The Sunday Mail
| The Big & Small Screen
REALITY television is a genre of programming that documents supposedly unscripted real-life situations and can feature an unknown cast of individuals who are typically not professional actors, although in some shows celebrities participate. |
It differs from documentary television in that the focus tends to be on drama, personal conflict and entertainment rather than educating viewers. Put simply, this means this is more about fun than learning anything meaningful.
Depending on who you have read, there are basically eight or so sub-genres: game shows, dating programmes, makeovers, docu-soaps, talent contests, court programmes, reality sitcoms and celebrity variations of other programmes.
I will not bore you by getting into the nitty gritties of each, suffice to say the main ones include celebrity variations, makeovers, court programmes and talent contests.
While the rest of the world continues to marvel at the rising popularity of shows like “Idols”, “The Voice” and “Big Brother”, Zimbabwe still seems to be lagging behind.
Yes, one will always argue about the merits of shows like “Starbrite”, “Simba Savannah” and the ever-rising “Battle of the Chefs”.
“Starbrite” has been around for years, which is good, and while progress has been noted, it is still one or two breakout stars away from being a full-blown hit.
For years now, Zimbabweans have lived in a vacuum of sorts, enjoying the good and the bad of reality television from afar, always hesitant to be participants themselves. This is typical of a conservative society: we don’t want to be exposed but we don’t mind being voyeurs.
What people need to understand is for every Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus that have failed to manage fame, there is a Christian Siriano, Mar Ortiz, Tyler Ford.
You will notice I chose celebrities that your ordinary Tom, Dick and Harry would not know, but if you research them you will find very inspirational stories.
On “Starbrite”, sub-par artistes win the show. A show like “Starbrite” hinges its success on the growth of its winners, as seen by how artistes like Ruben Staddard, Jordin Sparks, Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson made “American Idols” a world wide hit.
Zimbabwe’s “CBZ A-Academy” could have made noise as their first season contestants like Hope Masike and Tapiwa Mugadza have gone on to carve stellar careers.
Masike is already touted as the heir apparent to the late Chiwoniso Maraire’s crown, while Mugadza has become a YouTube sensation.
Shows like “Battle of the Chefs” and “Simba Savannah” while watchable do not provide the kind of scandal, controversy, intrigue and drama that have driven reality TV.
It is for this that shows like “Big Brother”, “Keeping Up With The Kardashians”, “Real Wives of Atlanta” and other nonsensical shows exist.
What is needed is a well-funded and creative think tank; one that does their homework on international and local trends and finds out what Zimbabweans hunger for and then exploit it.
This is typical of a conservative society: we don’t want to be exposed but we don’t mind being voyeurs.
