I’m not a fan of the reality genre of television. I don’t enjoy the seemingly skill-based shows, such as “X Factor”, “Top Chef” or even “Survivor”, and I certainly do not find voyeuristic shows (like “Big Brother”), where the competitors show no discernible skill (unless you regard “sitting on the sofa” as a skill), even remotely entertaining.
In my personal Twitter account, I often talk about my disdain for reality shows and the people who watch them. This tends to anger many followers and non-followers, who say that I’m patronizing, and claim that “watching sports is just like watching reality TV”.
Well – It’s not. Sports are not reality television, just the opposite. Please, allow me to explain.
1. Intervening producers
Reality shows are successful mostly due to the skills of professional editors and directors. The people on-screen can be completely un-interesting, but good editing can turn a couple of friends into a romantic couple, or even make them appear to be enemies. It’s all in the producer’s hands. They can turn a non-issue into a dramatic falling out.
“Survivor”, for example, is a show that gives its producers a lot of material to manipulate. An offended face in one scene is inter-cut with another offended face from an unrelated scene, in order to generate some drama out of nothing.
The producers create a script, intervene in the activities and manipulate the participants. So-called “reality” television is as far from actual reality as possible. In this video, Charlie Brooker explains it all better than anyone else ever did.
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In sports, there’s no such thing as producer intervention. Everything is real – the competitors are left on their own, and anything can happen. The will to win creates the drama, and it influences things outside of the playing field as well.
In this season’s Championship play-off semi-final, Leicester faced Watford after defeating them 1-0 in the first leg match. Watford was up 2-1, meaning that the teams were facing extra-time to decide who’s going on to the finals to play for a Premier League spot (a match that can net a club about £100m).
In the 94th minute of play, Leicester’s Anthony Knockaert dived in the penalty box, and the referee awarded a penalty. His penalty shot and the rebound attempt were stopped by Watford keeper Manuel Almunia. The keeper from Arsenal, has been criticised throughout his career for his inability to play at a high-level. This time, however, he stepped up to the challenge. In a matter of seconds, Watford charged forward, and Troy Deeney scored in the final play of the match. This ensured Watford’s play-off finals spot, and thousands in attendance came charging onto the pitch. Even the announcer lost his voice.
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One day earlier, a small-budget team defeated one of the world’s richest club in the FA final. Wigan beat Manchester City to win their first ever major title, in a victory that will surely be talked about even 70 years from now in the small suburb of Manchester.All you need to do to understand the enormity of this victory is look at this Wigan fan, who has never seen his club win anything in his life.
The same day, Porto beat their rivals Benfica in stoppage time in a match that almost guaranteed them the Portuguese title. Benfica manager Jorge Jesus’ reaction to the goal was heartbreaking, as he collapsed to his knees and cried.
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No amount of editing can produce this kind of drama.
2. Skill
According to research, a professional athlete has gone through at least 10,000 hours of training in order to develop his skills to a professional level.What you see from the athlete – his ability, his success on the pitch – is just the tip of the iceberg. What you don’t see is the many years of training, the pain, the injuries, the learning process, the battles with coaches, the sacrifice,the friends left behind, the blood, sweat and tears. We don’t see these things, just the end product.
A professional athlete is light years away from a reality TV star in terms of hard work and sacrifice. The main reason that many reality show participants have a sad life story comes from the fact that the producers need that “human element” that will help the viewers relate to them. That’s why you see them tell about how their first-grade classmate disappeared in South America, or how they lost all their money and developed an addiction to cough medicine, or maybe that they dreamed of becoming a chef but had to give up their dream in order to take care of their terminally-ill cat.
In professional sports, that “human element” isn’t artificial. Every athlete that has put in the time needed to get to that level has a spectacular life story of overcoming the odds and succeeding despite the difficulties.
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3. Pride and prejudice
A top-level athlete earns a lot of respect for proving that he’s faster, stronger or smarter than his opponents. They overcome physical and mental obstacles and defeat worthy opponents. People love sports because it showcases the pinnacle of human abilities.
This is in stark contrast to popular reality shows, where many participants turn to lying and manipulating, and sometimes even cheat to win. Others just try to be liked by everybody by appealing to the lowest common denominator.
There’s no real aspiration to be better than your opponent or to be the best, physically or mentally. Viewers watch these shows because they enjoy watching “bad guys” in action. That’s why many people love fictional strong villains – it’s interesting to watch people manipulate each other.
The “talent-based” reality shows are basically manipulating the limited set of skills possessed by the participants. Very few reality stars are top-level singers or are able to cook like the pros. If they were, we wouldn’t have forgotten about them so quickly. Do you remember who won the 2nd season of “The X Factor”?
Can you name the winner of the 3rd season of “American Idol”?
Israeli journalist Udi Hirsch once wrote that people watch sports because it makes them proud of the human ability, while reality shows are popular because they cause us to be ashamed of our abilities. ”It’s like a bad car accident, it hurts to look, but you just can’t turn away.”
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4. TV product vs Human product
While it’s true that both reality shows and sports are television products, we can definitely determine that sports, unlike reality shows, will continue to flourish even in a world without television. This is because sports are connected to the roots of humanity, even of every living creature.
Almost every living creature is playing something. That’s because games help us prepare for life – they improve instincts required for survival as well as social skills. Competitions allow us to determine who is the strongest, fastest or smartest in our community. They can help us decide how each member can best help our community to exist.
Through the years, humans have found that sports are a great way to determine these things, as well as find out which community is “the best” at something. The Olympic Games are a great example of that, as they put together the best in the world to decide which country is better. The entire sports industry is based on the need to find out who is “the best”, and that is a human need that existed way before the invention of television.
It’s exactly why kids will still go to play football with their friends, even if there won’t be any football matches on TV.
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5. A real community vs human alienation
Sports create local and global communities. Large groups of people are based around their weekly or bi-weekly meetings in stadiums and arenas, where they watch “their” teams compete against other teams. Relationships are formed between people because of their affection towards a club. According to research, sports fans are healthier and happier than others, because they are always surrounded by other people. It’s true on the local level, where a season ticket holder knows exactly who will sit beside him. It’s also true on the global level: As an Arsenal fan, I can speak with other fans of the club from all over the world, without ever noticing the great cultural differences between us.
Sports encourage the formation of a community around the club, and the relationship between the club and the community is beneficial to both sides. A strong community will encourage the club, and a successful club will bring happiness to members of the community.
Reality television lacks this social aspect. It’s there purely for entertainment.
The viewers’ interest in the competitors is only short-term, as nobody actually cares about what happens to that talented singer or cook after they are eliminated from the show. The genre causes a modern version of alienation - constantly saying goodbye to people who were a part of our lives.
All hope is not lost, however. Worldwide, TV revenue for sports is on the rise, as governing bodies have realised how much power sports have in the modern era. It’s a real-life drama that happens in real time, in front of our very eyes, and that’s what makes sports such an asset to every television channel.
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