English 102
Argument
Assignment: Write a critical essay (5 pages minimum) in which you make an argument
concerning the impact of some type of television programming on its audience.
[Instructor comments appear in bold, italic font within brackets below.]
Broadcasting A Plague
I really didn’t want to do this. Given all of the different types of
programming there are, I was hoping that I could write about something a little
more unexpected. But then I thought about it a little more and realized that
I’ll probably never get an opportunity like this again. Before too much
longer, reality TV could very well be gone. It will either die out like all
fads, or be replaced by something else. I might as well take this opportunity
to write about reality TV in its current incarnation while it’s still
relevant. When you consider some of the other types of shows that people enjoy
(talk shows for example), the popularity of reality TV isn’t all that
surprising. It seems that people simply enjoy watching other people perform
various activities. Television networks realize this and the number of reality
shows has grown considerably in the last few years. Unfortunately, this type
of programming has turned into something more than harmless entertainment. Reality
TV can be harmful to those who participate in it, those who watch it, and to
television in general. [Creative intro and clear thesis! While your
tone is informal and some instructors might object to the use of “I”
in a formal argument paper, you introduce your topic very naturally and end
your introduction with a good, strong claim about the impact of reality television.]
The situations that reality TV shows put their contestants into, despite being
entertaining (if you’re into this sort of thing, and many people are),
can be dangerous to those who are participating. [Good topic sentence
to focus the paragraph.] Almost any reality program you can think
of is competitive. Shows may require that their participants work together,
but there can usually be only one winner. Contestants are eliminated one by
one, and most of the time it is their fellow contestants who decide who leaves.
Contestants are encouraged to do whatever it takes to win: lying, backstabbing,
slander, and the forming of temporary “alliances” are among the
tricks used to get ahead. Contestants on Boot Camp, a reality show with a military
theme, would frequently try to gather support from as many people as they could
to vote off a specific person. [Excellent concrete example to illustrate
your point.] Because these shows are supposedly unscripted, all
of the deceit is real. Does all of this have any impact on the contestants?
It would seem so. Any number of contestants can be seen flying into fits of
rage or bursting into tears. The negative traits of humanity are proudly on
display here, all for the pleasure of those who watch. [Nice use
of sarcasm to end the paragraph and tie back to your thesis that these shows
have little redeeming value.]
If the contestants don’t rip each other apart [good transition
phrase to move into your next point], then the people behind the
programs will. In some shows, inflicting emotional damage on those involved
is a big part of the show’s appeal. One of the best examples of this is
American Idol. A few years back, Fox executives ordered an expedition
into the sewers of England to find the most vile being they possibly could [more
fun sarcasm!]. Their search turned up a half man-half gimmick
named Simon. They brought him up to the surface and made him a judge on American
Idol. His purpose is to viciously tear into anyone who doesn’t meet
his standards. Fox’s American Idol website provides a nice little
page featuring a collection of audio samples where you can “relive some
of your favorite Simon moments.” The way this page is presented (and just
the fact that it exists at all) gives some insight into what they had in mind
when they asked him to be a judge. None of the comments are positive of course,
and I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t have an effect on those at
the receiving end. He was chosen because they knew he would be especially hard
on the contestants, which would give people a reason to watch. Any negative
effects on the contestants are of little concern to anyone. [Another
strong, well-developed paragraph. Your example is specific, and you explain
how it supports your point well.]
So does not being able to sing at a professional level really warrant that
much verbal abuse? I don’t think that it does, but a lot of people would
disagree. They’re annoyed when someone who they don’t like starts
singing, and Simon’s enraged wailing provides a catharsis for the viewer.
I guess he’s popular for the same reasons that Judge Judy and her ilk
were popular: He yells at people a lot. A visit to the American Idol
page of jumptheshark.com (a site where people can post their thoughts on various
television shows) will reveal that a lot of the people who watch the show watch
it only to hear what sort of crazy things Simon will say, which doesn’t
say much for the show itself. If the contestants are that annoying, then perhaps
the best thing to do is to not watch the show. Supporting a show that relies
on something as simplistic as the lunacy of some guy who hates all of the contestants
by watching it, even after admitting that the show really isn’t that good,
seems foolish. [Last sentence is a bit confusing, and less persuasive
than it could be].
Some would probably say that these contestants know what they’re getting
into when they ask to be in these shows, so any of the damage done is their
responsibility. [Good – you introduce an opposing viewpoint
on the effects of reality television, so that you can then counter that viewpoint].
However, an article on About.com suggests that this isn’t the case in
some shows: “Many, however, have contestants who volunteer and sign releases
- so aren't they getting what they deserve? Not necessarily. Releases don't
necessarily explain everything that will happen and some are pressured to sign
new releases part way through a show in order to have a chance at winning”
(“Ethics of Reality TV . . .”). In addition to what goes on behind
the scenes, there are some more visible examples of contestants not being told
everything. There are plenty of shows that rely on surprising their contestants
so obviously they won’t be told about these surprises. One of the more
obvious examples of this is Joe Millionaire, where a big part of the
show is the surprise the winner receives when she finds out that the show’s
millionaire isn’t a millionaire after all. I’m sure that wasn’t
in anything the contestants signed.
There is also some concern that contestants aren’t emotionally prepared
for what they’ll encounter when they participate in a show. [Another
good point.] A BBC News article reported that psychologist Oliver
James is concerned about the participants in Reality TV programs: “Speaking
at the Guardian Edinburgh TV Festival, Dr James said he feared that people could
be ‘damaged’ by taking part in programmes like Big Brother and Temptation
Island. Dr James said he had spoken to a number of those who had taken part
in reality TV shows and he felt they were not aware of the impact their participation
would have on their lives” (“Reality TV under fire”).
