Sunday, April 12, 2015

Reality Television


The Biggest Loser is a reality television show that features obese people competing to win a cash prize by losing the highest percentage of weight. The show aggressively trains the contestants and puts them on a very low calorie diet. The show features extreme physical challenges and the gossip that goes along with it. However, one contestant wrote an article about what the television show does not actually air. In other words, everything you see on the television show is not all reality. These contestants are worked until they are physically spent with bleeding feet, extreme exhaustion, and painful shin splints. Moreover, the trainers are not as motivating as they are when they are being filmed. The trainers humiliate the contestants and bully them until they are in tears calling them very hurtful names. 

I watched the season 16, episode 16 of The Biggest Loser. A competitor that stood out to me was Rob Guiry. He started the show weighing in at 483 pounds and lost over 200 pounds. He is a head coach and residence manager at Western New England University. Being involved with coaching rugby for years, he says in the episode that he always had the mentality that, "bigger was better" for sports. This idea is common in today's society because men are always trying to have big muscular bodies that mimic super heroes and other fictional characters. It is not healthy for men to strive to be these figures that are not capable without steroids and other illegal supplements. In addition, Guiry is very emotional in the episode. He cries on national television because he is upset that he is getting sent back a week and the show in itself is very difficult. A man that is emotional is the opposite of the stereotypical gender role because women are stereotyped to be the emotional ones. However, he is very competitive by striving to be the winner at all times, which is a stereotypical trait of a man. Men are known to be competitive and aggressive individuals. The following link shows a short clip of Guiry's struggle on The Biggest Loser. 


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