How Real is Reality TV?

Everybody knows that watching reality tv is like watching a monster truck drive into stands of people while on fire and doing a sick flip. The fame seekers and audience manipulators tend to kill any genuine sentiments the show has to offer, which is fine, if you’re just here for an entertaining dumpster fire. Netflix, however, aims to fund more ‘mature’ reality tv shows like “Love Is Blind” and “The Ultimatum”. Both of which are geared towards marriage and love. 

The Ultimatum features preexisting couples, forcing them to choose between proposing or breaking up. Two new seasons of The Ultimatum have been released this year. One is a LGBTQ+ season featuring 5 lesbian couples, and the other is a typical season with 5 straight couples. In the LGBTQ+ season, many audience members have accused the editors and producers of editing footage, audio clips, and timelines to create more drama between cast members. The cast members reacted online as the new episodes were released two years after filming wrapped, after they had thought the show had been canceled. The show’s reception is plagued with allegations of dishonest, confusing portrayals of the relationships– as even the participants were arguing over the true order of events.

So one has to ask, how real is our reality tv? Do the final storylines justify the manipulation of real people's experiences?

Sometimes, yes. Shifting gears, I want to highlight where The Ultimatum actually feels authentic. Let’s look at the effective editing of their more recent season. One couple in particular, Ryann and James, had heart-warming development during the show’s run. The highschool sweethearts had been introduced as a very traditional couple who were both very meek compared to their explosive castmates. They were largely ignored during the initial episodes due to the drama between their other cast members, but the show still made out hints to the problems in their relationship. James’ interviews have hinted at his tumultuous upbringing and mental distance between him and everyone else. The show drops multiple hints that he hides something from everyone in his life, and that he grew up very alone. 

When he reunites with Ryann, they have multiple late night fights over his ‘secrets’. The fights serve to create tension that is resolved in a climactic lakeside confession. He starts by adding context for both the viewer and Ryann. He had enormous stress in his upbringing from being compared to his dead father by his community, while his mother was entirely absent as a truck driver. He felt like he would never be good enough while never receiving conventional family support. The cocktail of stress, loss, and loneliness led him to harm himself for years during highschool into his adulthood, while he was dating Ryann. 

Suddenly the hints, the mystery, and the tension had all been resolved while approaching a very dark subject matter. The show managed to frame the perfect outsider's perspective of James, and then makes the audience wonder about his secrets, and then he lets out everything he’s been holding in for years to his loved one. He and Ryann achieve a satisfactory ending. He can go forward in his relationship knowing he has a family, and she has his complete trust now that there’s no secrets between them.

In this season, the editing works well, as the show allows the couple to preserve their own privacy and doesn’t oversell a traumatic topic like self-harm. Additionally, in the reunion episode, none of the couples featured are unhappy with the editing choices made by the producers. The newest season managed to capture 4 cohesive storylines while being able to paint each couple as respectable. 

Comparing the two seasons, what went terribly wrong in production of the LGBTQ+ season? The difference is in the production team. 

The LGBTQ+ season was released under an entirely new show called “Ultimatum: Queer Love”. It was packaged with a brand new host and completely different sets for the reunion. The season took over two years to edit and be released after the initial 3 months of filming. Even critics took note of the show’s production struggles. TIME magazine states, “in reality, it’s great. In reality television, it’s a bit of a let down.” 

As Netflix continues funding more reflective reality TV shows, they should focus on cultivating powerful, lasting storylines in their shows rather than quick drama bites. Authentic and down-to-earth portrayals can connect both audiences and participants to the show and potentially retain their views for following seasons. In the world of entertainment today where AI  is on the horizon and Hollywood is on strike, show producers should put their roots back into genuine human connection, digging into what real people go through– not an over-edited, over-produced, and forced plotline. That's the 'reality' that the Ultimatum’s audience wants to see.