Levi, Neda
English 312
December 13, 2008
Final Paper
Professor Wexler
Reality & Media
Dystopia Through The Airwaves
“A future dystopia is intriguingly shaped by the society’s obsession with reality t.v with fatal results for many characters.” – Elise Broach
Imagine for a second what each of our lives were like when we were at the mere age of five, beginning kindergarten without a care in the world. No element or factor closely related to that of a dystopic world ever surfaces at that point in someone’s life. As children we are put into a society, within a certain ideological state apparatus without ever knowing so. As we grow up, the media plays upon ideological state apparatuses, and societal norms shape us into what we come to believe is the right way to behave. Ideology exists all around us, and it is mostly through the media in which we, as human beings brought into this world unaware of any corruption that lies forth, are told what the right things for us to engage in truly are; whether they be a career choice to adopt, a fashion trend to follow, a diet to devour, or a genre of music to listen to.
Due to certain representations brought to us by the media, people are blindly sucked in and assimilated to obsessing and idealizing the hype about something, whether or not what they are internalizing is nothing more than a mere concept of interest that depicts negative repercussions, by the Repressive State Apparatuses, being implemented on members of society for millions of people to enjoy upon the stupid, big, plasma screened rectangular box with dials that has kept people entertained for years. By reveling in its glory, including myself up until a few years ago, we as a society are unfortunately dumbing ourselves down.
One of the most unforgettable television shows is Cops, which premiered on March 11, 1989. Why is it that you can ask almost anybody literate and coherent in American society and even those in some foreign countries, about Cops and they will know exactly what you’re talking about? This is the pioneering idea founded upon the reality television show and there’s something to be said about the fact that it remains true and timeless through and through.
What is it about watching a drunken minority break into someone’s car on a Tuesday morning at 2:30, which excites us more so than reading an article by Althusser to broaden our intellectual mind capacities? “The Repressive State Apparatus functions by violence, whereas the Ideological State Apparatuses function by ideology” (Althusser, 1490). The RSA’s, which include those authoritative associations that work for the state; most importantly, the punitive side of government established by the Federal prisons, courts, militaries, and judges along with the C.I. A, and the F.B.I are undoubtedly the premise for most reality television shows, and why our society feed into this is beyond comprehension. The media, especially in terms of reality television, is there to tap into everything other than our positive abilities to function within a society that harbors both positive and negative elements that work in tandem to hinder us and on the flip side help us succeed in life. Reality T.V shows have no purpose in allowing people, mostly the generations born after the 50’s where the media, materialism, consumerism and capitalism had a harder time breaking people down and compelling them to ditch the desire rooted in non-conformity and spend all their hard earned dollars in order to “fit in”, the ability to prosper by reaching the utmost of their individual potential, unscathed by the ominous need to expend and be acknowledged by some order in popular society.
Why aren’t there more reality shows geared towards a positive ideology? Is it because our society is undeniably lacking in its intellect as a whole to the point where The Real Housewives of Atlanta, exemplifying the lives of rich football and basketball players wives spending their husbands’ dough is more important than a special based on the ideology of peace that John Lennon wanted to see this world achieve or a documentary showing the horrible events that six million Jews went through during the reign of Adolf Hitler and his twisted need to kill them all?
Think of the image that Hollywood is represented as, through the media. It serves its purpose as an ideology in it of itself, but does reality television make that ideology or break it? “Ideology is a representation of the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence” (Althusser, 1498). We can never truly know ourselves, away from ideologies and especially the norms that are implicated into our daily lives by the norms which society constructs. It is safe to say that every single body who composes their personalities, their endeavors, their existence through a social status and through material possessions which society deems as necessary i.e. a fashion trend, a sports car, etc. follows a certain ideology that from the moment of their conception was meant for them to buy into. Hollywood is a lifestyle, nothing more or less. It is a picture perfect world away from repressive ideological state apparatuses and more in tune with an ideological state apparatus that only exists to serve the beautiful ones (with the help of massive amounts of make up).
Reality television along with other elements of the media, is only there to exploit us, to dig deep into our rational mindsets and turn our attentions to something that we can do without quite positively. Without the media, there would be no need for advertising, material production (in the realm of extra sports car elements which range from unnecessary to absurd and utterly expensive), and a dumbing down of society; therefore the sad truth displays how the concept of ideology has steered clear away from anything positively idealized like getting an education, and more so geared towards the corruption of a society that relies heavily upon the media to rape our intellect and steal our notions of self and most definitely our hard earned money through consumerism, materialism and stupid shows about stupid people whom have no business being broad casted on television without a solid purpose or lesson to resonate amongst their viewers.
The media and glorious Hollywood are both institutions defined as
Ideological Apparatus, but they are obviously not ostensibly there to protect us as other Ideological State Apparatuses, i.e. religious sectors and schools, are. “Each of them (apparatuses) contributes towards this single result in the way proper to it. The communications apparatus by cramming every citizen with daily doses of nationalism, chauvinism, liberalism, moralism, etc., by means of the press, the radio or television” (Althusser, 1494). Even though the media does bring about knowledge in terms of political rallies, election coverage and news stories, one may still argue that it displays a lifestyle through reality television that portrays a false sense of reality for the younger generations, that will only deter them as they grow and learn to comprehend certain ways of the world and what is right and wrong through the ideological apparatuses that they reside in, thus being their families at home, and become educated in, thus being amongst their peers and teachers at school. “One apparatus certainly has the dominant role, although hardly anyone lends an ear to its music: It is so silent! This is the school” (Althusser, 1494). There is no ideology more affluent in society than that which houses the concept of education and importance that knowledge carries over all mediums in which media is filtered through. School functions as the institution that will further comprehension, intellect and success in future generations more so than any reality television spin-off will ever cease to do so.
Reality t.v is the epitome of trash, whether or not it is done tastefully. Sure, reality television provides entertainment and shock value that us, as Americans, find to fuel our daily subsistence by, but that should not grant it the power to surpass the ideology of knowledge itself.
Works Cited
Althusser, Louis. "From Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses
Notes towards an Investigation). "The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. By Vincent B. Leitch. Boston: W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated, 2001. 1483-509.
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