Post-reality TV documentary conceals its constructedness behind documentary’s simulated sobriety

Evidence

A decade ago, the academic John Corner argued that reality TV had led to a genre of “post-documentary” television, in which documentary elements were merged with game-shows, makeover programmes and other entertainment forms. Now we are in the era of post-reality TV documentary, a much more pernicious genre. Even the most credulous viewer of reality TV could hardly fail to be aware of its constructedness, with participants worrying and complaining about how they were “portrayed”, and viewers quickly becoming familiar with the way narrative was produced by editing. (Partly this was because shows like Big Brother gave viewers access to the unedited footage, to the longueurs and the shapelessness of a quotidian time prior to its moulding into narrative.) Such reflexivity is largely absent from post-reality TV documentary — this genre uses many of the techniques from reality TV, but presents them with the simulated sobriety of documentary rather than with the winking, heavily made-up face of entertainment. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 709

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines post-reality TV documentary as distinct from both reality TV and essayistic documentary.
• XREF: connects to: Photographs claim documentary truth but always embed their makers’ assumptions — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2: Identity…, 1049

Broader Connections

• Photographs claim documentary truth but always embed their makers’ assumptions #complicates (0.80) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 1049