Blog Post #2

Julian Breyette

October 20, 14

Professor Smith-Casanueva

Blog Post #2

            In this second portion of the course, the way in which we watch TV has come up in several of the readings – do we pay full attention to a program or have it on the background, relying on our sense of hearing? Do televisual technologies come into play in the way in which we watch TV? As Friedberg brings to light in her essay, while watching television at home we have the opportunity to be ‘mobile viewers’ – we can get up and move around while still ‘watching’ TV. In a movie theatre, we are confined to our seats and are expected to pay full attention to what is on the screen, therefore making us ‘immobile viewers.’ In today’s modern televisual age, I would argue that many shows are engineered towards the appeal of Friedberg’s definition of ‘mobile viewing,’ which relates to televisual technology when compared to the precepts of the classic cinema experience discussed in Friedberg's essay. To illustrate this point, I am going to focus on one of my favorite TV shows, The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

            Before returning to Friedberg’s concept of mobile viewing, it is important to address another concept Friedberg addresses in her essay, the way in which I (and many others I know) view the program – through reruns. Reruns add to the success of programs designed to be viewed in a ‘mobile’ style because if the viewer misses a significant portion of the show, the assurance is there that the same episode of the same show will be on later that day, and even again tomorrow, and you will still get to find out what extremely dramatized events occurred in the ten minutes that you missed while vacuuming. More than just reruns, the televisual technologies such as DVR and online viewing on Bravo's website make it even easier for viewers to access the programming whenever they prefer, while still being a mobile viewer. The fact that these new technologies using the internet and on demand methods is available enforces the reassuring nature of television, because we as viewers know that they will always be available to us.

            But why is this program (and others of the same nature) so suitable for the 'mobile viewer', other than the convenience of frequent reruns and easy access thanks to televisual technologies such as internet viewing? The fact that listening is more important than watching comes into play again. The internet viewing enables people to play the show on their iPhone's, put in headphones, and experience 'mobile viewing' that way. Also, Jenkins' definition of trasnmedia storytelling can be applied to the Real Housewives franchise, because the lives of the people of the show are often in the news, in magazines, and on other television programs. 

            The televisual technological advancements that I think make this type of spectatorship not only possible, but extremely popular, is the way in which the show is edited. To illustrate a simple example imagine this series of scenes; Theresa is talking to Dina about her upcoming court date – we hear Theresa’s classic statement about “staying strong for my family”, and Dina offering her emotional support. Next there is the classic ‘confession’ or ‘interview’ scene (the one featured in all reality shows in which one person talks directly to the viewer) of Theresa commenting on the conversation that we just watched five seconds ago, followed by one of Dina doing the same thing, and maybe even one more of Theresa after that, just to be sure we know what happened.

             While to many people this style of television is viewed as, well, utter crap, to me, and to others, it obviously serves a purpose – a series of familiar, reassuring, and comforting voices that are there to help me through my housework, homework, or just playing on my phone. These last points were brought up in the Morley article about the “reassuring function of television,” especially in the part in which he refers to television acting as a friend in our suburban homes. It is easy as the viewer to feel like we actually know the women in the shows, and hearing their voices while home alone doing mundane work is extremely reassuring and comforting. When Morley wrote his article, television was a relatively new technology that he credited with creating the suburbs essentially, so the importance of this reassuring function cannot be forgotten. 

            Furthermore, the technological advancements made that have greatly decreased the price of television sets in the last ten years enable us to have a television in virtually every room, further adding to the trivial importance of watching the show, because the viewer can continue to listen to it as they move from room to room. The two televisual technological advancements of editing styles, online and DVR viewing, and overall price decreases of the technologies themselves make this practice of mobile viewing possible and popular, and for the avid multi-tasker, preferable.

            The televisual technology of the editing style used in The Real Housewives franchise, as well as the ability to access it on the internet any time, anywhere, is what makes the show such a success for Friedberg’s ‘mobile viewer.’ While initially the mobile viewer may have been looked at as strange and obscure, with these relatively new editing styles and advancements, as well as the ability to watch episodes whenever one pleases. The practice of being a mobile viewer is becoming more and more common and convenient for individuals multitasking while in the home, without sacrificing television's reassuring nature. 

Works Cited

Morley, David. “The Media, the City, and the Suburbs: Urban and Virtual Geographies of Exclusion.” Home Territories: Media, Mobility, and Identity. London and New York: Routledge, 2000.

Friedberg, Anne. “Spectatorial Flanerie.” Window Shopping: Cinema and the Postmodern. Berkeley: U of California Press, 1993.

Jenkins, Henry. "Convergence Culture" Searching for the Origami Unicorn: The Matrix and Transmedia Storytelling. New York University Press, 2006.