The pessimist in me assumed that we watch reality TV because we can’t help but wallow in others’ pain. (That Tom Sandoval is getting what he finally deserves!) But maybe that’s actually a much smaller part of the picture. “I think that the fundamental appeal of reality television is the opposite of cringe/schadenfreude,” Gates tells me.
Sure, some of that stuff is at play, she concedes, but maintaining a long-time viewership based on feeling uncomfortable is not sustainable. Think of all the times someone’s said to you they had to stop watching a show because it became “too much.” (Season two of The Valley comes to mind, as the real-life issues became too sad, too real).
“Instead, it’s the deeper connection: identification, empathy, and so on, that forms the base of why we continue to watch. If you look at long-running shows like the Real Housewives franchise, or Vanderpump Rules, or the longevity of Jersey Shore, it seems clear that these shows have built loyal fanbases because of human connection. We may have laughed at Snooki getting arrested for drunken behavior on the beach in 2010, but that momentary cringe wouldn’t sustain viewership 15 years later.”
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