Big Brother: Reality TV Stereotypes

Reality TV shows play a very important part of how different groups of people are represented in the media. These type of shows are highly popular in mainstream media and have the power to reach a wide range of audience members and shape their ideas of certain groups of people in our society. Big Brother is a reality TV show that gathers up its contestants in a camera covered mansion where there every moment is recorded and at the end the last remaining houseguest receives the grand prize of $500,000. In July of 2000, CBS launched the first season and it averaged around 9 million viewers over the summer (Wieselman). I will examine how Big Brother continuos casting of realty Tv stereotypes is done purposefully by producers in order to have drama filled narratives that will achieve higher ratings and an engaged audience. The cast of Big Brother over the years has continuously almost always been an all white cast. There has so far been a total of 18 seasons of Big Brother in America, and in each season less than three African Americans are on the show. In season 15 the show featured a fairly typical cast: 13 whites, two African Americans and an Asian American contestant (Braxton). The trend that is seen across seasons of Big brother is that of African American woman who are depicted as loud, …show more content…
The producers broadcast these altercations because they know that a drama filled narrative is what captures the attention of the audience but by doing so they are also continuing to perpetuate stereotypes. The audience also becomes more engaged with the use of social media platforms in which they can side with contestant on the show. The explosive narratives foster loyal that keep coming back and wanting to know what will happen to their favorite