the start of ‘new media’s’ power in disseminating information and allowing audiences to be part of the construction of a story; at the same time it highlights the rise in influence of new technologies such as YouTube and Twitter.”
“Within days, Boyle’s’ performance was the ‘most watched’ video on YouTube and the singer had achieved international fame by the end of the week”
“her next appearance on Britain’s Got Talent was eagerly anticipated; the impact of the sudden fame on a ‘simple woman from Scotland’ was discussed and her physical appearance and its changes became a story in itself”
“Now the hype has died down it’s worth considering what the story was really about. ‘Woman can sing’ is hardly news even if ‘contestant in TV talent show can sing’ is slightly more unexpected. Boyle appeared to be newsworthy in the first instance, not because she could sing but because of the way she looked”
“Susan Boyle surprised people because she does not meet audience expectations: she is a middle-aged, plump woman who has talent.”
“The most common positive representations of women, in today’s media are as being thin, young and attractive. Despite the recent ‘Size 0’ debates, the idealised physical image of women is still very narrow and often a woman’s accomplishments are secondary to her physical appearance. Myleene Klass for example is a classically trained pianist. This fact has been played on in recent Pantene ads but the main point of the campaign has been that Myleene has great hair.”
“What is clearly visible in people’s faces is mockery and disdain because Boyle did not present the image expected of women singers. She was immediately judged on her appearance and seen to be ‘other’, an outsider in a culture that favours physical perfection, grooming and youth”
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/_mmagpast/mm26_stars.html
Star Struck
“Stars have a persona; a recognizable image constructed through their physical appearance, on-screen roles, and media coverage of their off-screen life.”
“To be a star is to represent glamour and an aspiration to succeed.”
http://media.edusites.co.uk/index.php/article/understanding-representation-stereotyping/
Representations
“Representations change over time depending on society’s view of a social group, and are influenced by cultural and legislative changes and, arguably, by media texts. Social groups that are now represented in a progressively more positive way include working women, homosexuals, ethnic minorities, the disabled and the homeless.”
“Many people think that if you point a camera at an event or person the ‘reality’ of that event or person will be immediately apparent. Seeing something through a lens changes not just the perspective and size of a person but also how the audience perceives that person.”
http://media.edusites.co.uk/index.php/article/understanding-reality-tv/
Understanding Reality
Programmes created to entertain a large audience involving putting real people in manufactured situations and filming what happens. The entertainment values are increased with a competitive element and audience involvement using interactive voting to eliminate contestants. Examples include: Strictly Come Dancing, The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, The Apprentice.
Reality TV has become an important part of celebrity culture as it creates and maintains ‘celebs’ such as Jade Goody, and reinvigorates faded personalities in reality shows such as I’m a Celebrity Get Me out of Here.
Task Three
New Faces (1973 – 1978): First talent show to have a judge’s panel as well as a studio audience panel. Judges included famous producers and songwriters, very much
like today’s X Factor. Winners were given “star quality”
Opportunity Knocks (1956 – 1978): Viewers could vote on who would return next week. It was a BBC show and had transformed from a radio show to a TV show.
A point to consider is what society expected a star to be, what was accepted on the TV, the current situation at the time of the show, which has drastically changed now.
Previously women were very much objectified, whereas women now self objectify themselves as it is a post feminist society. Women were expected to look ‘perfect’, however now with shows like How to look good naked, women have been able to accept themselves no matter what they look like. So on talent shows historically, women would have had to have the typical image of a perfect lady. With the revolution caused by bands like The Beatles, talent was pretty much based upon them, “stars” appealed mostly to women. Furthermore, talents such as Dance were not yet discovered on these shows whereas these days most talent shows consist of dance.
Most winners these days are younger around 18-30 years old and rather good looking with a sense of sex appeal around theme. However historically the winners would have some sort of “talent” and are mostly either rather young or fairly old.
http://mancunian1001.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/uk-television-talent-shows-through-the-ages-the-not-so-perfect-ten/
like today’s X Factor. Winners were given “star quality”
Opportunity Knocks (1956 – 1978): Viewers could vote on who would return next week. It was a BBC show and had transformed from a radio show to a TV show.
A point to consider is what society expected a star to be, what was accepted on the TV, the current situation at the time of the show, which has drastically changed now.
Previously women were very much objectified, whereas women now self objectify themselves as it is a post feminist society. Women were expected to look ‘perfect’, however now with shows like How to look good naked, women have been able to accept themselves no matter what they look like. So on talent shows historically, women would have had to have the typical image of a perfect lady. With the revolution caused by bands like The Beatles, talent was pretty much based upon them, “stars” appealed mostly to women. Furthermore, talents such as Dance were not yet discovered on these shows whereas these days most talent shows consist of dance.
