Evie Ireson

Definition of chat show A television or radio show in which various topics are discussed informally and

listeners, viewers, or the studio audience are invited to participate in the discussion. What is the main purpose of a chat show? A chat show’s main purpose is to understand the troubling life of somebody and

work alongside a team of councillors to help resolve past problems in their life. There are several chat shows in the 21st century, mainly American, these include:

The Oprah Winfrey Show

The Jerry Springer Show

The Trisha Goddard Show

Jeremy Kyle offers his guests lie detector tests, DNA tests and drug tests to resolve disputes.

He talks to guests and usually riles them to the point that they either become enraged or break down in tears.

The Jeremy Kyle Show is popular in Britain and has a daily slot on morning television on ITV1. I enjoy watching this show for numerous reasons:

Seeing other people’s discomfort, particularly anger, is quite entertaining and amusing.

I’m quite naïve about problems and crisis’ people face in their lives and watching The Jeremy Kyle Show illustrates many problems e.g. people with drink/ drug problems and how much of an effect it has on those around them.

The show reassures me that my life is fine and healthier than some of guests that appear on the show, making me feel grateful and aware of my own advantages in life. Linking this to Carl Rogers’ theory of the self, I could say that it reinforces my self-esteem.

I am an inquisitive person and I get intrigued in other people’s life when they’re airing our their troubles.

It makes me feel more positive about the way I feel about myself because I see the guests on the show are worse, and their standards are lower than mine.

Here is a short clip of a story from one episode of The Jeremy Kyle Show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HQtj2xlJj4&feature=related

As humans, we enjoy seeing the misfortune of others, whether that is their emotional or physical strength. Secretly inside we are satisfied to see somebody else feeling or looking worse than us and it makes us feel better about ourselves. During the 21st century there have been many reality television programmes created.

‘Big Brother’ is one of the biggest and most controversial reality programmes. In the show, the housemates are pushed until breaking point. There are many occasions where housemates argue with one another and times like these, attract more viewers. People find their arguing entertaining and want housemates to argue all the time.

‘Total Wipe-out’ is a programme where contestants physical strength is judged. Similar to ‘Gladiators’, contestants are put through races with many obstacles in the way. It is amusing to watch contestants being knocked over and plunged into water because they are being humiliated.

‘You’ve Been Framed’ is a programme that focuses purely on humiliation at someone else’s expense. The show plays a variety of clips sent in from the public showing people mostly falling or injuring themselves. The programme is popular because people enjoy seeing others misfortune.

Most of the glossy magazines published today are filled with photographs and scandalous stories of celebrities at their worst. There are many pages dedicated to humiliating photographs of celebrities.

In ‘Now’ magazine Jessica Biel was described as ‘stony-faced’ when she stepped out without make-up on.

Lindsay Lohan is pictured with her skirt tucked into her underwear, the caption stating, ‘Not getting dressed properly’.

Jenifer Lopez is revealed with a sweat patch. To create more embarrassment, the sweat patch has been zoomed in to catch the readers attention.

There are many past cultural practices that can be linked with the themes of The Jeremy Kyle Show.

The theme of humiliation and sometimes even violence runs through The Jeremy Kyle Show, which can be linked with cultural practices from the past:

Public Hangings Boxing Gladiatorial Challenges

These guests appeared in court because the one man head-butted the other on the show.

Before being abolished in the 1960’s, public execution was for centuries, one of the most popular forms of entertainment. People would gather to watch a criminal being hung and enjoy it. The crowds were made up of both the rich and poor and usually jostled with each other to get the best view-point.

Hanging is still part of capital punishment in the majority of the Middle-Eastern countries. The newspapers are constantly reporting on stories of people being hung for crimes, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There was one article in The Mirror, detailing a story of a 17 year old girl being sentenced to death in Iran, according to news articles, the number of children being executed in Iran is growing.

Another example of public hangings is the story of a 16 year old girl, with learning difficulties, was hung for having sex with an older man. To show other girls that it is a crime, her body was left hung in public.

The Jeremy Kyle Show is linked to this, not as extreme, but it’s purpose is to show people how to behave, act and deal with problems.

Although hanging has been eradicated in the UK, there are still many countries in the world where hanging is still a punishment for crime.

All European countries have abolished the death penalty and any country that wishes to join the Union must follow suit.

•Blue = Abolished for all crimes

•Lime Green = Abolished for all crimes except those committed in exceptional circumstances e.g. crimes committed in time of war

•Orange = Abolished in practice

•Reddish/Brown = Legal form of punishment for heinous offenses

Capital crimes vary in different countries, capital punishment is stern in the USA, in some states the death penalty is restricted to multiple murders. Engaging in pre-marital sex, or changing religion, can be capital offenses in other countries.

Boxing is one of the oldest contact sports known to human history. There is been evidence to show that boxing was known in Egyptian and Greek civilization.

In boxing, two people, typically men, fight with each other to triumph as the winner. They fight in a ring in front of an audience, which can be agued to be similar to The Jeremy Kyle Show.

Boxing, today is seen as a controversial, brutal combat sport which could be the reason why it is a multi-million-dollar sport. I think the sport captures the interest of millions of people worldwide because people enjoy seeing others get hurt and see it as entertainment.

Competitors are humiliated in boxing, if they are punched straight in the face and when this happens the audience classically laugh or jeer. Another example would be if one competitor is punched so hard they fall to the floor, they can feel shamed as the audience snigger or shout abuse at them. Competitors are seen as weak if they fall or miss a punch for example and when audiences laugh or mock them, it becomes an embarrassment

Gladiatorial challenges were popular in ancient Rome. In these challenges gladiators, usually slaves, would often fight to death, in of large crowds for entertainment. Gladiators would be trained and fight in large circular arenas.

The large audience would cheer, boo, laugh, mock and jeer at the gladiators, similar to audiences of chat shows, most commonly known in The Jerry Springer Show.

There wasn’t many sources of entertainment in the Roman times that we have nowadays, such as television programmes, but gladiatorial challenges were the equivalent to watching a thrilling action film today.

There is now a programme called ‘Gladiators’ which is similar to ‘Total Wipe-out’ but involves more violence and more contact with other contestants.

This picture details what gladiatorial challenges in the Roman times would have been like, violent and gruesome, although the audience look amused.

After creating this power-point, my view points of The Jeremy Kyle Show have altered.

Knowing that The Jeremy Kyle Show, along with other chat shows, can be linked with violent activities that have possibilities of ending in death, it has changed my perspective of the programme.

It never occurred to me that what I called amusing entertainment can easily be connected to other public humiliated practices that have dreadful outcomes.

Researching cultural practices for this presentation has opened my eyes to the awful activities, that are described as fun to watch, that happen in the world and this has affected the way I will see The Jeremy Kyle Show in the future.

REFERENCE PAGEhttp://www.information-britain.co.uk/famdates.php?id=269http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-408615/Audiences-bay-contestants-blood-gladiator-style-TV.htmlhttp://www.information-britain.co.uk/famdates.php?id=269http://www.mirror.co.uk/sunday-mirror/tm_headline=the-young-girl-facing-a-public-hanging&method=full&objectid=18906927&siteid=98487-name_page.htmlhttp://www.crystalinks.com/romegladiator.jpg