Morals of a reality show.

I find the trends in recents seasons of bigg boos troublesome. Shows like BB aren't just shows anymore, they have a much wider reach & have effects on the psyche of a large audience.

Initially bigg boss was a reality show with challenging circumstances thrown at contestants with aim to produce a show with engaging content. During earlier seasons things like fights, love angles, having strong opinions, dancing, creating narratives of rivalries or friendships for the sake of game, having preplanned strategy were not so in the face (and were seen as problematic things by the audience) & things were bearable, still very much raw & real.

Initially celebrities and audience had more say, and there was a balance at least. Increasingly it became evident that behaving in a certain way is advantageous for visibility, money & fame, & celebrities started behaving according to what BB makers wanted from them. Now it is mostly what BB wants. Even the most popular contestants are playing according to what BB wants. BB can change psyche, mentality & behaviours of contestants, not for morals, but for entertainment.

Now bigg boss has made us all believe in the supremacy of content, chahe uske liye koi kitna bhi fake kyun na khele, people wouldn't behave like that in real life but they know they have to behave in a certain way in this house for fame and money, & that fact has been accepted by fans also. Now fans applaud those produce content. Now fans also expect verbal spats, bhashans, stands, muddas, ships, drama - basically content.

My problem is - it's a reality show. Keep it real as much as possible. Offcourse it's a show at the end, and some sort of band baaja is acceptable, but setting up narratives & extensive planning behind the scenes is playing with audience in the name of reality show. Making audience part of this fakery is new dimension which is more troublesome.

It would be better to have some morals & ethics. For creatives, contestants as well as audience of the show. Everything cannot be justified in the name of content/entertainment.

This is what happens when reality shows go beyond their expiry dates. 16 seasons is a long time, contestants now watch and study previous seasons, knows what was liked and disliked and behave in a certain way. No one is real in this reality show, it's just acting 24x7 for 3 months. If this isn't enough they keep extending the show which gives boost to these fake people, thinking they are loved/liked. When reality is far from it.

I also blame the audience as they don't watch this show on the basis of what is shown but watch it on their preconceived notions about a person. Could be their previous show, past life both personal and professional. If audience watches the show and judges people based on BB, the outcome would be very different.

Too many TV drama contestants every year who can't stop acting even in a reality show. I wish they would bring 14 unknown contestants through a contest or something, without PR and existing fandoms, so that we develop favorites through their journeys.

This is what happens when reality shows go beyond their expiry dates. 16 seasons is a long time, contestants now watch and study previous seasons, knows what was liked and disliked and behave in a certain way.

@Bold- Yes. They need to revamp the format, need to revamp the behind the scene narratives too, enough with the same old tasks, muddas, opinions & stands.

No one is real in this reality show, it's just acting 24x7 for 3 months. If this isn't enough they keep extending the show which gives boost to these fake people, thinking they are loved/liked. When reality is far from it.

This season has been epic - when even a popular contestant like Priyanka has admitted that she has fought just for creating content for the show, and everyone is like - what's wrong in it? It's better than being in a group, or being adjusting with other people! And the feedback that Archana or Priyanka have got that they are being liked and people like Sumbul or Ankit have got that they didn't contribute (I find them better people & more watchable), further strengthened that narrative.

I also blame the audience as they don't watch this show on the basis of what is shown but watch it on their preconceived notions about a person. Could be their previous show, past life both personal and professional. If audience watches the show and judges people based on BB, the outcome would be very different.

The audience is watching on the basis of so many things - preconceived notions, previous shows, popularity, social media narratives, narratives being created in the show, narratives about who an ideal BB contestant should be etc etc.

Originally posted by: ilovetrashtv

Too many TV drama contestants every year who can't stop acting even in a reality show. I wish they would bring 14 unknown contestants through a contest or something, without PR and existing fandoms, so that we develop favorites through their journeys.

That would be such a refreshing thing. No PR & existing fandoms. This PR thing is such a put off, every blue tick/big account turns out to be a PR. Also the fact that some contestants get the leverage of playing without the baggage of gathering support within the house because they have existing fanbase.