“Kim, people are dying,” Kourtney Kardashian said. 

Keeping up with the Kardashains, Love Island, Too Hot to Handle, The Bachelor and Bachelorette, Survivor – these shows many know and love. But why do people watch them? Why do people love them?

Reality TV is one of the many forms of entertainment that the world uses to forget their own lives and escape into someone else’s. One of the first reality TV shows to be aired was Candid Camera in 1948. The show originally aired in 1947 as a radio show called Candid Microphone, where microphones were hidden to catch the coverations real people were having. The show was soon transferred to television and changed from hidden mics to hidden cameras. 

Now as the years have passed and its popularity has grown, reality TV has become more outrageous and more diverse with more shows popping up. For instance, there are shows like Survivor where players are isolated and turn against each other, motivated by the chance to win 1 million dollars. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are shows where contestants lose the chance to share a $100,000 cash prize if they hook up.

But why do people watch and love these shows? A Liberty survey of 76 students on reality TV shows a variety of responses, but the one that keeps coming up is drama. “The drama is entertaining. Sometimes whatever is happening is so stupid, it becomes laughable,” Sofia Brown said.

While it is all fun and games to watch, is it really reality? Is that really how people would act if they lived on an island? Is it that hard to not have sex? Is 40 days really that hard to get through? Is getting a rose that big of a deal? And again, is it real? 

Is Hollywood all about the money?

Movies. The world consumes them. Ask anyone in any of your classes and they’ll say they watch movies. When a person asks for iconic movies there are some that come straight to mind: Home Alone, The Notebook, Legally Blonde, The Lego Movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Godfather, the Rocky franchise, Forrest Gump, Mean Girls, and Everything Everywhere all at Once.

One thing that many do not think about when watching these iconic films is how much money went into it. Then a person must ask, does the amount of money that goes into a movie, directly correspond with the success of a movie?

One of Liberty’s students, senior Michael Buono, is related to director Alexander Buono. He is the director and executive producer of the Netflix show Russian Doll and Prime Video (and AMC+) show Documentary Now, as well as a part of SNL for 17 seasons. In 2019, he was nominated for an Emmy award.

While on a four-day off-period from being on set, The Patriot Press was given the opportunity to speak with Buono on the complex subject of film and the money that goes into it. 

“Unfortunately, there is no correlation between how much money you spend and how much money you get back,” Alexander said. 

For example, Home Alone. It’s safe to say it is one of the most iconic movies of this generation and of those before. It is known for its witty comedic lines and physical comedy during the home invasion scene. What many may not know about this classic is that it is considered a low-budget film. The house where the movie is based was built in a high school gym. 

“Movie budgets are divided between what they call above the line and below the line,” Alexander said. Above the line means all the actors, directors and the cost of the writer or material. Then below the line is crew, locations, props, and visual effects.“ Alexander said

Then you have movies such as The Adventures of Pluto Nash that was released in 2002 starring Eddie Murphy. The production used 100 million dollars to film and only made 7 million at the boxoffice (IMDb). 

“There are too many examples of putting the biggest movie stars in the world and a movie and the movie flops,.” Alexander said. 

In reality, while many directors, producers, and investors may think they know the secret number to spend on a movie,  “Hollywood has no idea,” Alexander said. 

https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=E211US1487G0&p=imdb+alexander+buono  

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