In defence of reality TV
Can we find meaning in frivolity? Emily Graetz makes a case for The Amazing Race.
It wasn’t long ago that I turned my nose up at reality TV. It’s trashy and frivolous! It puts bad behaviour on a pedestal! It valorises sexism and racism! I was early on in my serious-feminist-teen-destroys-the-patriarchy journey and I would be watching Q+A and the 7.30 Report thank you very much. But something happened. You see, I’ve.... changed. So when my housemate invited me into the energy-fueled, go get em’ world of the Amazing Race, I jumped right in.
For those who haven’t watched Amazing Race Australia before, it’s basically a glorified scavenger hunt. Competitors work with their partner to complete challenges, before navigating their way to the ‘pit-stop’ where an overly touchy-feely man (seriously what is it with the hugs, we’re in a legit pandemic) tells them whether they’ve won, lost or accumulated any time penalties. The losing team of each leg of the race goes home whilst the final team left standing wins a cheeky 250k.
This season of the show - which is now nearing the pointy end - has been restricted entirely to Australia due to pandemic related reasons. Teams have completed challenges in towns from the Gold Coast to Cooper Pedy, but usually they jetset it around the world. Honestly though, it’s genuinely been a delight to see some of Australia’s natural and urban beauty on full display. Who needs Europe?
What I’ve really loved about watching The Amazing Race though is the absolute absurd range of the challenges. We’re not just talking about the run of the mill running races. Can you breathe fire, search through a pile of sugar-cane to find hidden treasures and play 75 rounds of bocce against some slightly judgemental elderly gentlemen? You’ve just won a quarter of a mil! In one challenge this season, contestants had to eat 20 dry weetbix and there were many genuine tears. I loved it.
It’s not just the absurdity of the challenges though. It’s the fact that they’re just heightened versions of real life dilemmas. Searching for hidden treasure is like finding your lost earring in the middle of the dance floor. A race to the finish line is basically just the sprint between tutorials in PNR and Footbridge. Navigating through a vast open space for your next clue is like finding your will to study amidst STUVAC (hint: it doesn’t exist). Maybe The Amazing Race can’t solve genuine social issues but it does remind us that everyday life is sometimes ridiculous and it screams to you, in that motivating but also terrifying gym instructor voice: “life is absurd, go have some fun with it!”
The Amazing Race shows us something that politics certainly doesn’t - how to be kinder to one another and accept that life doesn’t need to be some damn serious all the time (with the exception of the winners who walk away with 250k, leaving the rest of the competitors with nothing but some branded hiking packs and lots of active wear… but let’s leave that for another time, hey).
And look, I’m not going to sit here with rose-tinted glasses - reality TV does put bad behaviour on a pedestal and it is often sexist and racist. But hey, so is Question Time at Parliament House! So, why don’t we lean into the complexity of life and unashamedly watch hard hitting news and Reality TV? The Amazing Race teaches us to live in the moment and celebrate the frivolity. It shows us that there’s more to life than Hamish McDonald and mediocre politicians. It’s TV at its best.