Getting a reality check.

Australian TV  is awash with reality shows. Perhaps, that should read Australian TV is stained with reality shows. It seems that, in reality,  these reality shows are heavily scripted and are, indeed, very far from reality. I do not need to name the reality TV shows. You know them. People pitted against each other, and or the threatening environment, to impress the flamboyant, extroverted judges as they perform tasks, such as cooking, renovating a slum, surviving in the jungle or a houseful of hunks  and bimbos or even choosing the love of a lifetime.

People watching a reality show would expect it to be unscripted and actually happening, as in real life. Sadly, this is not really true. A good example of a reality show being structured in unreal situations was the last series of The Bachelor.

Now, I do not watch reality TV but I do know that in The Batchelor a bevy of beauteous redheads, blondes and brunettes  ( OK, mainly blondes) work their way through a filtering interview process until reaching an emotionally charged finale where only two  lovely ladies are left. The Grand Finale results in the hunky bachelor choosing one these luscious looking girls to be his ever loving lifetime partner. Cue violins, flashing lights, fireworks, love hearts, hugs, kisses, lustful looks and heaps of commercials. Not to mention massive sales for the glossy magazines which do follow up stories on the “lovebirds”.

But No! Not in this year’s finale at any rate. The bachelor in this series was a well known rugby player with a quirky turn of phrase, named  Neil “Honey Badger” Cummins. On the final night, the Honey Badger threw the reality show into chaos when he rejected both of the finalists .Oh, no! The cad.

Naturally, both girls were devasted. Millions(?) of viewers were stunned and the show’s producers went ballistic. Social media went into meltdown as people expressed their shock, horror, amusement, disbelief and total cynicism at the “reality” of it all.

The problem was that Neil ‘Honey Badger” Cummins had not followed the script. What should happen in the reality show which is The Bachelor is that on the final night, the handsome bachelor chooses a lucky girl, they vow their undying love for each other, have their photos plastered all over glossy magazines and then, about a month later, they “break up” and link up with their respective real partners. Again, the “break up” is accompanied by massive media coverage.

The problem, this time, was that bachelor, Neil “Honey Badger” Cummins, could not follow the script. He did not want to tell a lie and say he loved someone until death we do part when, in all reality, he did not. So, he told the truth. He let both finalists know  that he was not going to choose either of them. Pandemonium! A slice of reality crept into a reality show and the reality show just could not handle it.

The message is clear. Successful reality TV show must be based on liesypocrisy and manufactured situations that are far, far removed from actual reality. How sad. Even sadder, however, is the fact that most viewers of reality TV shows are well aware that it is all a charade based on lies. They just love the manufactured emotions, the stressful scenes, the joys, the disappointments and the lies that flow from the participants scripted responses.

Maybe, that explains why national politics is becoming a real blood sport.