American Voyeur TV

America tunes into 'voyeur' television

University Wire

06-29-2000

(Daily Egyptian) (U-WIRE) CARBONDALE, Ill. -- What do 16 castaways on a desert island, five aspiring pop stars, a group of twenty-somethings in New Orleans and a British family pretending to live in the year 1900 have in common?

Nothing, except that each week they let America peep into their daily lives through voyeur cams.

Shows like CBS's "Survivor", MTV's "The Real World", ABC's "Making the Band", and PBS's "The 1900 House" have started the latest trend in television - voyeur television. Ordinary people are letting voyeur cameras videotape their squabbles, romances, and the mundane details of their day-to-day lives, and television stations are airing their lives on some of the most-watched shows of the season.

Voyeur television and voyeurism has taken America by storm. The most popular series, "Survivor," drew 23 million voyeurs last week, a record number for this time of year, according to Time magazine.

The show involves 16 people, ranging from a neurologist to an ex-Navy SEAL, who are stranded on an island off Borneo and must survive for 39 days. In addition, each week a castaway is voted off by his fellow survivors; the one that remains wins $1 million.

Sara Evans, a senior in information systems, is a self-proclaimed voyeur-TV junkie who has not yet missed an episode of "Survivor." Evans referred to an episode where the castaways roasted a rat and ate it. She was unsure if she could eat a rat, even for $1 million.

"I like the drama - it's just like a soap opera," Evans said. "The show makes you wonder if you could do those things for a $1 million."

But, according to a recent Time/CNN poll, there isn't too much America wouldn't do on a voyeur camera. For example, 31 percent of Americans said they would wear their pajamas for a reality-based TV show, and 8 percent said they would be filmed naked on camera. Ten percent said they would eat a rat or insect.

However voyeur television did not start with "Survivor." Nine years ago, MTV aired the show "The Real World." The show takes a group of young people and each season places them in a nice house in a large city. MTV then watches the conflict unfold.

Though Stacy Zeitler, a junior in radio-television, does not watch the show regularly, she said she cannot stop watching when MTV airs "The Real World" marathons.

"I guess the real addiction is that screenwriters have not written the plot each week for these people," Zeitler said. "They're real people with real problems, but they are brave enough to let the world know about them. It's almost like we are eavesdropping."

Vivian Ugent, coordinator for the Red Cross in Southern Illinois, watches "The 1900 House" religiously each week and said she loves the show.

On "The 1900 House," a British family volunteers to live like a family from 1900 for three months. Their house, their dress, even their food is what it would have been in 1900.

"I think it's just wonderful," Ugent said. "I think as long as people are willing to do it, it's a way to travel back in time - what a great sociological study."

It seems America will be willing to perform for voyeur television in the future, as more than 6,000 people applied to be on the first season of "Survivor." More than 35,000 people applied for "The Real World."

And as if the success of the current programs weren't enough, CBS is planning on airing a new voyeur show, "Big Brother," where 10 people will be kept isolated in a house for 89 days. Their every move, even to the bathroom, will be filmed and aired five days a week.

However, some hope voyeur television is a short-lived fad. In the Time/CNN poll, 59 percent said they think reality-based shows are harmless entertainment, while 30 percent think it is a disturbing trend.