Rhetorical Analysis Of The Surreal World By Jennifer Pozner

Jennifer L. Pozner paints a tale in “The Unreal World” of network executives that profit at the physical and emotional expense of reality TV stars, all for the sake of ratings. Through inaccurate representation of women using the pursuit of perfection along with the objectification of women makes reality TV a poisonous industry. She doesn’t just make these claims, but she also backs it up through her intricate use of multiple techniques and ethos in the Unreal World. The appeal I found to be most prevalent when analyzing “The Unreal World” has to be the emotional appeal. Pozner uses this article as an outlet to display to the world her deep dislike for reality TV and all it stands for. She goes to great lengths through her article to establish

She likens bachelors to “hunky lunkheads” by the third paragraph. She quotes bravo for one of the best quotes in the article that shows us that much of “Reality TV” is not often times reality.“ “Misleading production tricks top off the editorial sleight of hand. According to the Bravo exposé “The Reality Of Reality”, when Joe Millionaire ditched the cameras to sneak off into the woods with one woman, producers threw the words “ummm,” “slurp” and “gulp” on-screen, along with “chikachika- pow-wow” music and dialogue recorded on another day, all to (falsely) imply that his date performed oral sex to get her hands on his, er, cash.” Pozner points out the fact that many of the production of these shows are fabricated by pointing out music and dialogue is recorded on separate days from the actual event. Her use of onomatopoeia to give the readers a better idea of the types of words she chose to evoke emotion with the reader. (445) “These characters behave as crassly as they do in large part because the producers of shows such as The Bachelor deprive them of all contact with the outside world (participants are not allowed to read newspapers, watch TV, listen to the radio or make phone calls while filming) and ply them with alcohol, then goad them to unleash their petty grievances

“In this summer’s defanged revamp of The Stepford Wives impossibly thin, impeccably dressed and intellectually vapid women exist for no other reason than to cater to their husbands’ every desire, delivering fresh-baked cookies and midday nookie with equal aplomb.” (442) The uses of specific adjectives such as impossibly and impeccably set a standard for perfection that is near impossible in real life. These kind of quotes just continue to bolster her already strong argument. She also points to the fakeness that pervades much of reality programming. “Perhaps saddest of all, real love is almost wholly absent from these artificial mating dances. What little girl dreams of being whisked away by a callous, egotistical dimwit who sticks his tongue down 15 other women’s throats before he reluctantly settles for her? “(447) The choice of words callous, egotistical, and dimwit further drive home the point of the stereotypes that are often cast for reality TV from a cookie cutter mold. Pozner also chooses to focus on the bachelor and ostracizing male contestants while giving a free pass to bachelorettes that also stick their tongue down numerous male contestants throats before finding “true love”. “Women of color are ostracized for being “difficult” on UPN’s America’s Next Top Model while