Reality Bites

[Kelli Stanley]

Reading Kevin's Forum post about the guy who falsely claimed Oprah status (James Frey Redux) reminded me of an issue that's been simmering under my hat for a while. It's linked to the must-be-a-memoir-to-get-on-Oprah craze--which I guess is a subcategory of the self-help genre.

Other than for reasons of network economics, can anyone explain the morbid fascination with"reality" entertainment? The commercials for some of these shows seem like a Mad Magazine parody (the one with the women who are ten years younger and ten years older than 'the catch' they fight over comes to mind).

I've never been able to fully watch one of these things. Am I missing something? I mean, the creepy crawly underbelly of American culture is something I can write about, but somehow seeing it displayed between beer and erectile dysfunction drug commercials makes it all so much worse. There's nothing "real" about this stuff, yet it continues to generate big bucks for somebody.

This blur between fiction, 'reality' and fantasy is just plain disturbing. And where does it leave us, the creators of fictional worlds? Will the kids growing up with Survivor even look at a novel?

If you know the answer, please share. Maybe someone will come up with a cure. Or at least a brighter entertainment future than "American Idol lives the Simple Life serving as Apprentice in the Kitchen to the Bachelor who Thinks He Can Dance."

Kelli

[Kevin Allman]

Jon said: Said bigwigs aren't known, by and large, for being creative envelope-stretchers--they tend to chase celebrity with big money (usually a mistake) and place very small bets on that which is original or outside the box--if they bet at all.

Paralleling the disappearance of the middle class is the disappearance of the midlist. I think most writers would be happy to make $50,000/year. Those advances hardly exist. You're more likely to find $5,000 or $500,000. The midgee advances are spread out there to keep the field alive and (perhaps) find someone who can be grown into the next Sue Grafton or Janet Evanovich.

And then there are the truly ludicrous payouts. Last year, I reviewed the first novel by a playwright - the ms was the subject of an unholy weekend bidding war and he ended up with $2 mil for two novels. Guess what? The first one got terrible reviews and (from what I understand) performed way below expectations. Sure, he'll get the rest of his money - but he'll be hard-pressed to stay in the business after that. If they give you $2 million, you'd better earn back $2 million for them, and quite a bit more. Publishing houses are not dumb...mostly.

That goes a long way toward explaining why delicately written, highly literary memoirs by unknown authors go begging -- and why the New York houses will spend big-time on My Pursonel Storry by Me!, Britney Spears! or whatever.

As a side note: the biggest advance I ever got was for an "as told to" book - I was to be the amanuensis to an exceedingly minor celebrity who had known some major ones. Before it was done, the publishing house underwent a spasm and dropped about 1/3 of its upcoming titles, including mine.

Which was, as they say, A Good Thing. And I kept the money, thank God - because my other advances were a lot closer to $5,000 than $500,000.

[Margot Renne Payne]

I agree with you about memoirs--I've read The Liar's Club three times. Also, This Boy's Life, by Tobias Wolff is incredible. I don't think you can or should lump all memoirs together.

[Karyn J. Powers]

I remember that there was a brief "Woe is Us" from good TV writers when reality shows got their legs, then they just packed their PCs and headed for cable. They make less money, sit farther back at the awards shows but still the public finds their stuff and enjoys it. Watch "Rescue Me." The monsters living under Dennis Leary's bed must be amazing. "Saving Grace" also has some great potential.

The reality stuff is mostly about cheap distraction. As is the news. If you can't afford to upset your corporate owners and they keep your budget such that you can't afford to go looking for truth, you just turn out fluff that is one step away from ripping it off of the AP printer. All the talking heads can only be clever if they have straight white teeth and great cleavage (boys and girls).

I think readers and writers have always had the world's "back" so to speak. From Cave Painters to E-ziners and alternative newspapers/sources. We may have more layers to get through and more competition, but heck, Gutenberg (sp) knew there were only half a dozen guys within 100 miles who knew how to read, but he wrote anyway.

As for existing in ever increasing isolation. I don't think reality TV contributes to that. Quite the opposite. The five people in my office who are devoted reality fans hold regular coversations with each other. I have no idea what they're talking about, but I plunder great snippets of conversation that I store for future use. Its the reward for having an office across from the inner office mail boxes and the copy machine.

[Kevin Allman]

One more thought, Kelli: I have known two people who were on reality shows (and both shows were the cream of the reality crop...now there's a thought). A third friend got to the last round of a smaller show before being unselected at the last minute, because they asked her to pose for the "candid" promo shots in an outfit she never would've worn in real life. And she swears they cut her because they realized she wasn't up for being a partner in manipulation.

Anyway, the two folks who did the reality shows both said that - to paraphrase Mae West - reality had nothing to do with it. The producers took their real-life personalities and built easily understood "characters" out of them. Not a lie, but a simulacrum of the truth designed to make the audience root for them, boo them, distrust them, sympathize with them, whatever.

Was there quote-unquote writing, like a script to follow? No. Was there a story arc constructed by the producers to which the contestants largely hewed? You bet.

It wasn't a fictional world. But it was far from a real one...and maybe that's what you find disturbing.

[Kelli Stanley]

Bingo! That's exactly it, Kevin. This is fiction disguised as reality because fiction qua fiction doesn't sell, and reality is too ugly to make it on its own (as you've pointed out, not even the news will touch it).

The question is, then, do viewers mostly realize they're being manipulated? That this is a plucked, pulled and photoshopped image, a fun house mirror as distorted as a Caligari backdrop? Do they believe it to be real ... or fantasize that it is?

Because, my friend, that bodes very ill for our culture...and socio-political future.

Of course, people were probably making these prognostications after the game show scandals of the '50s, too. Maybe I'm just playing the pessimist, and need to reshake my magic 8 ball. It's stuck on "Don't Count on It".