This brings me to my topic: can a fiction TV drama actually be more realistic that the aforementioned reality shows? The show is Friday Night Lights, an NBC drama that recently ended its fifth and final season. Now, I know this show is scripted. I know that there is no way Lyla Garrity and Tyra Collete, two female leads, could ever actually be in high school. I know that the plot lines on the show haven't really happened to one specific place.
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| Tami Taylor and Coach Eric Taylor, two of the show's main characters |
But I also know that Dillon, Texas, the show's fictitious setting, is as real as any West Texas, football-crazed town. The show realistically portrays a happily married couple who fights, a very average quarterback who must step up to the spotlight, and a town that is football.
Even more, FNL cameramen only used three small and easily mobile cameras, instead of numerous large, stable cameras like many shows use. They also didn't rehearse lines or scenes before filming.
They only used sets when they needed to, which was rare. For characters' houses, they used actual houses in Austin, Texas. In an interview for a Grantland piece, the Riggins' house was discussed. Producer Jeffrey Reiner said, "The Riggins' house was a shithole." Taylor Kitsch, who plays Tim Riggins said, "It reeked. There was mold. The pool was filled with sludge." The even found a real Texas state championship ring in a bedroom in the house. They wanted to create a real environment that looked, smelled, felt, and sounded like Dillon, Texas. And they did.
This in contrast to Jersey Shore, where MTV rented out the pizza place the cast "worked" at and controlled who was allowed in. Reality isn't a show where the eight cast members are supposed to represent "real Italian people," but in fact infuriate them and embarrass them.
Don't get me wrong: I enjoy watching Jersey Shore just as much as the next guy. Its funny, entertaining, and mindless. But it isn't real, and I know that. When I watch FNL, I feel something. I laugh with the characters, I cheer with the characters, and I even cry with the characters. It's a mystery to me why FNL struggled throughout its five-year running to get good ratings. The show even ran on DirecTV for seasons three though five, and then episodes were rerun on NBC. Its hard for me to understand why Jersey Shore is the American reality show that trends on Twitter, and Friday Night Lights is that sports drama on NBC that never lived up to its potential.
Above is the speech that ended the pilot episode of FNL. It is known as one of the best episodes of the show, and most of the best pilot's in recent years.
While I do agree that Jersey Shore and the other "reality" shows you mentioned are not completely real, I would in no way say that FNL is more realistic than them. FNL has actors, scripts, etc. I admire FNL creators and writers for creating a show and atmosphere that is like so many American's real lives, but the actors aren't still their characters when they leave the set. And although they may not rehearse their lines, they're still saying someone else's words, not their own. TOBIAS FOREVER!!
ReplyDeleteI think there is such a thing as truth in fiction--in fact, I believe that some fiction is more true than "real" life. Some fiction gets at the truth of an emotion like jealousy or love more than a real moment. Maybe that's why so many of us turn to a song or poem or story to show someone how we feel or to understand our own feelings. Yes, I believe that FNL could be more real than a "reality" show, even if I have never seen it.
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