Is it good TV?

I’ve never been a reality TV guy. Something about the integrity of scripted shows and voyeuristic looks into other peoples’ lives was just never my thing. Same with pro wrestling - is that really a sport? I never watched The Apprentice and completely missed the remaking of Donald Trump from a nearly bankrupt businessman who lost hundreds of millions of dollars through endless bad decisions into what most people think a rich, successful businessmen looks like. All of that makes me “not normal” among my 320 million fellow citizens and mystified by what makes entertainment.

I should have had a good clue from the campy classic “Idiocracy”, which turns out to have been a prescient pre-documentary about what happens to society when they gradually prioritize entertainment over knowledge and truth. Eventually a pro wrestler becomes president and the people face extinction because they end up watering crops with something like Mountain Dew, which sponsored the Presidency. Or something like that.

I’ve recently become a bit of a convert as my wife has long been a giant Survivor fan and we’re seeking background television that is not MSNBC while we recover from the election and political news. I’ll admit I’m pretty all in now and I’m starting to understand why it’s good TV. Interesting characters, nonstop relationship drama, physical challenges, political intrigue, beautiful setting, and a charismatic host who is both a good facilitator and instigator. Not to mention extraordinary editing and videography.

I struggle with the moral/ethical currents throughout the show, as good “gameplay” inevitably requires contestants to be dishonest - they cheat, they steal, they lie, they connive, they form and break alliances. And yet through it all, by the end of the episode and series, they all profess love for each other and gratitude for having gone through the experience. People are endlessly entertained by this, there’s over 40 “seasons”, and there are folks who have participated multiple times (and contestants who claim to have been dreaming of participating since childhood). All in all, by all the measures that matter, it’s good TV.

Donald Trump has some natural, visceral sense for what makes good TV. He was apparently a giant fan of pro wrestling and fully absorbed all of the lessons from the Apprentice. Jonathan V Last wrote an interesting piece on the wrestling parallels with Trumpism but it didn’t make much sense to me since I don’t follow or understand wrestling as spectacle. But the lessons seem similar to reality TV - doesn’t have to be true or accurate, has to have dramatic storylines, villains and heroes are both important, and the script and storylines have to keep evolving and updating quickly so people stay engaged.

That seems to be the principle governing much of Trumpist activity right now. He and his cronies, including a powerful neo-Nazi with more money and a bigger platform than anyone on the planet, have been blasting statements out on social media (Elon) and spending hours a day talking to TV cameras, completely dominating public discourse. They are some combination of outrageous lies, completely fabricated “facts”, nonsense declarations, illegal pronouncements, and generally irritating bleating designed to be “good TV”. Get people energized (angry is as good as jubilant) and paying attention, reach deep into their amygdalas to trigger core emotions, make the people on your team think you’re winning, polish your own ego, and keep pushing the limits until and unless someone stops. Each new thing has to be more outrageous and nutty than the last, because at some point the last thing stopped being entertaining and your dopamine receptors require more.

Counteracting that sort of stream of bullsh*t, intended to “flood the zone” and overwhelm us while also entertaining us, is impossible by following conventional communications or political practice. It’s a completely asymmetrical game, with each side playing by different rules. A little over 30% of the voting public loves what Donald Trump has to sell - a percentage or so more than voted for Kamala Harris and less than the 35%+ that didn’t vote at all. But the folks that love the reality television show that is now our national politics are excited, super active on social media, and over the top about what they get to watch every day. Their guy “wins” and makes the other side lose and cry on an hourly basis. How much fun is that!

He’s not bound by reality or any sort of shame or remorse. He can lie and build lie upon lie without anyone checking him or contradicting him as long as it feels entertaining and in service of “good TV”. I don’t know how we get out of that loop, but it seems like maybe more of us should be reading books?

I’m going to try to close these with a little light, because someone recently reminded me that the only way to dispel darkness is with light. Today is National Girls & Women in Sports Day. I have had the privilege of coaching women for almost 40 years and can not say enough about the positive impact that increasing participation and opportunity in sports have had on everyone involved. That especially includes me, as I have learned more about humanity than I ever thought was possible by the extraordinary young women who have given me the opportunity to share part of their journeys.