HomeHomeAugust 2005
The View of Reality from "Flyoverland"
"To be nobody–but yourself–in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else–means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting."
e.e.cummings
All of us have characteristics which make us unique. Some of these qualities make us proud; some make us ashamed. All the parts of our personalities, good and bad, make us who we are.
One of my inherent qualities, which I am hesitant to own up to, is a knack for trivia. Put me in a game of Trivial Pursuit and I will answer nearly every celebrity question correctly. Ask me to name all of Elizabeth Taylor’s husbands, and I will have no problem; ask me to name the woman who gave me my last haircut, and my brain goes blank.
As a writer who has always been fascinated with American pop culture, this memory for biographical details comes in handy. And this summer, I have been doing research once again on television reality shows, while simultaneously killing off thousands of brain cells in the process, trying to remember who has done what with whom, and where.
To understand the American or any culture, one can look to the media to see what values shape its world view. We value competition, personal transformation, overcoming dysfunction, a willingness to allow voyeurism into our lives if it means we get to extend that fifteen minutes of fame, outsmarting, outwitting, and out-bitching the other guy or gal. We value getting to be number 1 above all--and the resulting fame and fortune, too.
Reality shows are a boon to financially troubled networks because the contestants do not require million-dollar salaries or fancy sets or bloated budgets. And this form of entertainment is easy and quick to produce. The shows don't last long, either, because our collective attention span is getting shorter. This summer, the reality shows average about six to eight weeks long. Here are some examples with the basic premises:
I Want To Be A Hilton — Rubes transform themselves and compete against each other to win a year in New York, living the high life. (Of course, not everyone wants to be a Hilton---just ask Elizabeth Taylor.)
Hell’s Kitchen — A nasty Scottish chef berates rubes attempting to transform themselves into Master Chefs while competing against each other to win a restaurant (or time in London with the aforementioned nasty Scottish chef).
Trading Spouses — Rubes exchange lives for one week in order to win fifty grand. Purpose is to pit two cultural/economic/racial opposites (red state vs. blue state, hippie vs. conservative, black vs. white, rich vs. poor, neat freak vs. slob). At the end, the two "traded" women gather together for a bitchfest about the other’s family.
Another category involves those people who were once considered to be "somebodies" who are now trying to claw their way back to the top (or at least make it clear that they are available for better gigs once their reality shows are over.) Here are a couple of examples:
Celebrity Fit Club — former and wannabe celeb chubbies compete to see which team can lose the most weight. Includes mostly middle-agers with a young-un or two thrown in. A show like this could put the fear of God–er, make that fear of aging–into younger viewers.
The Surreal Life — former and wannabe celebs agree to live together in a mansion, get on each other’s nerves, create unnecessary drama and dysfunction in order to boost ratings and exposure--and that includes more than we wanted to see or know about these people. Definitely will put the fear of aging into younger viewers, as older celeb women without Botox or silicon are hard to find.
Whether we are trying to learn how to dance with stars, become the next American singing sensation, survive on a remote island, become a swan or America’s next top model, or overcome being an "Average Joe," one thing is clear: it’s not enough simply to be who we are. In the arena of competition, the meek, the fat, the average, the old, and the ugly certainly don’t inherit the earth. Of course, in the marketplace of competition, there are any number of products or even plastic surgeons who can help with those transformations.
While there’s nothing wrong with higher aspirations or dreams or life goals, this craze to live up to someone else’s idea of what a winner is, is simply getting tiresome.
As a culture, do we want to leave this kind of entertainment legacy to future generations? Is this the kind of programming which really inspires us or tires us out?
Isn’t it enough to have a simply "ordinary, extraordinary" life?
Teresa
News, Resources, Inspiration, and Other Interesting Tidbits
Kate Finnegan of The Independent wrote about an organization founded by Gaby Vermot-Mangold, anthropologist and member of the Swiss parliament, called "A Thousand Women for the Nobel Peace Prize." Since 1901, only 12 women have won the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. Ms. Vermot-Mangold wants to change that. Ms. Finnegan’s article was picked up by the Council of Ethics-Based Organizations website.
Two women from Northern Ireland, Bernadette McAliskey, who played a vital role in the civil rights movement of the 70s and 80s, and Anglican nun Anna Hoare, are on the list.
Global Conferences
Minneapolis, MN recently hosted the Global Conference on the Role of Traditional Medicine in Reproductive Health.
FarmAid will celebrate its 20th anniversary on September 18th with a concert at Tinley Park, IL. According to their web site, this is how it all began:
FARM AID started as an idea at the Live Aid Concert when Bob Dylan said on stage, "Wouldn't it be great if we did something for our own farmers right here in America?" Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp agreed that family farmers were in dire need of assistance and decided to plan a concert for America. The show was put together in six weeks and was held on September 22, 1985 in Champaign, Illinois before a crowd of 80,000 people. It raised over $7 million for America's family farmers. Performers included Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, B.B. King, Loretta Lynn, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and many more.
You can read more about FarmAid’s mission statement here.
Washington, D.C. is the site of the "Women Lead in the Fight Against AIDS" conference from September 12th through October 7th, 2005. The Centre for Development and Population Activities, sponsor of this conference, "is an international nonprofit organization committed to improving the lives of women and girls worldwide. At the core of its work and approaches is a belief that achieving gender equality is essential for development, democracy, and global progress."
In New Delhi, India, the 10th International Women and Health Meeting will take place from September 21st through 25th. The gathering "seeks to highlight politics, policies and issues that adversely affect women's health and simultaneously bring out the linkages and interconnections of these seemingly disparate phenomena. As the title of the theme suggests, the meeting attempts to reiterate the holistic concept of health, and to strengthen the claim for health care and health as a justified right for all people."
From October 6th through 8th, Geneva, Switzerland will be the site of the W.I.N. 2005 Global Leadership Forum, "Leading for the Future."
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