Xtreme Reality- A sadistic future?

I chose this article as it caught my attention as unique and interesting. i enjoy watching reality tv, and watch it frequently and due to this, i wanted to open my eyes to the real world of reality tv and this article explores just that.
The article was written by Richard Smith (a media teacher) and was published in December 2009. The key areas and topics that Smith wrote about, featured many case studies and evidence to support his ideas and theories. The main message about the article is that there is a high demand for reality tv, but it getting out of hand. He explains how these now dangerous shows are taken as entertainment and why the audience seem immune to it.

The introduction to his article gives a brief overview of what is expected of reality tv shows. Smith explains that the now developed 'reality' TV is breaking the laws of taboo. The genre is breaking expectations by 'bathing in its own tortuous taboos'. Meaning that whether we like it not, reality TV will stop at nothing, whether it be publicly humiliating people or simply letting the contestants hurt themselves. Reality TV ' doesn't care who it takes with it' conveying that there is no longer any care for the contestant or the media that it may have attracted, either positive or negative. I agree strongly to this as reality TV is breaking boundaries and pushing the idea of 'reality' to a whole new dangerous level.

One topic discussed is the issue of whether it can survive any longer. Richard smith generates the idea that the producers of the genre are running out of ideas, thus making the genre in a desperate state, and may come to an end. due to many areas of game shows, visual entertainment of celebrities(Big Brother) and documentaries (say yes to the dress) being covered, many shows die out because the audience get bored of the same ideas all the time. Though some like familiarity, the decoders want their expectations to be met and sometimes broken and this can be done with new and unique reality tv shows. I agree to disagree, I do think that reality TV is running out of ideas and it would be nice to see a shift in the genre, where uniqueness and reality is actually reality because as we know, 70% of 'reality' TV shows are scripted and faked to make it more entertaining. Which then may create a false expectation of life, for example; Say Yes to the Dress creates false hope that every woman will find her dream wedding dress in 2 hours and be able to pay for it. However in reality, is not the case.

The sub genre of prank TV is described by Smith as 'friendly, but have mischievously shifted'. Though the pun, Smith is entirely correct. old prank shows such as Jackass, a light hearted show about men darin each other to do incredibly stupid actions ending with pain, to shows that make the victims facing the possibility of their own death. smith explains the idea that it's accepted 'as its all in the name of entertainment'. However I slightly disagree with this statement. Reality shows such as 'Jackass' and 'Dirty Sanchez' have a choice whether they want to do what they do. This is because they are hosts of their own show, they do what they do because they find it thrilling but also they love to entertain people. These people have a choice in whether to do it not, whether they want to continue or even participate in the dares.
However the 'victims' to these prank TV shows do not have a choice whether it happens to them or not, in which means that their human rights are being breached, the public have no idea that its happening and that they will be in the human face of laughter an entertainment when the show is aired.