REPEAT OFFENDERS

REPEAT OFFENDERS

MAFS, THE BACHELOR, LOVE ISLAND AND MORE

TV SHOW REVIEW

The year: 2005.

Five-year-old me had her eyes glued to the screen, mesmerised by Big Brother’s Friday Night Live games in which competitors fought to win certain privileges to help them survive in the house. The challenges. The drama. The stakes. I was obsessed, and there was no going back.

Reality television has been a constant in my life for as long as I can remember. Being so readily available on virtually any channel or network, it’s practically impossible to have not at least attempted to watch some sort of reality show over the years. While the genre is highly criticised for false advertising, formulaic attempts at entertainment and a general lack of authenticity, these shows continue to flourish, especially in Australia.

The Australian iterations of the Bachelor franchise have housed a number of particularly interesting cast members and events. Of course, there’s the notable Nick Cummins, better known as the Honey Badger, who made the bold choice of picking none of the twenty-five girls chosen for him in the 2018 season of the Bachelor. And who could forget the iconic plotline from 2017’s Bachelorette, where contestant Jarrod Woodgate’s pot plant was allegedly urinated in by another contestant. Who ever said reality television wasn’t high-brow entertainment? entertainment?

Despite this, reality TV is some of the most highly rated television in Australia in terms of viewership, aside from sport broadcasts, making it a significant element of revenue in the industry. A 2018 survey of over 50,000 Australians showed that reality shows came in at the second most watched genre of television, following the news. This revealed that, on average, 41% of Australians watched reality television at least once a week. With viewership this high, it would be remiss of us not to talk about the highs and lows of Australian reality TV and just why the viewership for this genre is so high.

When someone says reality TV, more often than not, the Bachelor comes to mind. Dating and relationship television shows have particularly blown up within the last ten-years, with shows including the Bachelor franchise and Love Island landing onto our screens. Then we have my personal favourite. Married at First Sight Australia (or MAFS) is a reality show currently airing its sixth season on Channel 9. The show follows two strangers being paired up by a set of ‘experts’ to get ‘married’ without having met prior. The show follows several couples as they adjust to married life and is quite possibly one of the most entertaining things on TV today.

As the show has continued over the years, it’s been extremely interesting to see how they’ve moulded the format of the show to heighten the drama. When the show first started in Australia in 2015, it followed four couples across six episodes before they finally got to meet each other in the final episode. In 2017, the show expanded to feature ten couples across twenty-nine episodes, and unlike the original season featured weekly ‘dinner parties’ where all the contestants got a chance to meet and catch up regularly throughout the show.

Since then the show has continued with this new longer format which managed to increase ratings exponentially. For instance, last year’s season finale brought in two million viewers, a new record for the show. Beyond just the boost to ratings, the new format maximises drama making the show entirely more entertaining and discussion worthy with opportunities for clique forming and cheating scandals ripe and ready for the taking. The show even spawned an additional talk show called Talking Married that aired last year on 9Life (Channel 94) after the show, though is now an online exclusive in 2020. Interestingly, when compared with the New Zealand format you can see just how much higher the budget and production level for MAFS Australia is, and it definitely makes you appreciate it all the more. S h h h h

Anyway, I promise this isn’t just a not-so-subtle ad for MAFS. Aside from all the hype I give this show, there’s definitely multiple concerns viewers have brought up over the years and it would be impossible to say the show doesn’t warrant criticism.

A lot of the cast over the years have complained about the way they’ve been misrepresented on the show, usually to fit particular archetypes or to shift the blame off the network or producers. Just this season, contestant Poppy Jennings unexpectedly quit the show and took to the media to report how disappointing her match had been, complaining about the way her matched husband had been portrayed a lot kinder than he actually was. She also exposed the producers for threatening to alter her portrayal throughout the show if she shared the real reason why she quit.

Clare Verall from season two had a similar experience of entering the show on a whim and being pressured to continue in the experiment despite both parties realising the match wasn’t a good fit. Since appearing on the show she received many death threats from viewers, and received little to no support from the network despite them knowing she had previously suffered from mental health issues such as anxiety and PTSD. Since then she has also been diagnosed with clinical depression. So clearly the creators of this show hold no regard for cast member’s well-beings, always prioritising the creation of good drama-worthy moments.

As for Love Island, I never got a chance to make a leap into that hellhole, with the original UK show being cancelled after just six seasons. This is potentially due to a number of cast members also facing severe mental health issues as a result of the show, including three cast members and the show’s host recently dying from suicide. The future of Australia’s Love Island is also left uncertain after last season’s ratings remained low throughout airing, particularly in comparison to its UK counterpart.

With dating and relationship shows in particular, it is clear that cast members put a lot on the line to appear in the shows. While this definitely makes for some of the most entertaining television, it would be a lot better if networks looked out for members of the show to ensure such tragedies don’t occur.

Instead, why can’t we all just sit back and watch a group of adult men gossip and debate about who the hell peed in that pot plant? It’s like producers don’t understand that you can have entertainment without ruining people’s lives.

