Versions of Reality

All I could think of while watching Timothy Treadwell film multiple takes of him running through the brush or interacting with bears was how much it seemed like reality TV. Specifically, the kind of reality TV you know is scripted. Here's Treadwell, narrating his own story, trying to turn himself into a hero or at least some kind of sympathetic character, but it's not natural. It's a script, it's a ploy, it's his way of controlling his own press. In the videos, at least to me, Treadwell doesn't seem like a real person; he's more like a caricature, loud and enthusiastic and unselfish to the point of being unbelievable. In short, he's playing a type, not being his true self.

This is seen again and again on reality TV. It doesn't matter what the show is, in reality TV, people are rarely depicted in all their complexity. Cast members are specifically selected for their ability to play toward a type. A great example of this is Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Each member of their family has a role to play, one engineered by themselves, as the Kardashian family is heavily involved with producing the show. Kris Jenner is shown as the overbearing, harsh matriarch, while Kim is the spoiled brat, Khloe is the badass wife, and Kourtney is the whiny new mother. Like Treadwell with his self-narrated story and endless video footage, the Kardashians select their own roles and attempt to control their media through the show. But the roles they are cast into on the show do not necessarily correspond to who they are in real life, just as I feel Treadwell's character in the videos doesn't accurately reflect who he was. It's worth asking: what's the true reality--what's on video, or what happens when the cameras aren't on?