May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

"Taking the kids from out districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch--- this is the Capitol's way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy." pg 18, Kastniss describing the Hunger Games

After reading this book, I feel like the Games started off as punishment and turned into sheer entertainment. The people of the districts have become so accustomed to this event that most of them look forward to it and even train their children to fight for their district. Katniss is a rare mind that slowly starts to challenge the Games and their sick and twisted ways. This brings into question whether we will ever get to that point. Reality TV use to be somewhat calm, just us curiously peering into the lives of others. But as the years went on, I feel like people became bored with the slow pace of things and demanded there be more action. The producers of these shows knew that they needed to keep the drama up to bring in viewers and so they put the characters into unreal situations to get a reaction that induced excitement in the audience. We sit there and watch people on The Challenge fight because they are so stressed over winning the games they have to go through in order to win money. Or like Jersey Shore where they pick out people with personalities that they know will clash so we can get to see them argue and throw a few punches or act like complete sluts. We eat this up because we find their lives more entertaining than our own.

Even I admit that I crave the drama and violence. My favorite genre of movies is horror because it keeps me on my toes and I find the stories fascinating. The world in general is becoming more violent and sexually explicit because of the audience. We want producers to show us more and keep us guessing or we become bored with what we are watching. Like Gabler said in his article about voyeurism and how we enjoy to peer into the lives of others. It's completely true. It's sad to think that we find our lives so mundane that we need the entertainment of TV just to keep it entertaining.

I really hope that we never get to the point where we watch actual people kill each other, but we are getting there. Soon writers will run out of stories, then how will we keep ourselves from boredom. They say that history repeats itself and we have done this type of show before with the gladiators that we sent into the arena to die. Maybe one day we'll bring back that madness.

Life On Film

I think as viewers, we just enforce the raunchy and violent behavior seen on reality TV now. Producers want to make a show that will get tons of viewers and good ratings so they can continue it, therefore, they make sure that they cut scenes and add what is the most exciting to the viewer. In this article (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30092600/ns/today-entertainment/t/just-how-real-are-reality-tv-shows/#.Trck6kOImU8 ), reality TV is examined. They say that the reason reality TV is able to contain and produce so much drama is because it has real people put in unreal situations. For example, on the Challenge on MTV, they are real people competing, but it is obvious that tension will run high in a game where its every man for himself. They spend long hours in the sun doing physically exhausting activities in order to keep themselves on the show. That much pressure could cause anyone to blow. Thus the many fights seen on the show. And we as viewers eat this up. So in turn they put more and more physically and mentally exhausting challenges on there for the contestants to do to see how far they can push them.  In this clip, Wes and CT have been fighting for hours on end and I personally found this hilarious. That’s what the producers want from you; enjoyment from other’s misery. I think we ourselves enjoy this too. Even though this sounds horrible, I like to watch other people in peril because it makes me feel better about my life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXYPKLq6qyg

This is what they do in The Hunger Games. They start the players off at the Cornucopia where all the supplies are so there will be instant bloodshed when they fight for them. If a few days go by and the audience grows bored, the Gamemakers add in some fun as seen here:

“The game has taken a twist. The fire was just to get us moving, not the audience will get to see some real fun.” Pg 175

They wanted the audience to see some bloodshed and excitement, so they set a trap of fire balls to get Katniss up and moving, hopefully closer to the other tributes so they could see a battle.

Whether we realize it or not, we greatly influence how reality shows are produced. I admit that I enjoy reality shows, especially Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant, and True Life. At least True Life is educational but again it shows people in extreme situations. I find the lives of others so fascinating to watch because it gives me insight on how others work. It’s simply just a fun escape from my own life.