Archiveswedding reality TV “demystifies marriage and its accoutrements.”
With all the freaking out over the “sanctity of marriage,” it’s somewhat surprising that we don’t yet have a constitutional amendment proposed to prohibit networks from airing TV shows that use marriage as a gimmick. Alas, Congress is busy protesting UPN’s planned Amish series. Two columnists examine the genre’s treatment of marriage. Salon’s Baz Dreisinger reviews reality TV relationship with marriage, and concludes that the shows “playfully, irreverently—and sometimes unwittingly—demystifies marriage and its accoutrements.” The genre, he says, “revels in the right to make an all-embracing—and fiscally rewarding—mockery of” wedding vows. Elsewhere, the Minneapolis City Pages Lisa Schmeiser examines MTV’s two wedding-based shows—Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica and ‘Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave. She ultimately asks whether or not “an audience historically interested in dramatic relationships with the life span of mayflies really wants more shows about an institution historically associated with lifelong monogamy.”
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wedding reality TV “demystifies marriage and its accoutrements.”
link to this story + posted Mar. 4, 2004 at 6:00 AM by Andy Dehnart
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