Book description
Featuring ordinary people, celebrities, game shows, hidden cameras,
everyday situations, and humorous or dramatic situations, reality TV
is one of the fastest growing and important popular culture trends of
the past decade, with roots reaching back to the days of radio. The
Tube Has Spoken provides an analysis of the growing phenomenon of
reality TV, its evolution as a genre, and how it has been shaped by
cultural history. This collection of essays looks at a wide spectrum
of shows airing from the 1950s to the present, addressing some of the
most popular programs including Alan Funt's Candid Camera, Big
Brother, Wife Swap, Kid Nation, and The Biggest Loser. It offers both
a multidisciplinary approach and a cross-cultural perspective,
considering Australian, Canadian, British, and American programs. In
addition, the book explores how popular culture shapes modern western
values; for example, both An American Family and its British
counterpart, The Family, showcase the decline of the nuclear family in
response to materialistic pressures and the modern ethos of
individualism. This collection highlights how reality TV has altered
the tastes and values of audiences in the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries. It analyzes how reality TV programs reflect the tensions
between the individual and the community, the transformative power of
technology, the creation of the celebrity, and the breakdown of public
and private spheres.
""The strength of the individual essays produces an
interdisciplinary synthesis that is palpable and
satisfying."--Film & History" --
Julie Anne Taddeo is visiting associate professor of history at
the University of Maryland and the author of Lytton Strachey and the
Search for Modern Sexual Identity. Ken Dvorak is former president of
the American Culture Association and an editorial member of the
Journal of Popular Culture, Journal of American Culture, and Film
& History.
