The Power Of Hatred (On Reality TV)

Virginia Heffernan: “Early reality shows borrowed plots from fiction: the end of innocence (The Real World), the dawn of romantic love (The Bachelor), the perils of greed (Joe Millionaire). By contrast, later-generation reality producers have recognized that capricious animosity, even when it seizes an otherwise unremarkable mind, is an exceptionally efficient source of dialogue, character and suspense.”