This article talks about the fact that the majority of people that are recruited for reality TV shows, already have existing psychological disorders. The people that are cast for the show that appear to be "normal", end up leaving the show with such emotional damage, they have to seek counseling. Producers seek people with "larger-than-life" personalities--people that are easily persuaded, or pressured to do crazy things. No one wants to watch a show about normal people, they want to see outrageous, out of this world, what the hell were they thinking, kind of acts from these people!
One 32 year old man who appeared on two reality TV shows, killed his wife, dismembered her body, and then fled the country. VH1 ended up canceling this man's shows after the killing. In Washington DC, a couple under consideration for a reality show, crashed a state dinner at the White House. The production company filmed the couple preparing for their night beforehand, but later on denied any involvement in the incident. Another guy that was on "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?", wasn't actually a multimillionaire, was suspected of domestic battery, and was subject of a restraining order from his ex girlfriend. Fox denied any knowledge of this man's misfortunes.
Producers will sometimes actually search for people that have committed assaults, appeared in porn films, are deadbeat parents, or been tax cheats. Some reality TV show participants will admit beforehand they have psychological disorders, and producers will use this to their advantage. For example, in shows like "Hoarders", those people have mental imbalances, and the entire show is based off their problem.
I think it's absolutely disgusting that producers will exploit psychologically damaged people, for the sole purpose of entertainment and making money. Producers aren't the only ones to blame in this dilemma, advertisers and the viewers play a part as well. If we really wanted to put a stop to this, we could help by not watching the shows, and advertisers could stop promoting and sponsoring these shows. I think it's sad that producers will basically use these people and then quickly dispose of them when they feel like it. Most people that are psychologically disturbed, have trouble seeking help or don't want help, so it's completely wrong that we enable their disorders, addictions, and problems.
If you think about it, on one hand, we talk about helping mentally ill people, alcoholics, drug addicts, and people with arrest records, but on the other hand, we encourage their behavior on reality TV shows. These people think it's socially acceptable to do outrageous things such as breaking into the White House, because viewers respond well to it and they make money. I don't think producers should be allowed to recruit people specifically that have issues, because in the long run it will only cause more trouble for the participant and the producing company, when there's a lawsuit because of the participant screwing up. If this casting process lowers ratings for the TV show, so be it. Maybe the producing company should be more creative and think of positive things instead of exploiting psychologically ill people.
It had never crossed my mind that shows could be purposefully using people with mental disabilities to gain views but it is totally true now that I think about it. They will do whatever they can in order to get crazy reactions to all scenarios. Its kind of scary that they would potentially put people in harms way in order to gain views. I think that casting people who have been affiliated in illegal activities on purpose should never happen. Also having people with psychological disorders is not good either. It kind of glorifies being crazy and gives people more incentive to act crazy just because it may land them a spot on the hot new shows being aired that season. It gives people an excuse to “show off” their craziness no matter if it’s an addiction or disorder. This can in no way help lead to a better society and is just used to make money.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Annemarie! I never thought about this but now after reading it I totally agree. Most reality stars always end up in rehab and need some kind of help. It never crossed my mind that people on these shows would be mentally unstable but now reading over this I see why. First of all why would any normal stable person ever go on reality television and let a camera follow them around all the time. This type of recruitment for reality tv should not be allowed because it is affecting those mentally unstable people even more. Also people that have done illegal things should never be glorified for doing the actions they do. Reality tv is almost making it okay and seem normal to do illegal activities.
DeleteI completely agree with this blog and think it is wrong for producers to exploit and use people with mental illnesses for entertainment purposes and to make money. It never crossed my mind that these people were really not in the right state of mind and were being taken advantage of. Also I know reality shows support certain lifestyles and partying habits but I did not think about how they support these mental illnesses and supports alcoholics and drug addicts to continue this type of behavior. I do not think they should use people with these types of illnesses for these shows because they are unstable and not capable of handling the pressure and criticism that goes along with being on TV. Reality producers are really messed up because they search for all different types of people to expose them and use them for money and for ratings so they can have a hit show.
ReplyDeleteProducers of these realities TV shows nowadays only care about ratings, they don't care about physical or psychological health of the people on theirs shows. All they want are "interesting" contestants on the show so people will tune in and watch something that appeals to them. The fact that they search these people out is crazy because why would you want some crazy lunatic that has the possibility to harm someone or themselves in a serious matter on your show? For regular people that seems nuts, but we continue to watch that's why these producers continue to find these insane human beings that need help but instead get shown off to the whole country. These people need help but all they get are 15 seconds of fame so they can ruin or embarrass their lives on national television. It's sad that we promote this kind of behavior but audiences will continue to tune in as long as their are something "interesting" is on.
DeleteI agree with you on all your points that you made. It is pretty sickening to think that majority of the people on the reality TV shows show some signs of being either mentally or physically ill. To think though, we all enjoy these shows for one reason or another. Though it is wrong when you think about it but there is more to it, I believe than just pure entertainment. Like the show Intervention on A&E they show these steps and these methods that these people go through in order to find themselves in recovery most of the times. In some cases, there might be people in this world that need to know that others go through the same stuff that they are going through. But all in all, it is pretty messed up the way they use these people.
