Academic Distance
Aug. 15th, 2010 10:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Being both a fan and a critic of reality television involves a lot of cognitive dissonance.
When people I like are in a good position in the house, I can be analytical. I can step back and admire how the game is being played and how the show is being made. I can talk about things that I've been thinking about, in a way that both critically examines and shows some genuine enjoyment/appreciation for the source text. I dwell on how interesting the choices made are, and how the producers favoring one houseguest or another is really just a way to keep the drama in the house and make the best TV show.
Then are times when my favorites are potentially in danger, and they show people things that hurt one person's game but not things that potentially hurt five other people's, and I just want to yell- loudly and frequently- "BIG BROTHER THIS IS NOT OKAY >:("
And this is where I go back to my previous post about Big Brother hypocrisy. I wrote it fully aware that it was an analysis of an "us" rather than a "them," but it still catches me by surprise when it hits. When I wrote that, the people I like were in a good game position; it was very easy for me to be analytical then. The second the safety of my favorite comes under suspicion, I turn into a CRAZY PERSON, explaining how this is unreasonable and unfair game manipulation through what would be rational analysis if it weren't so clearly biased.
When I woke up this morning ad heard about various things that happened on the feeds last night, I got the kind of stomach ache you get when you're in fourth grade and you'd forgotten you had a science test the next day and you really need that A.
When people I like are in a good position in the house, I can be analytical. I can step back and admire how the game is being played and how the show is being made. I can talk about things that I've been thinking about, in a way that both critically examines and shows some genuine enjoyment/appreciation for the source text. I dwell on how interesting the choices made are, and how the producers favoring one houseguest or another is really just a way to keep the drama in the house and make the best TV show.
Then are times when my favorites are potentially in danger, and they show people things that hurt one person's game but not things that potentially hurt five other people's, and I just want to yell- loudly and frequently- "BIG BROTHER THIS IS NOT OKAY >:("
And this is where I go back to my previous post about Big Brother hypocrisy. I wrote it fully aware that it was an analysis of an "us" rather than a "them," but it still catches me by surprise when it hits. When I wrote that, the people I like were in a good game position; it was very easy for me to be analytical then. The second the safety of my favorite comes under suspicion, I turn into a CRAZY PERSON, explaining how this is unreasonable and unfair game manipulation through what would be rational analysis if it weren't so clearly biased.
When I woke up this morning ad heard about various things that happened on the feeds last night, I got the kind of stomach ache you get when you're in fourth grade and you'd forgotten you had a science test the next day and you really need that A.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-16 12:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From: