Reality TV is taking over Tufts

There's a class out there where students can complain about missing Joe Millionaire and not get eye rolls regarding their seeming lack of depth.

In this same class, the students laugh at Jessica Simpson's moronic comments-upon opening a can of "Chicken of the Sea" tuna fish, she asks, "So is this chicken or fish?" -- and the instructors laugh alongside with them. In fact, it's all part of the normal routine of the Ex-College Explorations class "Reality TV as the Site of Knowledge Production."

Co-taught by seniors Julia Karol and Karen Stern, this is one of two explorations courses that cover reality television as an academic subject. "Reality television has caught the imagination of the watching public," Director of the Ex-College Robyn Gittleman said.

She believes that it is a chance to study American culture. "The fact that two out of the thirteen explorations cover the subject shows its popularity," Gittleman said.

Taught through the Ex-College, the "Explorations" class is a program involving a freshmen advising group combined with an academic seminar on a variety of topics. While this class, considering its pop-culture content, may sound frivolous and non-intellectual, the truth is far from that.

Karol and Stern assign readings on a weekly basis from academic journals, and moderate a vibrant and colorful discussion based on these readings in addition to clips shown in class.

In past weeks, the class has discussed different subgenres in the genre of reality television, including the Jerry Springer phenomenon, epitomized by his 1998 feature film Ringmaster. The student reactions to this section ranged from, "I was embarrassed to watch it," to "It was hard to watch this for a class." Yet it is the discussion as to why it was so hard, and what made it embarrassing that makes this class so interesting.

This past Monday, the subject at hand was 'family values' and how they relate to reality television. What is the role of television in shaping the idea of the 'normal' family? How do viewers relate to the families of reality television? What lessons does it impart on younger viewers in terms of the family? These provocative and interesting questions were just a few of the many topics tossed around in discussion.

A few students learned about their family from shows like Full House, in which each episode concluded with a moral resolution of all the problems that arose in the Tanner family during their thirty minute time slot, all vamped by cheesy music to boot.

Their younger siblings who watch reality television shows do not have the same ethical influences. "It's their Wonder Years," said one frosh, in reference to the '50s throwback sit-com starring Fred Savage that also had a moral high-handedness that appeals to family audiences.

In a heated, or at least heated for nine o'clock on a Monday night, debate, the class split in two and argued the pros and cons of watching reality television with the family. One the one side, a show like The Osbournes, proves that not everyone is like the squeaky clean Tanners, that you don't have to be perfect to be a part of a family. Yet on the other, it teaches kids depraved family values and emphasizes contrived and abnormal familial situations -- like four grown up children finding a wife for their father on Who Wants to Marry My Dad?

All of this could very well be mind-bending dialogue, yet does the subject matter warrant the deep discussions expected from an esteemed liberal arts university? Freshman Mike Stone, a student in the course, thinks so. "I think that reality TV is a great topic for a college course," Stone says, "it's incredible how much the morals and values depicted in the shows are reflected in American culture."

Fellow classmate Emily Watkins views "reality television is a huge cultural phenomenon. There are high-brow and low-brow cultures, of course. It's a trend like gothic architecture, and definitely worth studying."

The course also investigates the issues behind the impressive popularity of reality television, an issue of great interest to some of the students. Casey Beck, a self-described Bachelor devotee, finds that, "what's most interesting about the reality TV obsession (my own included) is that even though we are simultaneously disgusted by the shows and their blatant portrayal of American values, or lack thereof, we are also drawn to them and continue to watch week after week."

Yet not all of the freshmen are addicted to the crack-like substance of reality programming. Nate Cleveland was at first disappointed, as this course was not one of his top choices. Even after this half a semester, he still doesn't like reality television, but he can "see why people like it, and how they get hooked. [The class] has prevented me from being prejudiced against people who like it."

But even though they face the same insults faced by the Harry Potter fans a few of years ago, these reality television instructors know that their subject is a topic worthy of academic discussion.

Co-instructor Stern finds that, "reality television is a growing area of study, and more and more articles and books are being published about it. It's really exciting to be teaching such a current subject, since there are always new shows and genres to discuss." The class is indeed exciting, because, where else at Tufts can you have a serious, scholarly discussion about the merits of Evan picking Zora over Sarah on the last Joe Millionaire?