Fetishism/Reality TV

In Marx's critique of political economy, commodity fetishism denotes the mystification of human relations said to arise out of the growth of market trade, when social relationships between people are expressed as, mediated by and transformed into, objectified relationships between things—that is commodities and money. Commodity fetishism is not unique to capitalist societies, since commodity trade has occurred in one way or another for thousands of years; but in Marx's opinion, commodity fetishism became pervasive especially in capitalist society, because this kind of society is based almost totally on the "production of commodities by means of commodities". That means that market relationships influence almost everything that people do, something which was not the case in pre-capitalist societies, where commerce was much more restricted. Reality TV represents, among other things, the triumph of the market, the notion that everyone as well as everything has its price and that people will do pretty much anything for money.  Real Housewives of New Jersey will let cameras into their personal lives and even their children’s lives for the sake of fame and money. To me, no matter how much they talk on their reunion shows that their families are “as thick as sleeves” (Caroline Manzo on Real Housewives of New Jersey), they wouldn’t do it if they weren’t getting any money out of this. I’ve seen t-shirts being sold stating things like “Real Housewives of Bedrock” which is from the Flinstones cartoon show advertising the two wives on that cartoon show as something that could be seen as a reality tv product.  As the book states, “It is is only by being exchanged that the products of labour acquires, as values, one uniform social status, distinct form their varied forms of existence as objects of utility” (p 90-91). Reality TV enjoys an unusual labor situation in which participants line up in their thousands in an attempt to work for free, with only a slim chance of a monetary reward. This expenditure on the producers' part amounts to only a fraction of the income which  the shows generate: even Survivor's grand prize of $1 million is what the network recoups in about one minute of advertising. Meanwhile, there is no need to pay professional writers, actors, or many other forms of support staff. Reality TV series are also fairly low-risk. However, there wouldn’t be so much hype and high ratings if it wasn’t for people who “bought” into these shows.