Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched

UNDERSTANDING REALITY TELEVISION Su Holmes and Deborah Jermyn, eds. London: Routtedge, 2004, 302 pp. In a recent issue of Cranta (no. 86), Andrew O'Hagan discusses the relationship between films and personal experience, referencing the particular and complex ways in which people identify with, and engage in, moving images. In an astute comment, O'Hagan writes that "movies and real life share secret things to do with one another... that only the hard-hearted could fail to see" (180). This describes something of the connection that binds viewers to narratives on film and television, and it highlights the mysterious ways in which audiences take meaning from, and interpret, what they see on screen. But what happens when these images not only call out to viewers at the level of narrative, but also make claims about being "real"? In other words, if narrative, fictional worlds connect with viewers' inner lives, how might one characterize the power of unscripted, nonfktion images? Do these images provoke a heightened sense of identification on the part of viewers? Do they also encourage a greater degree of anticipation during the viewing experience? Do unscripted scenarios hold the promise (fulfilled or not) that anything can happen? One might consider, then, the role of unscripted narratives in the current cultural milieu, which has seen documentary films (Fahrenheit 9/11 [2004], Capturing the Friedmans [2003], Spellbound [2002]) and unscripted reality-television shows (Survivor, American Idol, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) generate enormous fan bases and strong numbers, either at the box office or in the Nielsen ratings. Film studios and television networks have witnessed and responded to this surge in the popularity of unscripted media; cable and network television in particular have attempted to capitalize on this phenomenon. The cable television network Bravo has even produced a five-part documentary called The Reality of Reality-thai is, a metareality show-with segments such as "How Real is the Real?" and "Behind the Scenes." Reality television, which promises to unveil things "as they are," has generated its own reality show (with its own portrayal of "the real"). In this context, unscripted television has become an important site of public debate over the past decade, and this is why the essays collected in Understanding Reality Television, edited by Su Holmes and Deborah Jermyn, are so welcome. Focusing on how reality programming creates new challenges for existing analytical approaches in television and cultural studies (16), Holmes and jermyn have assembled a highly readable and even exciting collection that should be of keen interest to students, academics, and critics alike. The strength of Understanding Reality Television lies in the variety of topics it addresses and the accessibility of its essays. Holmes and Jermyn's introduction both sets the stage for the essays that follow and offers a compelling discussion of its own about several key issues in the critical study of reality television-debates concerning definitions, terminology, cultural value, and the representation of the "everyday." Holmes and Jermyn examine the theoretical space that reality television occupies, from the way in which participants and contestants "talk explicitly about the politics of how they are being 'represented' at the level of the text itself (12), to reality television's "very self-reflexive and self-conscious interplay between different programme forms" (6). They argue that debates about reality television should not be abstracted from their "relationship with a range of existing critical, theoretical and methodological paradigms," and that these debates can provide an opportunity for experimentation and exploration, at the theoretical level (18). Holmes and Jermyn make a concerted effort to incorporate essays that cover a range of areas, addressing reality television's history and reception, issues of class, gender, race, and community, as well as questions concerning celebrity and temporality. …

Understanding Reality Television

The Last of us

In recent years, the idea of player control, or agency, has become central and explicit in certain video games and genres, affecting many debates concerning the study or definitions of video games. In spite of this, the notion of agency in video games has been rarely explicitly explored or defined in relation to its sociological and political dimensions. Hence, drawing on actor-network theory, (neo-)Foucauldian governmentality studies, and empirical data gathered over a three-year period, this paper expands to our understanding of video game player agency and moreover, argues that video games provide an important example and perspective to consider the contemporary nature and political basis of agency.

/pdf/video-games-and-agency-in-contemporary-society-1e5o5m8ryz.pdf

Video Games and Agency in Contemporary Society

Instagram has become an important tool for the production and distribution of political images. Our objective is to analyze its strategic management in a context of political and institutional crisis. Based on our own model of content analysis, nine thematic and formal categories associated with the spectacularization of politics during the most intense phase of the independence process in Catalonia, between June 2017 and April 2018, have been reviewed. The sample includes 188 images published by the top 10 leaders of the Catalan and Spanish political map, both in votes of their parties and followers Instagram. The results show a regular political use characterized by intense personalization and orientation towards professional issues. In addition, a use of spectacular resources is detected, such as emotional appeal, the hybridization of spaces, and the experimentation with expressive filters.

