Escaping Reality Through Reality TV

I’m only a little ashamed to admit that one of my favorite shows to binge-watch is The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Being from northern Utah, it’s funny to me to see places I’m familiar with on my TV screen. They drive right past my grandmother’s house and they go to restaurants that my friends worked at in high school. I’m hooked on the idea of potentially seeing someone I know on the screen.


(Photo: The Salt Lake Tribune)

From a Marxist perspective, artifacts like The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City are oppositional readings. The Marxist perspective searches for ideologies in pop culture messages that promote the idea that there are economic conditions in our culture that oppress people instead of helping them move up. Shows like these reality programs influence viewers to think these affluent lifestyles are “the norm”. The crazy blowout parties, the designer clothing and the excessive drama are all shown to be the “regular” lifestyles of the women on the show.


We are drawn to these types of trashy reality shows because they offer an escape for us. They allow us to focus on those in higher social classes as they show how exclusive they are. These intense social circles seem unbreachable to the average viewer; there’s no way I could join the affluent social circles I see on TV. We can turn away from our problems for a short amount of time and focus on the trivial issues of someone else. Who can think about what’s going on in their own lives when Kim Kardashian loses a diamond earring in the ocean? Who can focus on their own sadness when Lisa and Meredith get into yet another fight on Real Housewives?

Comments

  1. McKenzie StaufferJanuary 17, 2024 at 9:14 PM

    The name reality TV is such an interesting label. Like you said, it’s not reality! I have personally known people who were asked to audition to be a housewife for “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.” They are not rich, nor do they live lavish lifestyles like the women who are currently on the show. These women who I know and Monica, who starred in the latest season, are just like the examples we read about in “Good Will Hunting” and “Pretty Woman.” They are all people who broke out of the “norm” and moved up in a social class. In this case, it’s the influencer/reality TV social class. Meredith, Whitney, Heather, and Lisa are all part of the dominant ideology. They are white, rich housewives. Monica symbolizes the oppositional reading. She constantly calls out the women for their privilege. She is also a person of color and is not rich. All season, Monica fought the status quo that these other women and viewers are used to.

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  2. Madelyn BushmanJanuary 18, 2024 at 8:32 PM

    I personally love reality TV shows as every episode is filled with drama and extravagant lifestyles. 99% of the time I do not relate to them or their problems, but it does give me an escape from my own reality. Their lives, although they may be over exaggerated, are a lot more interesting to watch than my own.
    However, I do believe that more reality TV stars and shows represent preferred reading, which Sellnow describes as “reinforces the status quo ideology about empowerment by proposing taken-for-granted assumptions as common sense.” Most reality TV stars appear to be attractive and desirable due to their designer clothes and accessories, fancy cars, beautiful houses, etc. They try to make it seem as if their lifestyle is a reality to the audience, but the reality is, if we all had the same socioeconomic status we probably wouldn’t be that interested in watching the shows as it wouldn't be an escape from our own reality.

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