The TV show Jamie Lee Curtis called “sick to watch”
There are some pretty bizarre TV shows out there that really scrape the bottom of the barrel in the name of entertainment. For some twisted reason, we seem to find a sick pleasure in watching people struggle, embarrass themselves, and expose far too much in the name of fame and money. Jamie Lee Curtis thinks it’s disgusting, though.
She has a point, because these reality shows have a long history of exploiting its contestants and pushing their limits. You really have to be desperate to end up on a show like Big Brother or Love Island, where you’re constantly monitored, on full, naked display – expected to take any criticism you’ll inevitably get in your stride.
Love Island has seen several of its contestants, and even its presenter, sadly succumb to suicide, while countless other reality shows have seen scandals go beyond being juicy. Where’s the entertainment in watching racist fights and homophobic insults? Sometimes things just go too far.
Look at the terrible children whose behaviour is forever immortalised on screen because of Supernanny, the marriages that crumbled on Wife Swap, and the exploitation of mentally unstable contestants on The X Factor. Reality TV is a disastrous genre of entertainment that sucks us in all too well, and while there are some undeniably great moments which have emerged from shows like Come Dine With Me or Married at First Sight, can these shows ever be entirely ethical?
Curtis, the Oscar-winning actor who admits that she knows nothing about TV, couldn’t help being taken aback when she saw a clip of what sounds like Masterchef, which she described as making her “so sad and sick to watch.” Writing an opinion piece for Huff Post, she asked, “Why was I drawn to this?”
The actor wrote, “I understand there are many of these shows now. All ‘elimination’-based and faux reality. Real like a firing squad. I understand there is a good side, a jubilant winner getting their shot at fame and fortunes, but the bulk of the watching, I gather, is some communal elimination where the audience gets a hand in the stone-throwing.
“It begs the question of why we feel the need to watch this. Are we all so unhappy in our own lives we need the fix of watching another human go into the gladiator ring and come out a bloody, eviscerated mess?,” Curtis continued.
That is a good question, because the concept of watching people struggle is really quite grotesque. How are we any better than the members of the Capitol in The Hunger Games series, who take the concept of the reality show to the next level by making children fight to the death? Well, of course we’re not watching shows that go that far – but the idea of putting our feet up and watching people humiliate themselves for money is really quite sinister when you think about it.
“I am not entertained, and neither was that red-faced, tear-stained woman who was told she wasn’t good enough,” she continued. “When did life become Boot Camp? I understand that a screaming drill sergeant and the subsequent training prepares a young soldier as they go into battle but we have turned everything into a battle.
“Is that what life is? I don’t think so. I hope this trend gets eliminated. That we return to telling stories that are written by great writers, rather than manipulated into looking real, but really are scripted and cast and controlled.”
