Reality television and neoliberalism: genre criticism of show Revenge Body with Khloé Kardashian

Medijske industrije in medijski teksti imajo pomembno vlogo pri naturalizaciji in reprodukciji vrednot in praks, ki podpirajo dominantno ideologijo. Predvsem resničnostna televizija je bila večkrat označena kot neoliberalna zaradi naturalizacije nadzora in individualizacije odgovornosti, ki briše družbene in historične vzroke neenakosti. To delo se osredotoča na podžanr preobrazbenih šovov, kjer strokovnjaki pomagajo pri transformaciji t. i. običajnih ljudi ali njihovega imetja, s čimer naj bi udeleženci izboljšali svoje življenje in postali srečni ter uspešni posamezniki. Empirični del temelji na ideološkem pristopu k žanrski kritiki in je izveden na primeru šova Maščevalna postava s Khloé Kardashian. Cilj je odgovoriti, na kakšen način izbrani šov naturalizira in reproducira vrednote in prakse, ki so ključnega pomena za delovanje neoliberalnega sistema. V delu ugotavljam, da šov reproducira razredno strukturo in obstoječa razmerja moči, širi narative o nadzoru sebstva in telesa ter ideje o individualizaciji odgovornosti, kar prispeva k prikrivanju družbeno in historično pogojenih neenakosti. Ključna ugotovitev je, da šov ne deluje kot demokratična sila, ki s srednjim razredom deli nadzor nad medijskimi produkcijskimi sredstvi, kot je to obljubljal zgodnji razvoj resničnostne televizije, temveč kot ritualizirana predstava, ki pripomore k legitimaciji neoliberalne ideologije.Media industries and media texts play an important role in the naturalization and reproduction of values and practices that support the dominant ideology. Especially reality television has been repeatedly labelled as neoliberal due to the naturalization of control and the individualization of responsibility that erase the social and historical causes of inequality. This work focuses on a subgenre of makeover shows where experts help transform ordinary people or their possessions, thereby improving their lives to become happy and successful individuals. The empirical part is based on an ideological approach to genre criticism of the show Revenge Body with Khloé Kardashian. The aim is to answer how the chosen show naturalizes and reproduces the values and practices that are crucial to the functioning of the neoliberal system. In the work, we find that the show reproduces the class structure and existing power relations, spreads narratives about self-control and the body, and ideas about the individualization of responsibility, thus concealing the social and historical causes of inequality. The key finding is that the show does not function as a democratic force sharing control of the means of media production with the middle class, as early development of reality television promised, but as a ritualized performance that helps legitimize neoliberal ideology