Speaking of non-life ruining entertainment, cooking shows also rank in as some of the most watched shows across Australian television, most likely due to their wide audience appeal. Whether you’re young or old, from admiring the talented contestants, drooling over the delicious food or watching beloved household names guest appearances, there’s something here for everyone. With both My Kitchen Rules and Master Chef running for over ten consecutive years, this format is clearly here and here to stay.

Alternatively, shows like The Great Australian Bake-Off allow viewers to witness some incredibly talented bakers and delicious desserts without the overly ramped-up stakes and drama. This makes for a much more relaxed and wholesome watching experience for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

By Gabrielle Edwards

Talent competition shows have also had quite a lot of time in the spotlight over the years, though their popularity does seem to be dwindling. Singing competition formats such as Australian Idol and The X Factor have each been cancelled due to low ratings. The Voice Australia meanwhile still continues and has been renewed in 2020. This is despite ratings showing viewership dropping from more than three million viewers for season one’s finale to just over one million viewers in the latest season finale.

The rise of social media has aided the success of the genre even further. With apps making interactive features such as voting even easier, it provides an even greater incentive to watch the shows and get involved. After each episode, social media and forums online also provide a perfect opportunity to discuss the happenings of recent episodes, helping build communities of fans. This helps to make each episode airing appear more like a major event as opposed to a simple hour of entertainment. Furthermore, unlike scripted shows, reality TV is based on (mostly) real people, meaning they are able to have real interactions outside the show once it has finished. Many reality stars are able to gather loyal fan bases during the airing of their shows, making them perfect vessels to promote the show or other content or brands in future.

An oversaturation of such a simple format that rarely changes from season to season or show to show could also explain the downfall of this genre. Potentially, the influx of talent able to find its way by other means, such as viral success online, leaves less of an incentive to apply to these kinds of shows. At this point it’s universally accepted that contestants or winners are rarely heard from again once the season is completed.

Though, against all these odds, reality shows continue to be constantly pumped out by networks, leaving us all wondering, why? Unfortunately, this can lead to issues, with certain viewers using social media to get in contact and send hateful messages to their least favourite cast members, causing complications for many past stars. Though, if everyone were to make the most of these opportunities, as opposed to abuse their power, the positives of incorporating social media into reality tv viewing is easy to see.

Due to all this, it’s almost guaranteed that reality shows will continue thriving, particularly in Australia. While it seems like everyone is quick to criticise the genre as a whole, it can’t be denied that reality TV has its merits and is here to stay. Despite being a low-involvement form of entertainment, it opens up plenty of avenues for small talk or discussions with co-workers, family and friends.

Well, compared to most scripted shows, reality television is a lot cheaper to produce and create, with almost guaranteed viewership. Just one example is the fact that reality tv producers aren’t part of the same unions as scripted tv writers are, making them cheaper to hire. Furthermore, most of the contestants or casts of reality shows are paid insignificantly less than actors, if they are paid at all. This allows for profit margins to be as high as 40% just through advertising revenue, making them a great investment for TV networks. American Idol is a great example of this, with the show generating a gross profit margin of 77% at its peak. Certain criticisms should definitely be addressed, including ensuring contestants and cast members concerns are met both during and after their time on the show. And, reality shows could do a lot better at hiring more diverse casts that more accurately reflect the Australian population. With online streaming platforms such as Netflix already being involved in producing their own reality content internationally, it will be even more interesting to see how this will pan out with Australian content and where this next renaissance in reality TV will take us.

by Gabrielle Edwards

RONNY CHIENG: INTERNATIONAL STUDENT

TV SHOW REVIEW

First off if you haven’t watched this TV show before you are missing out, go watch it, it’s on Netflix. The space for this review was initially given to the Best Picture nominee Bombshell. The reasoning behind the decision to include Bombshell in the Australian themed issue was simply that it featured two blonde Australians – Margo Robbie and Nicole Kidman. Having one to two blonde Australians seems to be a favoured element in American movies and is why in this issue we’ve also reviewed Cats – featuring blonde Australian Rebel Wilson. I do actually recommend watching Bombshell in all its white feminist glory as Charlize Theron is a phenomenal actress but for this review we’ll be keeping things a little closer to home.

Ronny Chieng International Student is a six-episode miniseries that depicts uni life with startling and hilarious accuracy. The series follows its titular character, Ronny Chieng, as he navigates the perils of undertaking a law degree at Melbourne University. Each of the episodes focuses on a different hallmark of uni life: being told in your first lecture that your degree is extremely competitive and effectively useless, missing out on borrowing the one textbook in the library assigned to a course of hundreds of people, and the long and belligerent quest of getting special consideration and an extension. The mundane struggles of uni life are looked at, laughed at, and eviscerated by a characteristically expressionless Chieng. One of the episodes solely focuses on a two-day cram session in which Ronny abuses cold and flu tablets in order to stay alert enough to study, inevitably resulting in his mental and physical breakdown. If that’s not # relatable I don’t know what is.

