Reality TV and the Deceiving Social Standards

Technology has shaped how humans use reasoning and decision-making through predisposed industrial parameters, which have made procedures more cost and time efficient. However, through efficiency, we see how mankind has restricted his ambitions and pursuits to the conformity of society. Thus, adhering to a standardized heteronomy of the machine age and indirectly shaping an individual's sense of self-preservation and rationality. Artificial processes are so ingrained in today's ecosystem that we have standardized many facets of our life, from the educational system to the way we engage with entertainment and leisure. Everything that surrounds us, tangible and intangible, has been filtered through the culture industry. Herbert Marcuse highlights the distinction between individualistic rationality being transformed into technological rationality, a social process where individuals seek competitive efficiency and by doing so the masses are providing economic power to the elite minority. Likewise, Horkheimer and Adorno provide readers with examples of the culture industry described as "infected with the same sameness" (Horkheimer and Adorno, 41).

A media object or technology that addresses these themes is seen since the invention of television, a medium to persuade and reach more audiences. In particular, a genre of television programming called reality television, which is known for showing "normal" individuals in unscripted competitions and real-life scenarios. Some of America's most famous shows include American Idol, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, The Bachelor, Project Runway; just to name a few. Ordinary people go in the show and end up being what we now know today as an "influencer". These newborn celebrities get so much publicity that any service or product they sponsor is seen as desirable due to their large number of followers they have on social media.

This form of entertainment has been so successful around the world because it allows viewers to sympathize with those on screen, a characteristic in human nature to see what other people have and want it. The insecurity of having a simple life goes in discordance with the luxuries and latest technology perceived on-screen; moreover, providing even more power to the capitalist large industries. The demand on reality TV, and any new piece of media or technology really, is economically intertwined with other industries. For instance, a broadcasting company with the electrical industry (Horkheimer and Adorno, 43). Company giants, such as Facebook and Google, for example, are used as mediums to reach more individuals into consumerism. Hence, using influencers as catalysts in this profitable cycle.

Outside of being cast members on the show, they have many other streams of revenue such as podcasts, webinars, brand ambassadors, sponsorships, events, and products. The industry has been monopolized, causing compliance in society and creating a sense of dependency not only in their apparatus but also in how people live their lives. This causes the terror of not living up to the standards of society, thus self-interest is completely different from collective interest. "The more all-embracing the culture industry has become, the more pitilessly it has forced the outsider into either bankruptcy or a syndicate; at the same time it has become more refined and elevated" (Horkheimer and Adorno, 41). With reality shows, we see the divergence of film viewed as an art, but rather as an ever-growing business model.