I don’t tend to watch most of what is put forth as “reality series” on the networks these days. It’s not that I have anything against reality; I live there sometimes myself. However, it seems to me that many of these shows are about creating victims, whether it be an American Idol judge berating those he perceives as less talented or the deception involved an encouraged in the Joe Millionaire-type show. This isn’t just looking into people’s lives, it’s trying to make people’s lives worse in the name of entertainment.
But there are things that can be legitimately described as “reality series” that I do watch. The creative home decorating show Trading Spaces is a clear example (although admittedly there is some cruelty in allowing Hildy to decorate anyone’s home.) Another is Junkyard Wars, which is at heart about what people can achieve with a little creative engineering and an admittedly carefully-seeded junkyard.
Another series has popped up that I’m adding to that list: Faking It, a British series airing on BBC America. In it, they take a person and spend four weeks training them in a career that they are an unlikely fit for. A ballet dancer becomes a professional wrestler. A country vicar becomes a used car dealer. Because the challenge is not only to be effective in their craft but also to seem the part, they are given training both by professionals in the field and by voice coaches. Ultimately, success of the transformation is judged by having a set of experts in the field at hand see if they can select the fake from among a series of experienced professionals.
As interesting as the show is, it also has a strong message implicit in it. At least in the ones that I’ve seen, the transformation is successful. It’s not just a matter of it being a ruse; by the end of the best episode, the genteel homosexual country school student had truly become a tough city nightclub bouncer. And if such a thing can be done, then how truly different are any of us?
An American version of the show is in the works, and participants are being solicited here. Seeing how they ask participants not only what they do but what profession they should fake, I can’t help but to consider what I would apply for. As a writer with a background in computer work, I tend to live a life of the mind, so my first instinct is for something very physical and very real-time: a fireman.
What would you sign up for? For your responses, I’ve turned on the “comments” feature of the blog for this one entry. I’m not ready to turn it on for every post, because maintaining the discussions and keeping the shmucks out seems like too much work. But if you want to post a comment about whether you want me to open up the blog for comments, feel free!
Faking It
