Reality Show CATFIGHTS!

Why, Hello!

It is a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Tinseltown - the sun is out (Of course, as always), the birds are chirping and the ocean is roaring - all around it is a lovely day.

With all of this perceived peace and tranquility abound, I cannot help but think about what else...Fighting!

The topic of today's muse was going to be on the subject of Project Runway (As I had eluded in last week's discussion) - Here is the sixty-second overview:

For those of you who may not be aware, there is an apparent legal battle transpiring between Bravo (Parent company NBC Universal) and show producers, The Weinstein Co. (Bob and Harvey) claiming that they ignored the contract, as it was announced earlier that Project Runway was moving to Lifetime. Speculation is that Lifetime will pay a significantly higher licensing fee than Bravo (The network's biggest show to date).

Granted the above is a battle between real world 'Titans' (Via Attorneys), but aligns well with the subject. Now, on to the subject "Du Jour": Fighting!

Drama is Dramatic Entertainment

Whether it be in on the job, in a courtroom or in a mansion (For 13 weeks, no doubt), fighting is always a constant area of contention between contestants, litigants, competitors, co-workers, all of the before mentioned have been or are current conditions of a reality show.

However, I am sure you may have noticed there is a disturbingly increasing number of reality shows that contain FIGHTING as a storyline. In fact, it is becoming mandatory of most competitive reality shows to place two contentious characters together for the purpose of dramatic 'Entertainment' value.

Even more of a concern is that characters are usually female. Quite frankly, most females do not fight in real life (True, words may be exchanged in heated manner, but it is not common for fisticuffs to be involved).

Having said, I barely ever raise my voice (Unless I am completely disgusted with the person, I generally associate yelling with unattractive grotesquery) and would never dream of raising a hand to anyone; my choice is to usually walk away and ignore them all together (Ah, for this is far more effective and your point of repulsion is made without excessive words).

Furthermore, I can only remember one time in the 6Th grade getting into an altercation (Yelling and pushing) with my best friend and neighbor while waiting for the school bus one morning. The situation (Just as most arguments) was over nothing really important (I had defected from the clique and chose to hang-out with the 'non-popular', it was not well received) - it was truly one of the most ridiculous things and several years later, we had a great laugh about the incident.

Real or Just TV?

I am sure that we would both agree that fighting has been going on since the beginning of time. Obviously. However, has fighting on your favorite reality show been going on since their inception or are we seeing a disappointing increase? My guess is the latter.

For example, shows that present a dating or job scenario usually have one or two characters at odds. Most reality shows are called living social experiments. So, what does that say about us?

Shows such as what I call, "Anything of Love" in the title on a certain cable network, have had a number of castings for over-the-top, in-your-face type of personalities placed in unnatural conditions (Living in a mansion for a number weeks, competing for a questionable prize) for the purpose of dramatic entertainment.

Although you would expect to see such raucous behavior in cable reality shows, we are now viewing this contaminated behavior spilling over into mainstream network reality shows, including America's Next Top Model, Search for The Next Pussycat Doll, and this week's episode of ABC's The Bachelor had also featured a scuttle between two female characters (I could say more, however, I do not wish to even DIGNIFY the details of the loud quarrel).

Do people really like to see reality show in-fighting? Does it really help the ratings? Many agree that the re-emergence of this format of general orchestrated discourse is undoubtedly becoming quite tiresome and clearly contrived.

Back to The Basics

Yes, it is true that reality shows are microcosms of real life (For this statement is largely subject to debate) and that disagreements occur at all stages of human life.

However, my challenge for these shows is to always present conflict resolution. Many of these programs are missing a tremendous opportunity to educate and inform viewers that conflicts are not only unnecessary, ill conceived miscommunication, but can as well be resolved and laughed about for many years.

*The above photo of Project Runway starring Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn is the property of The Weinstein Company, LLC.