[This quote provides good support for your point, but since it’s lengthy,
it needs to be formatted as a block quote.] People say things
that they supposedly don’t really mean all the time, and they do this
while on reality shows too. Saying something embarrassing is bad enough in the
first place, but I imagine that the humiliation would be even greater when you
realize that millions of people could have heard what you just said. That same
BBC News article had a BBC One controller who said “many participants
did not realise the impact of what they say on camera when it was screened on
TV” (“Reality TV under fire”). Of course, it’s this
sort of thing that the networks are relying on to make these shows interesting.
Another important but also potentially harmful part of reality shows is their
gradual rise in intensity. Like another form of voyeuristic television, talk
shows, the newer reality shows are pushing boundaries. Originally it was just
watching a group of people living together, but now we’re seeing complete
strangers getting married, facial reconstruction in all its graphic glory, and
autopsies [good, shocking examples to prove your point].
A group of four kids from Las Vegas, however, are outdoing all of them with
a show called Bum Fights where homeless people are paid to fight each
other, among other things (plenty of details can be found at www.bumfights.com).
[Wow!] An article from Impact Weekly gives
a description of some of their other activities: “ . . . so the video
excursions escalated to include such moments as our boys urinating into a beer
bottle and giving it to a homeless man to drink. . . For extra laughs, they
sneak up on sleeping homeless men and spray paint them, beat them, tie them
up and humiliate them endlessly” (Copp). Could mainstream television escalate
to this level? [Good question – this is shocking, disturbing
stuff. You’re driving your argument home.] Despite its limited
availability, Bum Fights has sold over 300,000 copies, and the website
boasts about being “the world’s fastest selling independent video
series,” so it’s clear that more than a handful of people are into
this sort of thing. Then there’s also the popular Faces of Death
series of videos, which feature people being killed in various situations, although
some of the deaths are faked (others such as Traces of Death, are all
real). If this kind of stuff ever is shown in the mainstream, it probably won’t
be for quite some time, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it eventually
happened.
The popularity of Reality TV has had some fairly interesting (although not
very encouraging) results. It seems that a lot of people are getting caught
up in it and I can’t help but feel that this obsession is unhealthy. During
the first season of American Idol, over 100 million votes were cast
(“Kelly Is ‘American Idol’”). According to CNN’s
election statistics page, around 105 million votes were cast in the 2000 presidential
election. [Great use of statistics to make your point].
Of course, the same person could vote in more than one episode of American Idol,
so it’s unclear how many individual people voted, but that’s still
a high number. However, the second season of American Idol received
over 250 million votes, with the final episode alone bringing in over 24 million
(“Ruben is America’s Idol”). Although this number could have
been higher had FOX been able to handle all of the calls they were getting.
Verizon and SBC reported that they each had around 115 million more calls than
usual on the day of the final episode of American Idol 2 (Graham).
The fact that a mere reality show could come that close to such a big election
says a lot about the popularity of reality TV. Maybe this stuff is a little
too interesting for our own good. [Good sentence to sum up the paragraph,
though of course you can’t prove that if people didn’t watch reality
TV, they’d follow politics instead.]
The harm in reality TV is felt in more than just those involved in the shows.
When you have something as popular as Survivor, other networks are
going to want to copy that success. Just look at how many new reality series
have premiered since Survivor. The number of series has grown exponentially
and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. Each one takes the same
basic format, makes a few modifications, repackages it, and airs it. I think
it goes without saying that television networks, like any good business, are
in it mainly for the money. Reality TV is a great way to get ratings (the fact
that they’re so cheap to produce doesn’t hurt either), so now everyone
from the major networks to the History Channel is making their own reality series,
while other more original shows are downplayed.
Reality TV may seem like harmless entertainment, but it does have effects that people may not be aware of while they’re watching. [Nice reiteration of your thesis. I can tell you’re concluding your essay.] It has effects on the contestants who fiercely compete with each other to win and who are toyed with for the sake of ratings by those in charge. It gives people an addictive and useless distraction to indulge in and its success encourages the television networks to make more. Whether it eventually dies out or paves the way for something even worse, it’s left its mark on society, and that’s not necessarily a good thing.
Works Cited
Copp, Andrew. “Unreal world: Repellant social voyeurism.” Impact
Weekly.
20 Nov. 2002. Pro-Quest Alt-PressWatch. 5 Nov. 2003.
<http://apw.softlineweb.com/>
“Ethics of Reality TV: Should We Watch?” About.com.
8 July. 2003. 3 Nov. 2003.
<http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/phil/blphil_eth_realitytv.htm>
Graham, Jefferson. “’Idol’ voting strained nerves, nation’s
telephone systems”
USA Today. 27 May. 2003. 17 Nov. 2003.
<http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2003-05-26-idol_x.htm>
“Kelly Is ‘American Idol’” CBS News. 5 Sep.
2002. 5 Nov. 2003.
<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/04/entertainment/main520858.
shtml>
“Reality TV under fire.” BBC News. 27 Aug. 2001. 5 Nov.
2003
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1511775.stm>
“Ruben Is America’s Idol” BBC News. 22 May. 2003.
17 Nov. 2003.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3043637.stm>
Instructor end comment:
[This is a very well-structured, well-developed argument that would earn admiration and respect in an English 1A class. You did impressive research and use your evidence to great effect. Your paragraphs transition smoothly, your ideas are organized, and your points all come through very clearly. My only real advice is that your tone (while often wonderfully sarcastic) is at other times, a little meek. Don’t be afraid to be forceful in your argument. If you sound unsure about your claim, your reader might be as well.]
** Minor mechanical errors/typos have been corrected by the creators of CHARLIE