FREE ESSAY ON THE ENTERTAINEMNT INDUSTRY

THE ENTERTAINEMNT INDUSTRY

In the past five years, the entertainment industry has been more and more focused on the
idea of reality-based entertainment. This vast desire for seemingly live television has
made a great impact upon major network television stations. Shows such as MTV's Real
World and CBS's Survivor are great indicators of society's obsession with drama in a
"live" situation. It seems our infatuation with these shows stems from our desire to
focus our attention away from our own tribulations and focus on problems elsewhere. Our
mysterious want for conflict among others has forced many networks to provoke such drama,
for example in Survivor, where castaways are forced to take sides and vote another member
off the island. This idea of social Darwinism in shows like Survivor and the ever so
popular Big Brother force major networks to create entertainment that both provoke and
stimulate disagreement among participants. 
Personally, I feel that because of television's fixation with reality-based programs,
people are now turning to the movie industry to get away from such realistic forms of
entertainment. Popular movies such as Bedazzled, The Ladies Man, and The Exorcist all
deal with fantasy type situations. Bedazzled, starring Brendan Frasier and Elizabeth
Hurley is about a man who sells his soul to the devil, played by Hurley. Moviegoers can
simply escape reality for a few hours by entertaining themselves with themes such as
this. Genres focusing on such fantasy are rarely seen on prime-time television these
days, especially on the major networks such as FOX and ABC. Why is this? Well my
impression is that people feel as if they deserve to come home and take their mind of the
troubles they had for the day. By being able to watch shows such as ER, which ranked
first among viewers this past week, people can direct their attention onto another
person's drama while ignoring their own. Voyeurism today is clearly an indicator of
change in taste for viewers around the world. According to Time Almanac:1999, the top
three shows of 1998 were Seinfeld, Veronica's Closet, and Friends. If you look at the top
three shows during months while a reality based show is being aired, you will most
typically find that show to be number one among viewers in the rankings. This growing
trend of live-based entertainment is setting a new stage for twenty first century viewers
today. 
Real-life issues however can be distorted at times when being seen second hand. MTV's
Real World has been accused several times of editing their tape purposely to show
conflict for the viewers. From my perspective, I do not see how you cannot purposely
create conflict when you put seven completely different people into one house. Add
cameras and you are guaranteed drama. This was the same for CBS's Big Brother this past
season. Although the majority of time residents got along just fine, there were many
scenes that focused on the personal problems of those living in the house. Whether it
dealt with a crush on another member of the house, or a disagreement, viewers were able
to relate their issues to those in the house, making them feel as if they are not alone.
This is a primary reason why we see such an increase in reality-based television these
days.
If you analyze current rankings among primetime network shows, you will not find as many
reality based shows. This is because seasons of both Survivor and Big Brother have just
ended. New series' will be coming out sometime in 2001, where networks feel the impact
will be even greater than last time. ABC's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is however still
one of the top syndicated shows in the industry today. This provides both a trivial and
real life perspective for viewers out there. Unlike its other competitors in the world of
"live based" television, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire gives those who watch substance,
instead of pure provoked conflict.
Honestly, from my point of view, I feel the relationship between the movie industry and
the contemporary issues in society do not represent each other at all. Movies in my
opinion deal with much more with unrealistic themes. Either when talking about comedy, or
horror-based films, movies tend to provide a much greater perspective of our imaginative
side. Recent films such as Me, Myself, and Irene and Whipped, give audiences insane
comedy that would never be thought of in the real world. 
I also feel movies leave a greater impact on the mind than television shows do. Because
movies can be sometimes far fetched, people are many times inspired to act upon what they
have seen in movies. Many school killings such as Columbine have been said to be inspired
by movies, specifically Basketball Diaries, in which Leonardo Di Caprio's character
shoots his entire class during school. These fantasy ideas given to viewers can sometimes
be dangerous for vulnerable teenagers to see, but thanks to laws such as our rating
system, the industry tries it's best to keep such movies out of the minds of our youth.
Another relationship that I found to be very insightful is that of the nightly news and
drama based shows such as Big Brother. As focused on earlier in this class, news today
deals with mostly negative information and investigative reporting. This so called drama
we see in the news is highly demanded; ironically this is exactly what voyeuristic
viewers yearn for as well: a situation where conflict and negativity are highly
prevalent.
In a nation of immense variety, society has found a common interest when it comes to
television shows today. Reality-based entertainment is definitely the standard for
today's major networks. It will be interesting to see what stations come out with in the
next few years that deal with our voyeuristic wants. The question on my mind is how far
are people willing to go when it comes to submitting themselves to the public for means
of entertainment. From what I have witnessed so far, the more money offered, the farther
people are willing to take away their privacy and cash it in for fame. What we must
realize though is that television shows that are based on real life are still television
shows. It's entertainment and we must not let ourselves get buried into the turmoil of
others we see on TV today, even if it seems "live".
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