Reatlity TV And Sociological Theroy

3 Pages 671 Words

In nearly all reality shows there is one constant theme that is prevalent, that theme is conflict. All the shows thrive upon it; it is what keeps the viewers coming back, and fuels plots. The majority of reality shows are cast with conflict in mind, they like to get people together that will have conflicting personalities. An example of this is the first season of the Apprentice (a show about making it in the business world) a character named Amerosa was cast that the producers knew would conflict with other cast members. Since conflict is so prevalent in the story line of reality TV it is only natural to look at if from a theoretical point of view. The best sociological theory to analyze this conflict is the social conflict theory.
Social conflict theory’s basic idea is that conflict is natural and inevitable in all human interaction. Reality TV just simply puts people in situations where there is a higher chance for conflict therefore providing more entertainment to the viewer. In order for a society or a group to function under the social conflict frame of reference their needs to be conflict management. In reality TV the shows just try to lower that level of management. Take Survivor for instance, the whole premise of the show is to put the contestants in an environment that will test their survival skills, thus lowering the availability of useful conflict management. Just like real life whoever has better conflict management will usually win the game. A major point of social conflict theory states that the key to conflict is not how to avoid it but how to manage or resolve it. A show that demonstrates this at a micro level is The Amazing Race (a show is about couples’s racing around the globe to

complete various tasks assigned to them). The reason this show demonstrates conflict theory at the micro level is because the winner of the game is normally the team that learns how to deal with and resolve the confli...