To make a bold statement I’m going to go ahead and state that most home-grown Australian TV shows are shit. This one isn’t. The jokes land because they are accurate. Ronny Chieng survived undertaking a law and commerce degree and lived to tell the tale.

by Jodie Ramodien

CATS

MOVIE REVIEW

Yes, we’re absolutely still talking about this amazing train-wreck of a movie even though it’s 2020.

If you’ve somehow missed the infamous hype and meme-filled critiques of this film, Cats is a movie adaptation of the popular stage musical based on T.S Eliot’s poems, with music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The story’s plot is simple in that there really isn’t one. The audience follows the action through the eyes of Victoria the White Cat, a new cat in the neighbourhood who is quickly thrown into the world of Jellicle cats. Each year they must choose one cat to ascend to their ‘new life,’ often interpreted as a version of cat heaven. As the film continues, we are introduced to each character as they sing a pitch about who they are, what they’re about and why they should win. With a plot this crazy, should we really have expected much?

While the stage musical features the actors wearing heavy make-up, prosthetics and costumes; the movie chose a different route, opting instead to use extensive computer generated VFX to make the characters have humanoid bodies and faces, though covered with fur.

Upon first reveal when the movie’s trailer dropped, it was instantly met with backlash and constant meme responses as audiences were left shocked and disturbed. When the movie was finally released at the end of last year, reactions were similarly dismayed. With an onslaught of negative reviews and a rating of 20% on movie reviewing site Rotten Tomatoes, I knew this was a movie I couldn’t miss. And hey, turns out it was not that bad. But at the same time, it was also worse than I could have ever anticipated.

Things start off with a bang as the opening number introduces you to what a Jellicle cat is (which I frankly still don’t understand) while the cats dance enthusiastically with their shoulders. Watching the film though, there were at least a few positives to note. The large dance numbers were, more often than not, entertaining to watch and while not all the songs were memorable, the more catchy ones were accompanied by exciting performances from the all-star cast. Jason Derulo and Taylor Swift’s performances were particularly fun to watch and Francesca Hayward’s talent shone bright. We can only hope she’ll get another chance to shine on the big screen in the future On the other hand, a major critique the film has received is the incomplete visual effects and glitches in the CGI. Many viewers pointed out, for instance, that Judi Dench’s hand in one scene is left completely untouched by the effects, with her own wedding ring actually visible. When this was realised, the studio rushed to edit and send out updated versions of the film that fixed these errors. hand

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea if I saw the original or corrected version. I attempted to over analyse the character’s hands to determine if their strang and furry but predominantly human hands were a special effects error or a bizarre character design choice. Did Jennifer Hudson just have perfectly manicured nails on set that day or did the design team purposely supplement fake nails as claws?

While many jumped to blame the VFX artists, a wider discussion was brought up regarding the pressure from executives and studios these artists are under, indicating they may not be the sole cause for this movie’s complete failure. This was brought up particularly after the movie’s stars Rebel Wilson and James Corden brutally called out the film’s VFX team at the 2020 Academy Awards.

To be fair, beyond just the success of the special effects, many of the character designs completely fail me, particularly the choice to have some female characters edited to be flat chested (as cats are) such as main character Victoria, played by Francesca Hayward, while other female characters, such as Taylor Swift’s Bombalurina, did not. Not to mention the bizarre way human faces were pasted onto the bodies of other animals in the movie, including mice and cockroaches. Truly the stuff of nightmares

At the end of the day, despite this movie being objectively bad, it was still a surprisingly entertaining watch. I suppose if you go in with the lowest expectations, there really isn’t anywhere to go but up. If you ever intend on seeing this movie, watching it with friends with the sole intent of making fun of it is definitely the way to go. f it is definitely the way to go.

by Gabrielle Edwards

HOROSCOPES

ARIES

Girl if you want that promotion, fight for it. You won’t get it otherwise. Especially if Brenda has anything to do with it. You know what she’s like.

TAURUS

I get it, you’re persistent and at times stubborn, but Gatorade is not lubricant. No one is that hot Taurus. No one.

GEMINI

You think you’re at an enlightened stage because you’re living your best life Gemini. Turns out, you’re emotionally stunted.

CANCER

Yes, he did mean to send you that dick pic and no, you didn’t need to say thank you.

LEO

Still working on that Tinder bio sweetie? There’s only so much you can do to hide your sociopathy.

VIRGO

Your top fan status on MQ Love Letters won’t get you laid Virgo. Women are real people, start acting like it dude.

LIBRA

If you want to be the best version of yourself, you have to find out what’s going to kill you. This might just be your year Libra.

SCORPIO

Going to festivals is not a personality. Find something that actually makes you interesting. Fuck.

SAGITTARIUS

2020 is all about good vibes only, cut those negative people out of your life. Except you can’t cut yourself out of your own life.

CAPRICORN

OCD is a real thing and you being anal about crumbs on your bed does not mean you have it. Get a grip.

AQUARIUS

Stop talking about US politics. No one cares about Petit Bourgeois even if he is the first openly gay candidate.

PISCES

Did you know you ran a red-light Pisces? Who are we kidding, you didn’t even know you were driving.