Overshadowed by Controversy: Difference between revisions

== Live-Action TV ==

* Most people associate ''[[Toddlers and Tiaras]]'' with the arguably [[wikipedia:Child beauty pageant#Criticism|exploitative and creepy nature]] of child beauty pageants (said controversies have led France to [[Banned in China|ban]] beauty contests for minors under 13). The episode where one child contestant was made to dress up like [[Julia Roberts]]' [[Squick|prostitute]] character in ''[[Pretty Woman]]'' unsurprisingly courted controversy, and so does the case of one stage mum making her young daughter's chest resemble that of [[Dolly Parton]] and another mother asking her daughter to smoke fake cigarettes on stage.

* In general, reality shows don't have that much love in recent years due to what is perceived as pretentious and unnecessarily melodramatic either for publicity or ratings. While the events of these shows are presented as "reality", in practice these are rehearsed and in some cases fabricated especially when the situation is deemed too mundane to pass muster on TV. Case in point ''[[Pimp My Ride]]'', where controversies and issues with the contestants and their cars were made apparent years after the show's cancellation–cars were deliberately made worse than they actually were prior to their makeovers, elements from the "pimped" cars removed after being handed over, and contestants' reactions were faked and rehearsed. A 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan (which actually stood in for a Plymouth Grand Voyager Expresso the GAS crew deemed to be non-road worthy) which was pimped in an episode was later found in a state of disrepair and purchased for just $850 by a YouTuber.

* Tabloid talk shows such as ''[[Jerry Springer]]'' and ''[[Maury]]'' are cited by television and social critics as an [[Egregious]] example of low-brow, bottom-of-the-barrel "entertainment" meant to exploit on disadvantaged individuals and/or families, or a form of "human bear-baiting" as what some call it. ''[[The Jeremy Kyle Show]]'' for one prompted immense backlash especially when one of the show's participants, a 63-year-old named Steve Dymond, was found dead in an apparent [[Driven to Suicide|suicide]], likely due to immense grief following a polygraph test in an effort to prove his infidelity. Mounting pressure from British MPs and organisations forced [[ITV]] to cancel the show and [[Old Shame|purge all traces]] of the show from their social media accounts and their web site.