You do what for a Living?

         

    There is a lesson to be taught to those that wait in line: there is something more productive and of value to be doing for oneself. For instance, more practical time investment that could lead to interests that are lasting, rewarding and that will make a person happy. In Charlotte North Carolina this year, they held auditions for “Idol” for the first time. In that one city alone, it was predicted that up to 15,000 people would audition. With technology shortening our attention span, Idol celebs create even more images of edited instant gratification. The reality though, is unedited and is a person living their life every day.  The term of being “made a star” is often used when the term “a star is born” seems way more realistic for most of us. Many think someone will make them a star, when a person really needs to give a stand out performance in their given chosen field.

In the belly of the highly profitable reality show beast- there is a varied landscape of shows to load up on. Many people are seen dating in the dark, told to function on a strange island or across the globe, risk their lives on a boat or even pop blush on their 5 month old and play the role of Anne Geddes. And it doesn’t always stop there. For the past two decades, MTV has been asking its audience to “find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real. Now we can say that a former cast member from The Real World Boston, Sean Duffy, was just re-elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. The social implications brought on by such programing are undeniable in this case. However, the accomplishments reached on that type of show are far less impressive.

This is because, while watching strangers marry after five dates may be amusing, anyone is applicable for such a position. Instead, I will be looking at competitive reality TV shows that revolve around career ambition for late teens and older. As motivation to participate on a reality show, a career speaks to gaining a higher level of achievement in a particularly chosen field. I will look at whether the entertainment of these shows help fuel a higher level of culture for a healthier society or encourage escapism for a more vapid one? As a fly on their wall, what can we really take away and apply to our lives?

Competitors on career related reality TV can easily be characters served up to wet an impatient appetite or to kill 60 minutes of a person’s day. Some would argue that when a person embraces a reality show celebrity, they are blind to their reality. Further, that people are drawn to watching others on television win prizes because they are too lazy to seek out fortune for their own ambitions. Such distractions can be a lazy trap to lull generations further and further into an “all or nothing” mindset when it comes to a sense of purpose. A parent might see a young adult’s new found role model as abandoning them as soon as the light goes out on their television or mobile device.

In May of this year, DoubleDown Casino launched American Idol social slots. This platform is the world’s largest multi-game virtual casino and it’s available and played by millions on Facebook. (PR Newswire US, May 2012) The show American Idol promotes people’s dreams coming true, but its mass marketed image wants consumers playing on their mobile device, Playstation, Xbox and Gameboy when they aren’t watching the show. They offer products like Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore for Xbox. (Strach, April 2008) This is yet one more way to keep people plugged into the popular show.

Many of us suffer from the idea of today’s “American dream”, but on hyper-manic media state of mind. This view of becoming prosperous may be best called the “new California dream”.  Just like the gold rush back in the 1850’s, the idea of instant prosperity from a golden nugget back then is our golden ticket of today. Of course, our tickets are numbered and slapped across the chest of potential singing stars that wait in audition lines, sometimes for days.

Sometimes blind desire can outweigh asking ourselves questions about winners of such shows, like how did one achieve such skills? Many shows provide small vignettes of contestants in the episodes; typically audition videos or a summary about the person’s life. We may see a part of ourselves reflected in a contestant that has nothing to do with their body of achievements. Instead, only superficial achievements- like a certain look or attitude. Reality shows audition many people who are clearly outside of their element or skillset. Some people feel they have talent, while others audition on a whim. Many people have been featured for such behaviors, some being “repeat offenders”. Even if someone is aware that they don’t have the skills to pass an audition, many do it anyway.
     There is a lesson to be taught to those that wait in line: there is something more productive and of value to be doing for oneself. For instance, more practical time investment that could lead to interests that are lasting, rewarding and that will make a person happy. In Charlotte North Carolina this year, they held auditions for “Idol” for the first time. In that one city alone, it was predicted that up to 15,000 people would audition. With technology shortening our attention span, Idol celebs create even more images of edited instant gratification. The reality though, is unedited and is a person living their life every day.  The term of being “made a star” is often used when the term “a star is born” seems way more realistic for most of us. Many think someone will make them a star, when a person really needs to give a stand out performance in their given chosen field.