/pdf/instagram-y-la-espectacularizacion-de-las-crisis-politicas-m359s8tph6.pdf

Instagram y la espectacularización de las crisis políticas. Las 5W de la imagen digital en el proceso independentista de Cataluña

The relevance of videogames in the contemporary cultural ecosystem and their social impact make it necessary to develop theories and analytical models to understand the expressive potential of videogame design, and how videogames work as texts, giving shape to certain values, behavioural patterns and ideological visions. To do so, it is crucial to build a bridge between game studies and contemporary semiotics. Thus, with this aim, we present in this paper an analysis model for studying videogames as texts that combines theoretical and methodological elements from social semiotics and procedural rhetorics, a specific branch of game studies. Our model is based on four levels: the narrative, ludo-narrative, system-gameplay and designer-player dimensions. As a case study, the model is applied to the videogame The Last of Us.

Videogame analysis: a social-semiotic approach

This article aims to identify the relationship between video games and neoliberal values. To fulfil this aim, it analyses the covers of the 20 top-selling video games in the United States each year...

/pdf/choose-collect-manage-win-neoliberalism-enterprising-culture-527r0phd42.pdf

‘Choose, collect, manage, win!’: Neoliberalism, enterprising culture and risk society in video game covers:

The centrality of the media in the contemporary public sphere has led political institutions to adapt their communication strategies to its logic. Politics and entertainment are increasingly converging and one of the most significant examples of this trend is the tendency to turn politicians into celebrities, i.e. using elements of celebrity culture to build candidates’ public image. This article aims to develop theoretically what celebrification of a candidate means. Drawing upon the main contributions of celebrity studies and political marketing, we identify three fundamental aspects that become useful to recognise and understand celebrification. Additionally, these three elements are applied to analyse the construction of the candidates’ image in the 2012 Catalan Parliamentary Elections.

Celebrificación del candidato: cultura de la fama, marketing electoral y construcción de la imagen pública del político

The centrality of the media in the contemporary public sphere has led political institutions to adapt their communication strategies to its logic. Politics and entertainment are increasingly converging and one of the most significant examples of this trend is the tendency to turn politicians into celebrities, i.e. using elements of celebrity culture to build candidates' public image. This article aims to develop theoretically what celebrification of a candidate means. Drawing upon the main contributions of celebrity studies and political marketing, we identify three fundamental aspects that become useful to recognise and understand celebrification. Additionally, these three elements are applied to analyse the construction of the candidates' image in the 2012 Catalan Parliamentary Elections.

The celebrification of political candidates. celebrity culture, electoral marketing and the construction of politicians' public image celebrificación del candidato. cultura de la fama, marketing electoral y construcción de la imagen pública del político

La mensajeria instantanea movil ha cambiado nuestros habitos comunicativos, convirtiendose no solo en el principal canal de comunicacion mediante dispositivos electronicos, sino tambien en un nuevo canal a traves del que informarse de politica y con el que interactuar con los contenidos informativos politicos. Por ello, los objetivos principales de esta investigacion son: a) identificar la utilidad que los espanoles dan a la plataforma WhatsApp como canal de informacion politica; b) conocer las practicas de los espanoles ante la informacion politica recibida en la plataforma; y c) analizar si la informacion politica es compartida o no en los grupos de la aplicacion, asi como el grado de credibilidad que le otorgan los ciudadanos. La investigacion emplea una metodologia cuantitativa centrada en el diseno de una encuesta online con una muestra de 1.669 ciudadanos representativa de la poblacion espanola, realizada por la empresa de demoscopia YouGov y ponderada por sexo, edad y zona de residencia. La investigacion concluye que la mensajeria instantanea se ha instalado de forma clara en el ecosistema comunicativo espanol. Un 64% de los espanoles recibe al menos una noticia semanal de actualidad politica a traves de WhatsApp y un 24% recibe 5 o mas noticias por semana.

/pdf/whatsapp-como-canal-de-informacion-politica-en-espana-4tt4cnjoxa.pdf

Reinald Besalú

Papers

Videogame analysis: a social-semiotic approach

‘Choose, collect, manage, win!’: Neoliberalism, enterprising culture and risk society in video game covers:

Celebrificación del candidato: cultura de la fama, marketing electoral y construcción de la imagen pública del político

The celebrification of political candidates. celebrity culture, electoral marketing and the construction of politicians' public image celebrificación del candidato. cultura de la fama, marketing electoral y construcción de la imagen pública del político

WhatsApp como canal de información política en España: credibilidad, perfil de usuarios y compartición de contenidos