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Neal Gabler, senior fellow at the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center, discusses the effects of reality television on contemporary American culture.
From naked “Survivor” contestant Richard Hatch spearing his own dinner in the sea to “Newlyweds” Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey solving the Chicken of the Sea conundrum – “Is this chicken what I have, or is this fish?” – reality television has given critics a lot to carp about.
But it also has given millions of weekly viewers a multitude of entertaining programs that do not stick to a cookie-cutter formula.
Aside from the voyeurism factor in shows ranging from “Temptation Island” to “Trading Spaces,” part of the allure of reality television, according to Entertainment Weekly, is it allows for greater audience involvement.
Such shows also have the ability to give rise to new personalities in a celebrity-obsessed culture. “American Idol” winner Kelly Clarkson, “Survivor” castaway Colleen Haskell and “Real World” residents Eric Nies and Kyle Brandt parlayed their visibility on reality programs into entertainment careers that lasted longer than their shows.
And waning celebrities such as Melissa Rivers, MC Hammer and Lorenzo Lamas have extended their fame by appearing on “I’m a Celebrity! Get Me Out of Here,” “The Surreal Life” and “Am I Hot?”
An author and film critic, Gabler’s first book, “An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood,” won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Theatre Library Association Award. His second, “Winchell: Gossip, Power and the Culture of Celebrity” was named non-fiction book of the year by Time magazine. His most recent book is “Life the Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality.” He is currently at work on a biography of Walt Disney.
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