True Story - What Reality TV Says about Us (Paperback)

Named a Best Nonfiction Book of 2022 by Esquire A sociological study of reality TV that explores its rise as a culture-dominating medium--and what the genre reveals about our attitudes toward race, gender, class, and sexuality. What do we see when we watch reality television? In True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us, the sociologist and TV lover Danielle J. Lindemann takes a long, hard look in the "funhouse mirror" of this genre, from countless rose ceremonies on The Bachelor to the White House and more (so much more!). Beginning with the first episodes of The Real World, reality TV has not only remade our entertainment and cultural landscape--it also uniquely refracts our everyday experiences and social topography. By taking reality TV seriously, we can better understand key institutions (such as families, schools, and prisons) and broad social categories (such as gender, race, class, and sexuality). These shows have the ability to unveil the major circuits of power that organize our lives and the extent to which our own realities are, in fact, socially constructed. Whether we're watching conniving Survivor contestants or three-year-old beauty queens, these "guilty pleasures" underscore how conservative our society remains, and how steadfastly we cling to our notions about what counts as legitimate or "real." At once an entertaining chronicle of reality TV obsession and a pioneering work of sociology, True Story reflects our society back to us: what we see in the looking glass may not always be pretty, but we can't stop watching.

General

Imprint:	St Martin's Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	February 2023
Authors:	Danielle J. Lindemann
Dimensions:	210 x 137 x 25mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade
Pages:	352
ISBN-13:	978-1-250-86294-5
Categories:	Books > Arts & Architecture > General Books > Social sciences > General Promotions
LSN:	1-250-86294-9
Barcode:	9781250862945

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!