Everything old is new again: reality television celebrity, the Hollywood studio system, and the battle for control of one’s image

ABSTRACT

This article examines how reality celebrity differs from more traditional forms of celebrity and the impacts that understanding has on working conditions. Many challenges faced by participants on reality TV result from the understanding of their labour as unskilled and replaceable. Looking at how individuals like actors and extras gained protections in the past provides a framework to consider possibilities for reality participants. The contracts and working conditions facing current reality television contestants have strong similarities to those faced by actors in early Hollywood. Restrictive contracts, difficulty in organising, and extreme disparity in power relations were major features of the star system and are currently negatively affecting the working conditions of those appearing in reality programming. Reality television has enacted a system that features much of the power imbalance that early film stars faced, but that offers little of the rewards.

KEYWORDS:

• Reality TV
• participants
• Hollywood
• studio system
• labour

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrea Ruehlicke

Andrea Ruehlicke is a contract instructor in Sociology at the University of New Brunswick. Her research considers issues of labour, identity and the nation.