As shows like The Bachelor and Survivor get renewed for countless seasons, and Mormon wives send chairs across the room, reality television continues to be a hot topic in the world of pop culture.
Kathy Bruner, department co-chair and professor of film & media arts, said within the world of film, there is a spectrum of truthfulness.
Most truthful would be documentaries that borrow from journalism but allow room for interpretation.
“You enter into an agreement, sort of an unspoken agreement, with your audience, that you're telling them a true story,” Bruner said, “and you'll rock their faith in their world if it comes out later that you were not telling them the truth.”
From most to least truthful, the artistic documentary would follow the documentary, and quasi-fiction works like reality television would come closer to fictional filmmaking.
Bruner said reality television doesn’t count as a documentary for anyone in the field because of the way it's constructed.
“(Reality TV) starts with the same creative brainstorming process that fiction does,” Bruner said.
Ideas are pitched, sizzle reels compiled, revisions made, the budget is set, and the crew goes into production.
Producers structure the story as it goes, fabricating plot points and putting people into situations.
“Now, those people were cast,” Bruner said. “The casting director, knowing what the show is supposed to be and what the drama is supposed to be in the show, or what they hope for, she's casting people that she thinks would totally play into those roles and wonderfully clash.”
The editors then sort through everything that happens on set and pick the most interesting stuff, creating the most dramatic scenarios that will hook audiences in the best possible way.
“It's not reality,” Bruner said. “It's a very badly named genre… Some of it is about wish fulfillment, and sometimes the producers are savvy in psychology, and they understand what human needs and desires are, and what sin looks like.
Bruner said it’s hard to classify reality TV as more or less valuable than other types of media.
Some shows play on our worst fears and proclivity to sin, while others can bring more understanding about new topics.
“I think it's possible that some of them could bring us into a world that could create more compassion, more empathy,” Bruner said. “That is possible, but I think more often they're toxic and not helpful.”
Craig Long, assistant professor of biblical studies, said within the genre of reality TV, some shows, including home improvement, cooking, and fashion shows, may promote skills and inspire people to greater beauty.
For Christians, however, we aim to push our content through the grid of scripture.
Long referenced Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
It can be hard to find these traits in some shows, and instead, they can encourage unbiblical behavior.
Long sees this most in shows where contestants have to be deceptive to be successful.
“That's really hard, from a Christian perspective, to see that as whatever is true, whatever is pure…” Long said.
He added that this deception shapes us.
Additionally, these shows can lead us into idolatry and greed.
“I sometimes wonder if the search for fame, the search for glory, the search for a better house, greater food, better putting my clothes together, so many of the themes, even though there may be positive things, I wonder how many of them are kind of intentionally or unintentionally pushing us into greed,” Long said.
Long knows some who had to stop watching reality shows because they put them in a headspace that wasn’t beneficial. This self-awareness can be helpful, preparing viewers for what they are about to see.
To him, the search for stardom could replace the value we have as image-bearers of God. Since we are changed by this content, he wonders if our view of what makes us valuable is becoming misshapen.
“That doesn't mean I never watch reality TV, but I think there are certainly things that we should be aware of,” Long said.
Long said a good criterion for whether or not to watch something is questioning, “Is it true?”
He personally enjoys biopics about famous musicians, but said that, invariably in these stories, there are themes of depression, family problems, alcohol abuse, and other dark things.
In this case, though the content is probably true and good to be aware of, it doesn’t need to be all of his media consumption, because it still begs the question, “What is it shaping you to be?”
“I think fundamentally, watch with caution, extreme caution,” Long said, “and it may be a wiser course to really limit consumption from biblical thinking through these categories.”
