I started my senior year with a main goal in mind: to have fun, actually enjoy this year, and create a paper that I'm proud of. Keeping this in mind, I decided I wanted to research one of my favorite pastimes, reality tv. Reality TV has always been a fascination of mine. I love watching the different group dynamics across different programs, varying edits contestants receive, and simply the plain raunchy drama that ensues. Reality TV for me will be an effective research topic because it will provide insight on how individuals react to certain situations and how individuals/situations can be manipulated to reach a desired outcome.
There are two main routes I could take. I can go on a psychological path or an editing path. With the psychological route I would analyze group behavior, effect on the audience, trauma resulting from the show, morality reactions to reality tv, or the difference between how one acts in real life and how they act on tv. The editing route seems more enticing to me whether it be analyzing the scripts, investigating realism versus representation, or finding patterns. I stumbled across the article "Shining Stars, Blind Sides, and 'Real' Realities: Exit Rituals, Eulogy Work, and Allegories in Reality Television" by Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott, Clare Forstie, and Savina Balasubramanian that focuses specifically on competitive reality tv shows and how the exits of players are "symbolic deaths." This paper really got me thinking on how players are portrayed during their exits, how the edit of their exit correlates with their overall edit on the show, and if there are patterns that can be found.
One main thing I need to do is pick a specific reality show to analyze. The show needs to be a show prefilmed (where the show has already been fully filmed before it begins to air and the editors have edited the entire season in mind while knowing the end result) and elimination/competition based. I have six main contenders: Rupaul's Drag Race,
Right now I feel like this:
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Catherine, first and foremost, I am OBSESSED with your blog. Not only are you hilarious, but the backgrounds, gifs, and memes are all I'm living for right now. Anyway, you know I'm a HUGE fan of what you're research -- does it have any relation to what you're planning on studying in college/doing for a living, or is it an opportunity for you to explore something totally different?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't want you to get too caught up in picking a reality TV show right now. That's something you'll hone in on towards the end of the trimester -- there's no need to pick something prematurely, as you'll likely find things in your literature review that will force you to look for a show with very particular characteristics, so don't fret about that yet.
I am mostly looking at this as a final opportunity to explore something I'm passionate about. I have also though about pursing a minor in television production or psychology in conjunction with a business degree in college.
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DeleteI love your attitude about senior year! I really think you have the right mindset to get working. I also think it will help that you seem interested in this topic and the possible directions it could go. Luckily, it does not sound like either of you options would be a dud. If one does not work out, I think your alternates are equally enriching. I am glad to hear though that you have a plan and a back up! I also think you are moving in the right direction in terms of what you're next steps are. I agree with Mrs. Haag though about picking a show. I think you can wait for that and maybe find something specific you would look for in say your "literature" or content analysis and see which one would best fit that topic.
ReplyDeleteGoing off of that, you said today you thought you would analyze the show as if it were literature. I made the assumption in my last statement about a content analysis, but do you think that you would go that route or is there another type of analysis you were hoping to use?