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Reality TV Shows Are Manipulative
Yup. TV shows such as 'are smarter than a 5th grader' portraits an image that most Americans are dumb but most Americans are well to do.
 sive92  09 Jul 2008 11:08
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In a way this is true. There are some that are very manipulative.
 
 Cemetary  18 Nov 2009 16:16
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Of course reality shows are manipulative. This is true in any country and without willful manipulation, we would not have reality shows in the first place. To begin with, viewers normally only see short snippets of dialogue, edited and cut for dramatic effect, out of hundreds of hours worth of tape. When you watch the Apprentice or Survivors, we only get to see the parts where participants are bickering with each other, or when there are competitions and conflicts. The truly mundane bits are all removed.

Reality shows also employ manipulative tactics when they select participants. People are always chosen in such a way as to maximize conflict and drama. This is precisely why Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth was allowed to return for the 7th season of The Apprentice, after having been fired early on during the first season. This woman had a rather vicious and aggressive side, which became apparent when she first entered the show. Yet she was highly telegenic and increased viewership figures by being at the centre of so many conflicts. Without her, the show would have been much more dull and producers clearly had this in mind when they chose to bring her back.
 
 mackenzie  11 Jul 2008 13:55
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There's a UK version, called " Are you smarter than a 10 year old". I'm sure other countries have their own versions too.

Apart from the Mathematical and English language questions, you can't really expect people to do that well, especially considering how specialised the questions can be.
 
 Snipex  09 Jul 2008 12:17
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