             Shows like Project Runway, So You Think You Can Dance and RuPaul’s Drag Race and deliver some true competitive spirit. The draw of these shows is undeniable, with all three shows now having featured seasons with collections of all-stars from past seasons. Clearly, there is something that truly embraces many of us back in these B-list celebs. Surely, some of the education or lessons found throughout each round of elimination can be used as motivation in our own lives.

If you are in school for fashion design and watching Project Runway, you are educated on elements of in-trend mass appeal clothing. Also, you hear feedback and advice given out by leaders in the fashion industry. This includes Michael Kors who has thirty years designing in the fashion industry, including an impressive 200 stores in 74 countries. In addition, designers featured on the show could become a possible internship opportunity or future employer for a student. Choreographers like Sonya Tayeh, from So You Think You Can Dance, creates routines that are danced by and developed with the help of non-professionals They not only hone their skill, but also get a good gauge of their skill level. While conducting a performance workshop at Wayne State University, she was quoted as saying, “I’m a fan of school-dance education because it helps build confidence and it helps you eloquently express your vision as an artist.” (Robinson, 2010)

A good example of lessons taught in tolerance is Ru Paul’s Drag Race, airing on the LGBT network LOGO. Not everyone can be a drag superstar, but society can benefit from “tucking” some of our insecurities away. Plus, nothing says “having the confidence to be yourself” and “don’t take yourself too seriously” like a dude wearing a breast plate, wig and four yards of sequins. Many stars from the show have been role models for some serious issues facing our society. Featured drag queens, like Pandora Boxx, use their platform to discuss getting through attempted suicides and becoming a happy adult. This includes making videos for the It Gets Better Project, a project that focuses on LGBT youth that fear torment from others due to their sexuality.  The latest Drag Race winner, Sharon Needles, also became a spokesperson/activist for P.E.T.A. Her latest PSA discusses her encouraging a vegetarian lifestyle over that of chopped up, hacked off limbs. Both messages positively encourage life as a choice to make over death. It is a refreshing message that says we have the right and responsibility to give ourselves many options and opportunities.

I think that we all want to relate to one another, to connect. To feel otherwise- that our lives are outside of, disconnected or different from all others leaves us in a state of depression. Geneticist Guy Murchie says that we are all family. He says, “that we have at least a million relatives as close as tenth cousin, and no one on Earth is any farther removed than your 50th cousin.” Murchie describes our kinship through each breath, taking in 10 sextillion atoms. Furthermore, “that we will have taken in oxygen molecules exhaled by every person alive, as well as by everyone who ever lived within one year.” Right now, I could be carrying atoms that were once inside the lungs of Shirley Chisholm, Alice Paul, Joan of Arc and Cleopatra. For that matter, I may also be breathing in a cocktail of reality show celebs. So, perhaps is it only natural. Only human to embrace the light of someone that shines far away from our current conditions in life. Unfortunately, as unwittingly easy as we make such remarkable connections, they are fleeting. This is what happens to most of us when we are told to “reach for the stars.” Actually becoming one and holding onto such status is quite another matter. It takes passion, determination, talent, nerve and synergy just to start on such a path.

Nonetheless, lessons in success are possible to attain from such pursuits. Personally, I know people that have either used reality TV to show off their talents or to spark a further commitment to doing what they already enjoy. My current roommate uses being on Ninja Warrior as a reason to stay up on training in parkour and martial arts. Also, a friend who has devoted years of her life to crafting and selling a variety of goods online, recently won on the newly popular show Craft Wars. By posting links to articles, photos and video on anything from their Twitter account to their Etsy account- they can also increase their branding.

I feel that soon we will all be no more than five degrees of separation away from the winner of a reality show, if we aren’t playing that star role ourselves. While I don’t condone competing and living with 20 strangers in a mansion to win the lust and affections of one random person on national TV, exposure on TV does have its positive opportunities. For example, a healthy competition in your area of expertise with prizes that contribute to building on that talent. Also, unlike coming into infamy on YouTube, there is a greater air of respect that comes along with it. In part, because anyone can appear on YouTube whenever they feel like uploading content. On television, they are seen as part of a chosen few. In this still great land of opportunity we all have “equal reality rights”; the right to thrive in the spotlight and the right to wait in line for three days to do it.