15-03-2022, 08:40 PM
There is so much to unpack on this topic, that I think that this thread could become an ungodly long, 50+ page discussion on a lot of things Jeremy Kyle, the treatment of guests, the crappy jobs that young upstarts in the industry get, the notion of reality television, Britain's media obsession with the lower working class, ITV's track record on TV shows and the wellbeing of their participants, the debate over cancel culture, and other related fun stuff.
I am going to boil it all down into this 'hot' take: We love suffering.
The problem we have in media is this obsession with suffering. The idea that other people's problems, trials, tribulations are a form of comfort and entertainment, because they make us feel better about our lives. We all have real world problems: Money, relationships, getting to work on time, our health and wellbeing. Those are things that every person on this thread, and this planet, have to deal with. And we like to see people suffer on television.
Big Brother, in its prime, made entertainment by putting on strange members of the public, from different backgrounds, locking them in a house, and filming the onset of their cabin fever and degrading them. And that show was meant to be a social experiment. I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here sees C-Listers eat testicles in Australian rainforests. TOWIE, Made in Chelsea, and all of the other cookie cutter derivatives script 'real lives' for these attention seekers. Love Island only picks people who look nice, forces them to get into relationships with people who only share stockholm syndrome and lust in common.
And then there was Jeremy Kyle: Where adulterers had their dirty laundry shown on National television, where fathers who did not work were lambasted, where paternity was verified on an A5 piece of card with a logo on the back. There were half brothers who committed accidental incest, families torn apart over missing jewelery, scorned lovers headbutted their friends, where robbery was proven on potentially inaccurate lie detector results. All that and more, criticised by a man who only did it 'because he was being honest, and wanted to help'.
I can believe that there were sweatshop conditions in the production side of the show for getting guests: Who'd want to be ridiculed after a show of 13 years had been airing, almost year round, doing all that?
And I am not holier than thou. I watched it. You probably watched it too! I loved the show, because I loved seeing 'bad' people suffer. To those who suffered, I apologise for watching them be humiliated on television. I don't have to, but I want to. We need to have less suffering on television.
Also, 'Britain Get Talking' is a terrible and cynical initiative.
I am going to boil it all down into this 'hot' take: We love suffering.
The problem we have in media is this obsession with suffering. The idea that other people's problems, trials, tribulations are a form of comfort and entertainment, because they make us feel better about our lives. We all have real world problems: Money, relationships, getting to work on time, our health and wellbeing. Those are things that every person on this thread, and this planet, have to deal with. And we like to see people suffer on television.
Big Brother, in its prime, made entertainment by putting on strange members of the public, from different backgrounds, locking them in a house, and filming the onset of their cabin fever and degrading them. And that show was meant to be a social experiment. I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here sees C-Listers eat testicles in Australian rainforests. TOWIE, Made in Chelsea, and all of the other cookie cutter derivatives script 'real lives' for these attention seekers. Love Island only picks people who look nice, forces them to get into relationships with people who only share stockholm syndrome and lust in common.
And then there was Jeremy Kyle: Where adulterers had their dirty laundry shown on National television, where fathers who did not work were lambasted, where paternity was verified on an A5 piece of card with a logo on the back. There were half brothers who committed accidental incest, families torn apart over missing jewelery, scorned lovers headbutted their friends, where robbery was proven on potentially inaccurate lie detector results. All that and more, criticised by a man who only did it 'because he was being honest, and wanted to help'.
I can believe that there were sweatshop conditions in the production side of the show for getting guests: Who'd want to be ridiculed after a show of 13 years had been airing, almost year round, doing all that?
And I am not holier than thou. I watched it. You probably watched it too! I loved the show, because I loved seeing 'bad' people suffer. To those who suffered, I apologise for watching them be humiliated on television. I don't have to, but I want to. We need to have less suffering on television.
Also, 'Britain Get Talking' is a terrible and cynical initiative.
Eejit Shall Speak Eejiocy Onto Eejit
-Estd 1997-
![[Image: kyle%20clock%202.jpg]](https://up.metropol247.co.uk/Spencer%20For%20Hire/kyle%20clock%202.jpg)