Deletehttp://www.thewrap.com/article/people-underestimate-how-much-stress-they-can-deal_3432%3Fpage%3D1
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you when you say that producers shouldn’t be allowed to recruit people with psychological disorders. In this article that I found, it talks a lot about how reality TV can open up a lot of wounds for people that aren’t fixed after they leave the show. I think it’s sad that some shows can create these types of problems for cast members that can even lead to suicide, as stated in the article. I think the producers hold a lot of responsibility when it comes to this matter, because they’re the ones that are choosing the participants for the show. They should know if a person has a psychological disorder and not allow them onto the show if the show will affect that disorder and worsen it to any possible extent. The article states that producers need to be extremely careful when casting reality shows and understand how the participants will react in certain situations, which I agree with. They need to be very straightforward with the possible participants and explain every single factor of the show to them.
I absolutely agree that it is terrible that producers seek out these mentally damaged people. I do understand that they look for these seemingly crazy people with mental disorders to create situations that are interesting to us viewers. I know from watching some reality television that some people get really drunk and cry or act insanely to hide underlying mental issues that they are dealing with. From the outside we just see drama and we are drawn to it. I think that its sick that these people are purposely sought out for our entertainment. It is a completely different situation if these people ended up on TV by accident, but when it is on purpose it is just wrong and something needs to stop it.
ReplyDeleteI never really took in to consideration the fact that these producers could be handpicking mentally unstable people to fill their roles, but after reading over the article it completely makes sense haha. No wonder these shows have so much substance of outlandish acts from people that appear normal. Ideally those are the types of people you'd need though. I guess the real question is, is how ethical is it of these producers to be setting up these people in mentally triggering situations for their instabilities? They're ultimately just doing their job to get the best ratings possible, but if we regulated them from doing this then I think we'd be saying goodbye to a huge chunk of modern day entertainment.
ReplyDeleteI never realized either that this could be going on with the so called stars of these shows but like Jordin says it makes sense once you think about it. In my opinion, I see that this is unethical but on the other hand I never want to blame anyone for doing their job to the best of their ability.
DeleteI completely agree with what is said in this article, I think it is terrible that producers somewhat "target" people that have mental imbalances. In my opinion these people should be helped instead of paraded around and exploited in order to make an interesting tv show that will make producers more money. It's sick that these producers put people with mental imbalances in a tv show where there mental stability could worsen. I think that if producers are desperate enough to use people that aren't mentally stable enough in the beginning they are just greedy and selfish.
ReplyDeleteI too agree with bradley and the article. Think about it. If producers target mentally unstable people then they are showing that their morals are not solid and that the greed is taking over. It shows that these producers are more concerned about making a show what the public wants and what is in high demand that will in turn produce a high outcome volume of salary. I think this represents the changing of today's society and how people are caring more and more about what people think about them sand their outward image .
DeleteI am not quite sure if I actually believe that producers would hand pick mentally deranged people, not only because that sounds like an incredibly stupid idea, but because I don't think that would work out for them in the long run. Kind of like shooting yourself in the foot or something. By hand picking already unstable people you're getting way more then dramatic television, but you also have to think that it's probably not in the best interest for the life span of their show if the characters are literally mentally crazy. In cases like Hoarders I can see how that could be true mainly because the show is about mental disorders and how to help treat someone with said mental disease. So I feel like those types of shows shouldn't exactly be put in the same category as other reality shows like "Who Wants to Meet a Millionaire."
ReplyDeleteI think this is a pretty obvious problem that occurs throughout t.v. entertainment. Every reality show always has at least one person that is different from the others because of their problems whether it be a drug problem, emotional problems, or mental disorders. Producers do this because they know they will make more money off of these people with problems. People with issues always causes drama and americans love drama. I too sometimes enjoy watching reality shows because of the drama. The worst part about it is that these people that have imbalances usually become worse while they are on the shows. Like Bradley said, these people should not be paraded around and exploited for the entertainment of the audience. Unfortunately the producers could care less about the health of their participants and only care about the paycheck at the end of the day.
ReplyDeletehttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/tvblog/2010/07/how-to-find-the-next-reality-t.html
ReplyDeleteIn this article, it establishes the secret to finding the next reality TV star. By this I mean in ways of finding the most outrageous and troublesome person they could find. They don’t just do this for fun but it keeps the TV show interesting and gives the producers something to work with. A reality TV show need spark and excitement and by getting a dull character, this would ruin the show. The article says that the only way for a star to be successful is to have a different background from everyone else, or have a unique style that separates them from the rest of the pack. Just like in this blog post, this article states that producers search for people that have committed crimes or done stupid things to feed off of in the show. It almost sounds ridiculous that we have to do this to get a good show out of it but its true. We are interested in drama affiliated shows that have crazy twists involved in it.