Annemarie Quill: Voyeurism drives TV success

"When I grow up, I wanna be famous, I wanna be a star, I wanna be in movies I wanna see the world ... drive nice cars have groupies ... be on TV."

The Pussycat Dolls' song about fame explains our current fascination with reality television.

Or as academics Steven Reiss and James Wiltz noted in Psychology Today when the genre first became popular in the US: "Reality TV allows Americans to fantasise about gaining status through automatic fame.

"Ordinary people can watch the shows, see people like themselves and imagine that they too could become celebrities by being on television. It does not matter as much that the contestants often are shown in an unfavourable light, the fact that millions of Americans are paying attention means that the contestants are important."

Tauranga talent

Reality television became a little more real for the Bay this week when local Tauranga mums Carla Beazley and Hereni Fulton starred in the transtasman face-off The Amazing Race Australia versus New Zealand.

The pair - dubbed "the Maori mums" - is one of five New Zealand teams competing in the show, which debuted on our screens on Tuesday.

Some teams are starkly stereotyped, particularly among the Aussies. There are the bodybuilders who don't want to be known as bodybuilders but are hilariously just so, the beauty pageant duo who emphasise their brunette status, and the annoying newlyweds.

This voyeurism underpins the success of the genre.

On the Kiwi side, there are the loud Jafa friends, the impossibly good looking and slightly creepy Christchurch siblings Emily and Jono, who look like they have stepped off the set of Game of Thrones, and the affable Hamilton bogans Jesse and Cat.

Although New Zealand has won the Rugby World Cup, the Booker Prize and launched Lorde, one of the first of the show's challenges resorted to national stereotyping - tackling sheep.

And it was hilarious entertainment.

Flick the box on at any given night and there will be a wide offering of reality television.

'Tabloid' television

While some pundits dub it "car-crash" or "tabloid" television, in reality, reality television programmes such as The Block or My Kitchen Rules are counted on to rank high in New Zealand's television ratings.

We like it.

It's entertaining, funny and addictive as we immediately form favourites and love-to-hates.

Misha Kavka, Auckland University's Associate Professor of Media, Film and Television, is New Zealand's guru on reality television. She is also a fan, telling me, "I'm not too good at giving "reality TV is crap" soundbites or lines about how reality TV is the death of TV culture, humiliates participants, gives airtime to cardboard narcissists, or any of those things that people (especially academics) tend to say."

Widely defined as unscripted programmes featuring ordinary people rather than actors, the genre has come a long way from its early days more than 15 years ago.

The original stars

Back then the grainy Big Brother debuted in the UK and the US Survivor became a global phenomenon.

What started out as so-called reality is now fully commercial, with formats running the gauntlet from cooking contests (Masterchef, My Kitchen Rules), to dance competitions (Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance.)

It is like reading people's minds. We relate or we disagree but either way it is hugely entertaining.

From makeovers of people (Extreme Makeover, The Swan) to home renovations (Grand Designs, The Block). From finding love (The Bachelor) to finding fame (Next Top Model, New Zealand's Got Talent, American Idol) to extending fame more than it deserves but not more than we are willing to watch (Real Housewives and Hollywood exes).

While the volume and variety of offerings might have changed, the shows have common traits.

Public vote

They are fiercely competitive, often with regular eliminations either via votes from judges or the public.

Contestants compete for a cash prize or title or both.

There is a running commentary on the events either by a voiceover (as in Come Dine with Me) or by the contestants themselves (Big Brother, The Amazing Race).

This element encapsulates the psychological appeal of the genre: viewers witness people conveying their inner thoughts about scenes in day-to-day life.

It is like reading people's minds. We relate or we disagree but either way it is hugely entertaining.

This voyeurism underpins the success of the genre.

We like to see how far contestants will go - not just on extreme contests such as Fear Factor where the challenges can include eating live cockroaches.

The more interesting aspects of reality television are the more sophisticated mental challenges, where contestants become embroiled in false alliances and betrayals, which become their downfall, much to the viewers' schadenfreude.

Playing the game

As writers Steven Reiss and James Wiltz noted: "All of the reality TV shows had in common was their competitive nature: contestants were vying with one another for a cash prize and were engaged in building alliances and betraying allies.

"The first Survivor series climaxed with one contestant, Susan Hawk, launching into a vengeful tirade against a one-time friend and ally before casting the vote that deprived her of the million-dollar prize."

The lure of reality television is complex for its popularity depends on the fact that, however much we might laugh at or with the contestants, we keep watching.

Despite the irony that so-called reality television is very much contrived, scripted and nowadays commercialised, it is still compelling viewing.

Fear of Missing Out

We wait for golden moments such as the Susan Boyle audition on Britain's Got Talent. Or get fascinated when things take a surprising turn such as on Jon and Kate plus 8 when the pair start out in marital bliss and end up at the divorce lawyers.

Ms Kavka will be watching keenly the Amazing Race series.

"I started watching this Amazing Race series on Tuesday ... it has been airing in the US since 2001 in nearly the same format for the last 13 years. Amazing Race is the one reality TV programme that's easy to praise.

While some pundits dub it "car-crash" or "tabloid" television, in reality, reality television programmes such as The Block or My Kitchen Rules are counted on to rank high in New Zealand's television ratings.

"It earned 13 Primetime Emmy Awards between 2003 and 2012, becoming the regular winner of the Outstanding Reality Competition Programme category, and made New Zealander Phil Keoghan a well known and widely respected host."

Feel-good or making fun?

Ms Kavka thinks that the show in general works hard to generate a feel-good attitude rather than making fun of people.

"In terms of stereotyping, you're right that the tags for the couples like Dating Bodybuilders are stereotypes, but beyond that the people characterise themselves, especially in the midst of the action.

"Despite being called 'Maori Mums' and having to do ... spots that announced their commitment to their Maori heritage, I thought that the Tauranga women did a great job of getting away from that stereotype - as did the best friends who won the first leg ...

"I suspect that the stereotype-tagging in this version is there because they're playing out an Australia-New Zealand rivalry - which is itself a stereotype, but also one with a kernel of truth in it, which is why it might work for the show."

I too will be glued to my set every Tuesday night to follow and cheer for our Bay team.