Most winners these days are younger around 18-30 years old and rather good looking with a sense of sex appeal around theme. However historically the winners would have some sort of “talent” and are mostly either rather young or fairly old.
http://mancunian1001.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/uk-television-talent-shows-through-the-ages-the-not-so-perfect-ten/
Task One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk
The scene begins with parallel music, and sets and atmosphere where audiences anticipate something hysterical than stunning. As she states she’s 47, we get a close up of Simon Cowells face, one of the most powerful and influential men in the media at the moment, looking shocked, and we then see Boyle shaking her hips, leading to Piers Morgan giving her a weird look. As the viewers see this, we base our opinion depending on their facial expression. Also shots of the audiences making faces, again leads us as viewers to also feel repelled by Boyle. As she sings we hear the audience cheer, and get long shots of the audience standing to give her a standing ovation, with this, the viewers gain a different perspective on Susan Boyle, and we start to like her. The song she sings is a classic and alongside her age, we can assume that the people more appreciative of her music taste would be
older.
“When you stood there with that cheeky grin and said I want to be ling Elaine Page everyone was laughing at you, no one is laughing now” Piers Morgan.
“Everybody was against you, I honestly think we were all being very cynical and I think that’s the biggest wake up call ever” Amanda Holden.
From these comments we can see that Susan Boyle does not appear to have any stereotypical features suggesting that she can potentially be a star. The audience and the judges laughed at her because of her quirky personality, age, dress sense and looks. However because of her talent she was put through and came second in the whole competition, she has gone on to sell millions of copies of her album and has become a sensation around the world. She is now a “star”, however consists no stereotypes of one.
Issues and Debates to link –
• Representation: How Susan Boyle was represented in the scene. Compare how she was represented in the beginning to the way she was represented in the end.
• Stereotyping: How Boyle does not conform to the stereotypes, as suggested by the judges.
• Ownership and control: Simon Cowell manages Sycho productions, and signs on many artists that become famous overnight by winning competitions.
• Reality TV: as the show is reality, the audiences come to terms with the
fact that anyone can be a “star”.
MEDIA LANGUAGE:?
INSITUTION: ITV1
GENRE: Reality
REPRESENTATION: Depends on the talent, and the music played, alongside with certain shots
AUDIENCE: Family TV show, prime time?
IDEOLOGIES: Anyone can be a star. Britain had got talent.
NARRATIVE: Linear
SOCIAL:?
HISTORICAL: BGT has been running for 5 years.
ECONOMICAL: Dubz.TV - Website, SyCo TV – Record label, talkback THAMES – production Company, part of fremantle media.
POLITICAL:?
The scene begins with parallel music, and sets and atmosphere where audiences anticipate something hysterical than stunning. As she states she’s 47, we get a close up of Simon Cowells face, one of the most powerful and influential men in the media at the moment, looking shocked, and we then see Boyle shaking her hips, leading to Piers Morgan giving her a weird look. As the viewers see this, we base our opinion depending on their facial expression. Also shots of the audiences making faces, again leads us as viewers to also feel repelled by Boyle. As she sings we hear the audience cheer, and get long shots of the audience standing to give her a standing ovation, with this, the viewers gain a different perspective on Susan Boyle, and we start to like her. The song she sings is a classic and alongside her age, we can assume that the people more appreciative of her music taste would be
older.
“When you stood there with that cheeky grin and said I want to be ling Elaine Page everyone was laughing at you, no one is laughing now” Piers Morgan.
“Everybody was against you, I honestly think we were all being very cynical and I think that’s the biggest wake up call ever” Amanda Holden.
From these comments we can see that Susan Boyle does not appear to have any stereotypical features suggesting that she can potentially be a star. The audience and the judges laughed at her because of her quirky personality, age, dress sense and looks. However because of her talent she was put through and came second in the whole competition, she has gone on to sell millions of copies of her album and has become a sensation around the world. She is now a “star”, however consists no stereotypes of one.
Issues and Debates to link –
• Representation: How Susan Boyle was represented in the scene. Compare how she was represented in the beginning to the way she was represented in the end.
• Stereotyping: How Boyle does not conform to the stereotypes, as suggested by the judges.
• Ownership and control: Simon Cowell manages Sycho productions, and signs on many artists that become famous overnight by winning competitions.
• Reality TV: as the show is reality, the audiences come to terms with the
fact that anyone can be a “star”.
MEDIA LANGUAGE:?
INSITUTION: ITV1
GENRE: Reality
REPRESENTATION: Depends on the talent, and the music played, alongside with certain shots
AUDIENCE: Family TV show, prime time?
IDEOLOGIES: Anyone can be a star. Britain had got talent.
NARRATIVE: Linear
SOCIAL:?
HISTORICAL: BGT has been running for 5 years.
ECONOMICAL: Dubz.TV - Website, SyCo TV – Record label, talkback THAMES – production Company, part of fremantle media.
POLITICAL:?
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Intro
The medium is the message- Marshall McLuhan, this statement in itself infers just how the Media dominates how we receive information.
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