Trump Toying With America

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Reality TV is a television concept, not real life. Donald Trump created it with the Big Brother series, lived it all the way to the White House on the back of American democracy.

Below is an old blog February 22, 2024 about reality TV. It is not real life. Donald Trump is having the time of his life, playing ‘reality TV’ with a whole country, that used to have democracy as its fourth initial, after U.S.A.

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I don’t mind waiting. I’ll let you think about it.

No. No. I can’t think about anything. I have too much on my plate right now.

It’s incredible how common sense took a sabbatical and never returned. That is why thinking is such hard work. The very thought induces migraine, which explains why we call fiction, reality TV. There is nothing ‘real’ about it. It is staged, planned well ahead because there are cost and insurance implications.

It should be called documentaries because there’s a director that tells cameras when to roll and stop. Cameras capture people in the wild somewhere. In fact, there is a lot of legwork done before the contestants fly to the agreed upon location. Agreed upon, because location scouts go out and find the ideal spot to shoot where the ‘real’ thing is going to happen. It will never be in the Sahara Desert for obvious reasons. The location should be accessible by road, local people should not be hostile and cellphone reception must be guaranteed.

Editing. The producer looks at the footage, and decides which scenes will form the ‘reality show.’ It’s even worse in reality TV, that looks like a talk show. The people around the table or lounging on sofas have impeccable make-up, claw nails painted in jelly bean colors and the outfits alluring, fit for Cannes Film Festival. Show producers decide topics to be discussed. Some are off limits because of possible libel and bad press reasons.

Reality TV will be around for some time, but we should bring back common sense and check ‘reality TV’ at the door and call it documentaries. It is not real. Real TV is putting a camera in the bedroom and record someone sleeping the whole night. That is real.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Executive Blogger

 

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