by Feature08

Created on: July 26, 2008

Fueled by contests, ultimate prizes, a cast of unlikely characters and video cameras to catch it all; the drama, rivalries and tension that play out on reality tv shows are truly reflective of the events that take place during the filming process.

Like any TV show or movie, reality shows rely on commonly used stock characters and situations to build and grow their audience. While reality shows are carefully constructed, they are not necessarily scripted. It only makes sense that shows will identify protagonists, antagonists and extras that are likely to comply with the show's premise. Anything else, would be a lie and probably very boring to watch.

From the casting stages to the selection of story lines, it is essential for creators and producers of these shows to exercise some control in order to bring the show's concept to life.

What would be the point of Survivor without the rivalry and alliances brought on by the adventurous competitions, The Real World without the alcohol and attractive twenty-somethings, American Idol if all singers had talent or any dating show without the catfights?

Reality shows are like social experiments, where participants are placed under artificial circumstances in order to achieve certain goals. While the purpose of the social experiment is to educate, the purpose of the reality show is to entertain. How participants decide to act while caught up in the task of chasing prizes or earning their fifteen minutes of fame, is entirely up to that individual.

Remember, the camera doesn't lie. No matter how much editing is done to compress and provide a story line to the hundreds of hours of video footage, it is extremely difficult to create or misconstrue clear statements made in the "privacy" of the confessional as anything else. It is even harder to misrepresent actions caught on camera. And, it is all but impossible to orchestrate the two into something that it is not.

However, since the point of most reality shows is to mold recorded video into coherent storylines; feuds over such trivial things as peanut butter, beef jerky and other small missteps are given more airtime than say, roommates getting along.

And while this might not be reflective of the individual's real world approach, it is nonetheless, a factual representation of how that person responded under the given circumstances. Even though some contestants come to the show with the intention of fueling such fires, they too are unable to influence how their actions are responded to.

Although remorseful reality stars would have us believe otherwise, they often fall for the bait.

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