Ordinary Celebrity and Reality Television

How reality television and factual entertainment make celebrities of ordinary people, and what this 'demotic turn' reveals about media power.

Definition

Ordinary celebrity is fame conferred on previously unknown, non-professional people through their appearance in the media, particularly reality television; the 'demotic turn' is Turner's term for the increasing presence of ordinary people as media content.

Scope

This topic examines the production of celebrity from ordinary people, especially through reality television and popular factual formats. It covers Turner's concept of the 'demotic turn', critical accounts of the media's power to confer visibility, and audience studies of reality TV. It considers whether the rise of ordinary celebrity represents a genuine democratisation of fame or an intensification of media control over who becomes visible.

Core questions

• What is the 'demotic turn', and how does reality television exemplify it?
• Does ordinary celebrity democratise fame or concentrate media power?
• How do media rituals construct a hierarchy of visibility?
• How do audiences actually engage with reality television?

Key concepts

• ordinary celebrity
• the demotic turn
• media power
• visibility
• authenticity
• reality television

Key theories

The demotic turn

Turner argues that the growing visibility of ordinary people across media is a 'demotic' rather than democratic turn: it expands who appears, but the media retain control over the terms and value of that visibility.

Media rituals and the myth of the centre

Couldry argues that media power rests on a naturalised distinction between media and ordinary worlds, with rituals that affirm the media as society's privileged centre of access and visibility.

Reality TV audiences

Hill's audience research shows that viewers engage with reality television critically and reflexively, judging the authenticity and performance of ordinary participants rather than naively believing them.

History

The global success of reality television formats from the late 1990s made ordinary, non-professional people into media celebrities on an unprecedented scale. Couldry's Media Rituals (2003) theorised the media's power over visibility; Hill's Reality TV (2005) brought systematic audience research; and Turner's Ordinary People and the Media (2010) named and theorised the 'demotic turn', making ordinary celebrity a central concern of celebrity studies.

Debates

Democratic or demotic

Whether the visibility of ordinary people in reality media genuinely empowers them, or whether, as Turner argues, the media simply harness ordinariness while retaining control over fame and value.

Key figures

• Graeme Turner
• Nick Couldry
• Annette Hill

Seminal works

• couldry2003
• hilldocumentary2005
• turner2010

Frequently asked questions

Does reality TV mean anyone can become famous now?

In principle more people can become visible, but scholars such as Turner stress that the media still decide who appears, on what terms and for how long. The opportunity is real but unevenly distributed and tightly controlled, which is why he calls it 'demotic' rather than 'democratic'.