Jennifer L. Pozner

Jennifer Pozner in Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth about Guilty Pleasure TV builds a case against the "mindless" entertainment of reality TV and points out how dangerous it can be, as it promotes sexism, racism, and advertises directly to its viewers while bypassing the normal restrictions placed on advertising.

While the book was comprehensive and Pozner did an excellent job building her case, there didn't seem to be anything new in this. Even Pozner admitted that most people are consciously aware of these pitfalls in reality television, but points out that subconsciously, we tend to accept these messages and incorporate them into our worldview. While I have no doubts that this is the case, it does make for a read that can best be summed up as, "Well, yeah."

In some respects, I am not the ideal reader for this book; I do not watch reality TV, nor do I follow it even a little bit. Pozner clearly didn't expect this, because she rarely gives even a brief summary of what a show is, which led me to have to google several shows to find out what on earth Pozner was talking about. While I realize I am not the target audience, it was still a tad annoying to have to pause the book in order to look things up, especially when other times she defines things that most people should know: if you're reading a book of this critical thought and this long, I would assume that you know what Stockholm syndrome or schadenfreude is.

Still, Pozner redeems herself with a genuinely interesting chapter about advertising in reality TV. While most people are aware of the conspicuous drinks of Coke by the American Idol judges or the apparently absolutely appallingly obvious shills for Cover Girl in America's Next Top Model, few are aware that several of these shows have almost complete creative control over the actual show itself, or have even completely sponsored a show to the point that it is little more than a vehicle for advertisements, which allow them to skirt FCC regulations and restrictions on advertising. In one worrisome prediction, Pozner posits that antidepressants or other medications could be next to be shilled on these shows, which is a troubling vision of the future.

Unfortunately, that chapter was the only one that contained something truly new. There was nothing particularly new or enlightening about the book, nor even things we already knew told in a way that made it seem new ala Neil Postman; all in all, a solid book, but not one likely to impart anything you didn't already know before.… (mehr)

I really wanted to like this book a lot. Towards the end I got tired of it. I'll say this, overall if you want insight to the impact reality based television has in American culture this is a great start.

I just feel that it was significantly longer than it should have been and extremely repetitive. I'm a fan of getting your point across strong and firm. Pozner achieves this but after 200 pages her message gets lost in redundancy. I do hope she will revisit this book and update it with the impact of new media, i.e. internet tv as well as better organized chapters.… (mehr)