Questioning the 'reality' of TV

by Kenneth Todd Ruiz
Managing Editor

It was the summer of 1984. A decade into life on this planet, my friends and I were enamored with the likes of Duran Duran and Depeche Mode, played with cool toys that were More Than Meets the Eye, and mainlined sugar from the futuristic looking Capri Sun.

More than anything, our attentions were gripped by the fierce, double-suplex hold of the World Wrestling Federation.

The hot passions of the Cold War played out on the mat, in the theater of the absurd.

Never was there a truer patriot than Captain Redneck, unleashing his red, white and blue fury as he pile-drived commie brute Ivan Volkov.

It was that June's "Boot Camp" match that proved one of the proudest days to be an American.

On that evening, we encircled the television to see Sergeant Slaughter, later honored with his own G.I. Joe figure, survive the Iron Sheik's "camel-clutch" in one of the most inspiring take-downs in modern American history. I think he got a purple heart for that fabled mêlée.

Alas, my life as an outsider began that day.

Although I did not dispute the consensus on the "totally awesome" quality of the contest, I mistakenly referred to the fact that it was so obviously fake.

From their scorn, contempt and rage, I learned how many prefer to be comforted by lies than find pleasure in the truth.

While the WWF has since abandoned any pretense of legitimacy, today's equivalent is the Circus Maximus of bachelors and survivors that is "reality" television.

And again, I marvel that anyone could disengage their brains long enough to see anything resembling reality in these farces.

This time, however, I know one of the puppeteers pulling the strings on these boorish tan-jobs, grinning and grimacing their way through formulaic tension night-after-night.

Her insights into their pernicious production process were telling.

While her name and show must go undisclosed, she has worked for the past year as a story editor on a recent romantic reality show.

Her title alone says enough: Why would unscripted reality need a "story editor?"

According to her, the crew producing these shows do everything short of provide a written script.

They plant "moles" to induce conflict, force the actors to get drunk before taping and coach them on what to say.

"We'll pull one of them aside and prep them by asking, 'So, are you saying that you are going to go after (another contestant) like a hurricane?' and lo and behold, they will go say that on-camera," she told me.

According to my source, the stories, conflicts and character arcs are carefully planned long before the production begins.

And what the home viewer sees is often footage spliced together from different nights, with no relationship to how it is presented.

It seems like it would just be easier to hire a cast and have them read lines.

And without really being real, what is the point?

I prefer my fiction crafted by capable writers and acted by professionals.

Short of that, I'll take a re-run of "The A-Team" or "Knight Rider" over any Average-Joe-show.

Kenneth Todd Ruiz, a senior journalism major, is managing editor of the Campus Times. He can be reached by e-mail at kruiz@ulv.edu.