ABSTRACT

This article examines how reality celebrity differs from more traditional forms of celebrity and the impacts that understanding has on working conditions. Many challenges faced by participants on reality TV result from the understanding of their labour as unskilled and replaceable. Looking at how individuals like actors and extras gained protections in the past provides a framework to consider possibilities for reality participants. The contracts and working conditions facing current reality television contestants have strong similarities to those faced by actors in early Hollywood. Restrictive contracts, difficulty in organising, and extreme disparity in power relations were major features of the star system and are currently negatively affecting the working conditions of those appearing in reality programming. Reality television has enacted a system that features much of the power imbalance that early film stars faced, but that offers little of the rewards.

摘要

本文探讨了现实名人与更传统的名人形式有何不同，以及这种理解对工作条件的影响。电视真人秀的参与者所面临的许多挑战都源于对他们的劳动的理解是不熟练和可替代的。看看过去像演员和临时演员这样的人是如何获得保护的，可以提供一个框架来考虑现实参与者的可能性。当前电视真人秀参赛者面临的合同和工作条件与早期好莱坞演员所面临的非常相似。限制性合同、组织困难和权力关系的极端悬殊是星际系统的主要特征，目前正在对现实节目中出现的人的工作条件产生负面影响。