Reality TV and gaming shifted from rewarding contestants to humiliating losers
Evidence
In many instances, the audience is even encouraged to pay to “vote” for those to ostracize and banish—a clear simulacrum of the neoliberal marketplace. Game shows used to reflexively reward the poor; now pay-to-play reality TV crushes them. Computer gaming used to be about triumphs of virtuosity; now, as in Grand Theft Auto, it is all about debasement of the losers. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 372
Categorization
- CANDY: The observation that game shows used to reward the poor but now crush them is a punchy, quotable line.
- XREF: connects to: Reality TV packaged contempt for misfits alongside their redemption — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 240; Reality TV monetized loathing and villainy, not admiration — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 238; Online fame seekers face hatred for not deserving their fame — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 402 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Reality TV packaged contempt for misfits alongside their redemption
#corroborates(0.85) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 240 - Reality TV monetized loathing and villainy, not admiration
#expands(0.82) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 238 - Online fame seekers face hatred for not deserving their fame
#expands(0.72) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 402