ABSTRACT

This article argues that Comedy Central’s Nathan For You enacts a sophisticated critique of reality television and offers a different way of capturing ‘reality’ on the small screen. By exaggerating the format’s countless constraints, Nathan for You discovers a way to create real and moving drama from reality television conventions. Using examples taken from across the series, the article argues that the show exemplifies the New Sincerity aesthetic that scholars in numerous other fields have found across contemporary US culture. What Fielder’s project ultimately reveals is that the most exaggerated and grotesque forms of reality-television manipulation can paradoxically open up spaces of sincere communication and feeling. The article also explores many of the formal and stylistic devices that Fielder uses across the series, building a case for a reevaluation of the series.

摘要

本文认为，喜剧中央电视台的《内森为你》对现实电视进行了复杂的评论，并提供了一种在小屏幕上捕捉“现实”的不同方式。通过夸大格式的无数限制，Nathan for You发现了一种通过现实电视惯例创作真实感人的戏剧的方法。文章以整个系列中的例子为例，认为该展览展示了美国当代文化中许多其他领域的学者所发现的“新真诚”美学。菲尔德（Fielder）的项目最终揭示出，现实电视操纵的最夸张和怪诞的形式可以自相矛盾地开辟真诚交流和感觉的空间。本文还探讨了Fielder在整个系列中使用的许多形式和风格设备，为重新评估该系列提供了理由。