Reality Show Stars: Victimized Volunteers

By Melissa Aguilera on June 16, 2016

In the 2000s, reality TV ran rampant. For some reason, this dramatic and ignorant medium was incredibly well received by the American public and unfortunately, it still is. Reality stars in the United States become icons and celebrities, making genuine character within these shows all the more questionable. We all remember the hilarious Tiffany Pollard or “New York” from VH1′s Flavor of Love and I Love New York, CT from the many MTV Real World/Road Rules challenges, and everyone’s current favorites The Kardashians. Although reality TV appears much less now than it did a few years ago, the value and demand for it remains the same.

Image via buzzfeed.com

Upon entering a show, each candidate already has ulterior motives, whether it be exposure, an opportunity to promote personal business, create an image, or become famous, the motive is never to really “find love.” These people are often either regular citizens or struggling actors with agents. These people already have self gain on their minds, resulting in radical behavior to maintain their spotlight. Despite these truths, the blame can’t solely be put on the reality show members. Behind the scenes is where the true culprits lie.

Producers

Producers skillfully orchestrate and organize scenarios in which fighting or argumentation is a sure result. This is because in scenes of high stress, ratings sky rocket, increasing both popularity and profit. For some reason, Americans love watching violence.

What happens when the producers make a mistake? What happens when the TV show stars argue with the producers rather than each other?

Bunim/Murray Productions of Oxygen’s Bad Girls Club, a show known for its frequent girl fightsis currently undergoing a lawsuit from its supposed-to-be new twin members, Amanda and Victoria Hepperle, who claim that “within less than ten minutes of filming, they were attacked and beaten by six cast members.” These women are suing because they were brutally beaten with no reason and it was later aired on the show. The twins were instructed to give their phones and wallets to the producers. They were also instructed by the producers that “fighting inside or outside the premises would get you kicked of the show. No fighting, no touching, no slapping, no grabbing, no biting, no fighting, and no violence of any sort will be permitted.” They were brought to the house handcuffed in a police car for reasons unknown. The girls were supposed to be pranked by feathers and flour upon entering, but it went horribly wrong. Once they entered the house, the whole cast erupted into a full on brawl, directly assaulting the new members. The twins were horrifically bruised, beaten, and bleeding without explainable cause (other than increasing ratings.) The producers reluctantly took the twins to urgent care and then held them in a hotel room just after, telling them that they couldn’t go home yet. Luckily, one of the twins grabbed a producer’s phone and locked herself in the bathroom, calling 911 and her father, to whom she cried for help to. I don’t know about you, but as a huge fan of Law and Order: SVU, this story could easily be its own episode.

Image via heartbreakers.me

The twins are suing for intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, conspiracy to commit battery, false imprisonment, and negligence. It is known amongst reality TV producers that one must be extremely careful when orchestrating drama and influencing argumentation. Spencer Pratt of MTV’s The Hills can attest to this, saying “my producers once told me to punch my sister in the face to increase ratings.” The Bad Girls Club situation is, of course, not the first time producer intervention has resulted in a lawsuit, however, in most of these cases the reality shows win.

Image via badgirlsclub.tumblr.com

A similar situation occurred when Philip Zelnick was asked to lay down on a conveyor belt and go through the metal detector on a show called “Candid Camera” in 2001. What was supposed to be an innocent joke resulted in Mr. Zelnick emerging badly bruised with severe bleeding. With this insanely prevalent desire and craving to watch humiliation TV within the United States, producers are willing to overlook important details and seriously endanger their contestants for the sake of high profits.

It is deeply disturbing how apathetic and inhumane reality show producers can be and it is important for the public to be aware that even though reality show members are volunteers, they are also victims of gross manipulation and negligence.

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