Reality TV as a genre is now incredibly diverse in terms of how many types of shows are produced as well as the amount networks that produce them. However, I think the the real "variety" of subjects, themes, etc. is more questionable considering these shows are often as formulaic as scripted television dramas or comedies and are really (at the top) owned by very few media conglomerates. Pepi Leistyna in an article on social class and entertainment TV urges us to consider when the United States media is controlled by very few massive corporations how we might look critically at the stories Reality TV presents to us. Whose interests are being served by these representations? How could we imagine or even produce alternative visions?
I want to take some time to consider some issues with Reality TV as a whole and then look a little more specifically at Top Chef and it's spin off Top Chef: Just Desserts from a feminist point of view. I believe this show in particular has a massive appeal for women because of the convergance of private/public aspects. It considers something we all must do - eat!, but also cooking has been long part of the domestic/private sphere and in that sphere primarily in the domain of women. How does a show that elevates the cook to the chef play out for women? Only one woman to date has won top chef and it's not looking good for a woman to win Just Desserts this season.
First I want to consider some points from Laurie Oullette and James Hay's "Better Living Through Reality TV" (2008). The authors pose some very interesting questions that I think get beyond the basic critiques about Reality TV. They say, "At a time when privatization, personal responsibility, and consumer choice are promoted as the best way to govern liberal capitalist democracies, reality TV shows us how to conduct and "empower" ourselves as enterprising citizens."
They go on to consider how all the different types of shows share a preoccupation with judging, testing, advising and rewarding the conduct of "real" people in whatever capacity they are participating - housemates, contestants, workers homeowners, romantic partners etc. I think this is a very interesting idea to consider: the State trusts private entities like TV to be a social service provider and so consequently Reality TV ends up being a resource for "inventing, managing, caring for, and protecting ourselves as citizens."
In a time where there is a real absence of welfare programs we are seeing thousands of people apply directly to reality TV programs for things like housing (Extreme Home Makeover), and healthcare (Three Wishes). Oullette and Hay also say, "In certain respects, reality and lifestyle TV represents nothing short of the current conception of social welfare in which all citizens - whatever their resources and histories of disenfranchisement - are expected to 'take responsibility' for their fate." This is a fascinating arguement and a new way to frame how Reality TV can work in our society and in some ways help us consider how may be "governed" by Reality TV.
http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef
Specifically I want to focus on the Reality Show Top Chef and it's spin off Top Chef: Just Desserts. This subgenre is focused on the contestant as chef who is asked to go through a series of cooking challenges to win $100,000 (always furnished by a heavily talked about sponsor - gladware, etc.) They usually have "quickfire" challenge in the first half of the show (often attached to immunity or a cash prize) and a second elimination challenge where the losing chefs are asked to come before the judges, plead their case and one is ultimately sent home.
I do really enjoy this show, but there are things that I will talk about soon that I think are problematic for women viewers. Whereas a show like Big Brother can be exciting to watch because of the drama between contestants I appreciate Top Chef because most of the show (certainly not all) is dedicated to the food challenges. If there's drama unrelated to the cooking I usually fast forward to the next cooking challenge. I love to cook and quite enjoy the creative dishes that contestants come up with. It really does amaze me how they can come up with these new concoctions week after week.
What concerns me as a woman viewer is that in 7 seasons there has only been one woman winner and 2 women in runner-up positions. Often the men are very egotistical and many are not very compimentary of the women on the show. In a recent episode of Top Chef: Just Desserts there was a competition where the contestants had to run to the table of sweets to pick their ingredients. One of the male contestants actually knocked one of the women in the face trying to get his ingredients. She had to continue with the challenge while nursing a very bruised cheek. The only way the show addressed this was a cutaway interview with the male contestant saying "if you go to the post with Shaq and you get hit, you don't go to the post with Shaq again" essentially saying he had every right to knock this woman down because of the "challenge" atmosphere. This statement went unchallenged.
I think the chef as male is very dominating in this genre and can have a negative impact on women viewers who see cooking as something pleasurable and aspirational. Are women resigned to being "cooks" (amateurs) having to aspire to be "chefs" while the men are a priori "chefs" (experts) to begin with?
Student Activity:
For undergraduate students I would divide them into several groups and have clips from different seasons available of Top Chef especially scenes where women and men have confrontations or women contestants are criticized by male contestants. I would have them consider cultural constructions of myths around gender differences and then carefully analyze the clips to consider what might be problematic for women viewers.
We would also take a look at what rules effectively "govern" this type of reality show as well as consider our assumptions are about this type of show. We could consider if anything (at all) was different about the season that a woman won top chef. Did she have to work harder to prove that she was indeed a chef rather than a cook? How do these shows help or hinder women who aspire to be chefs or just enjoy cooking and want to learn more? Does a show like this reinforce stereotypes? How could BRAVO do a better job? Why would they want to?
The "Reality" of Top Chef
View more presentations from jennasethi.
