MEDIA MEDITATION#1 on The Reality of Survivor!

Its Thirsty Thursday for most college students but for me, I'm thirsty for some blood!

Tonight is the season premier of Survivor's all starts episode- Heros vs Humans. They are bringing back all the best and "worst" tempered of past episodes! I cant help but find myself excited for Russell, Rupert, and Jerri who I'm sure all the drama of the season will be surrounded by. Then I'm really excited for my favorites Coach, Boston Rob and Randy all on the same island! I'm sure that because half of the people on this island are being called

"villains" they will actually live up to their villainous titles! They are basically getting paid and loved just because they have crazy bad attitudes and trick people just to get themselves more air time.

This season I'm cheering for Parvati Shallow!

(mostly because my best friend Becky is betting on her at work) she was on Survivor: Cook Islands that I remember watching in high school with my Sophomore year dorm parents! Then in 2008 she won the $1,000,000 from Survivor Micronesia! Now back in 2010 for this season and she is part of the Villains tribe! I have faith in this 27 year old! She might not win (I hope she does) but I have faith that she will go far.

Incase you don't watch this show or have an understanding of what it is about, check out these videos!

The first one of the trailers for this season for old Survivor fans you might recognize some faces and be forced to turn on your t.v. every Thursday night

The second one is from season one! its the introduction from the first episode that ended up starting an entire new genre of television!

But what is it about not just Survivor but reality shows in general that week by week new show by new show drag so many people all over the world in each night to watch?

How is it that a show that has 20 season STILL wins its Thursday time slot at 8p.m.? This reality show captivates the attention of people from ate 16-49 and has an active fan base.

Survivor basically was the gate way for Hollywood to start creating shows using real people that were just as engaging, cinematic, and dramatic as most scripted TV shows. They have most everything that scripted shows have such as, developed characters, rising action/conflict/climax, heros and villains, establishing shots, and even foreshadow producers/editors throw in.

Not all reality shows have the same design. Some are to find your true love, live in a house with a different group of people, or follow clues all over the world. However they all go under the name of "reality T.V." that constantly draws criticism.

How is it that reality TV captivates so many people attention, and makes them become obsessed with it?

I would say that it all starts in our brain. On Survivor they do their best to make the reptilian brain react. They show people starving, wanting shelter, and getting hurt. If it wasnt for the show forcing you to watch the human body being pushed to extremes and making the viewers at home gasp and hold their breath, the shows wouldn't be nearly as successful. The limbic brain feels emotion, and the fact that this is a "reality show" with "real" people, brings a new level of emotional attachment to what audiences are seeing on TV. Lastly, they appeal to the neocortext. The challenges they have on Survivor make viewers want to get on the show and imagine what they would do for challenges and for surviving on the show.

Heres a clip that really takes advantage of the brain.

The dramatic music played draws the limbic brain and then when they start to make him feel better, its every things okay hospital music. Because you know this is a real human and you see his friends' reactions, your reptilian brain and neocortext react. You want to rush in and help him, or fear he might really be hurt. Once you over come that, you start thinking about what might have happened.

One of the biggest shifts for Survivor over the years is the Technological shift. Now if someone wants to watch an episode but not watch it live when its on T.V, they can watch it online. Also, to keep the audience's attention during the week, they have a technological shift where viewers can watch "secret scenes" online. They are basically just extended interviews they didn't have time for in their weekly show.

The most obvious of the seven basic principles that relates to Survivor is the reality construction. No one other than the "players" and crew on Survivor know what is reality, what is instigated situations, what is edited to make things appeal a certain way, and what is completely made up. That also leads to production techniques. The way that things are shot make them look so much more dramatic then they may be. Also, the way that this show and other reality shows are edited make things appear very different than they might be when the show is filming. Lastly, the most important principle that producers want is emotional transfer. If they cant get the audience always engaged with some of their emotion whether it is laughing, crying, or being scared then they are not doing their job.

The most obvious persuasive technique used my reality shows is plain folks. They take "average" people and put them in extreme situations. However, most of the time they aren't plain folks.

Most of the people on reality shows are beautiful people.

Survivor doesnt always follow this, but because most of the time the people are in bathing suits, they most defiantly try to have a good handful of beautiful people on their exotic beaches. Two of the girls from one of the season ended up being on the cover of Play Boy when they were done proving that Survivor uses beautiful

people and not so much of plain folks. And of course after the show, several of these "plain folks" who were brought onto the show become famous celebrities. If you know the basic theme and order to Survivor, you can jump into any season and understand the order of things because of repetition. They have certain things in each season such as tribal counsel, immunity challenges that the audiences knows as standard things and its what the shows format is, with out it, everyone watching would be confused.

These are just a few things that show what Survivor and reality shows can do.

Now matter how many people make fun of me for loving the show Survivor or give me grief about it, I'm going to keep watching it. Its a good thing to watch when I want to rest my mind on a Thursday night instead of going out with my friends and drinking on Thirsty Thursday.