The Biggest Loser: Final Analysis

When analyzing The Biggest Loser I think that three popular culture theories really related to the show.  The three theories are myths, icons, and stereotypes.  One of the biggest myths that the show highlights is that it’s not true that weight loss can’t be maintained.  There are several success stories from the show of people who have proven that myth wrong.  Contestants learn how to live a healthy lifestyle.  The show has created training icons.  Jillian Michaels, Bob Harper, and Dolvett Quince are some of the most well known trainers in America.  These trainers truly love what they do and are very good at it.  They know how to motivate the contestants in order to get the results that they want.  Trainers are often stereotyped as people who love to inflict pain and yell at people to motivate them.  While watching the show, you can see that isn’t what being a trainer is about.  Trainers really want to help people change their lives for the better.  In the case of The Biggest Loser, America gets to watch while the transformation happens.

 

I found it very interesting to learn the difference between a hero and a celebrity.  I hadn’t really thought about it before analyzing the show.  I learned that the heroes of the show are trainers like Bob Harper, winners of the competition, and contestants who are now trainers themselves.  All of these people continue to improve themselves while helping others.  Giving to others is a great attribute of a hero.  On the other hand, celebrities are popular people who have been on the show.  This includes people like Anna Kournikova, Alison Sweeney, NFL players, and Olympic athletes.  All of these people may have helped motivate contestants during the show but it was mainly based off of their popularity.

I was also interested by the rituals that occur during the show.  On a weekly basis the contestants partake in a “Last Chance Workout”, weigh-in, and hope to not fall below the yellow or red line.  The last chance workout is the contestants’ last chance to work any extra weight off before the weigh-in.  The weigh-in is where the contestants find out if their hard work has paid off for the week or if they’re in danger of going home.  If the contestant falls below the yellow line, than they can be voted out by their peers.  Even worse than that is if they fall below the red line because then they’ll be automatically eliminated from the game.

I used to agree with the popular belief that losing weight is difficult.  Now that I’ve watched several seasons of The Biggest Loser, I’ve learned that isn’t really true.  Yes, it does take a lot of hard work to get into good physical shape but it’s not impossible.  When people want to change and are willing to put in the work, they can achieve anything.

 

I knew that there were formulas for reality television shows but I hadn’t really broken The Biggest Loser down to understand what its’ formula was.  During this class, I was able to identify five steps in the show’s formula.  They start the contestants in group training, the contestants go through about a month of giving excuses as to why they can’t change, the contestants participate in reward challenges, a weekly elimination challenge is held, and finally a winner is crowned “Biggest Loser” at the finale.  Even knowing what the formula is, I’ll continue to watch the show because each season is different and the contestants all bring something different to the show.

The Biggest Loser Analysis: Formulas

The Biggest Loser follows a similar formula as other reality television shows.  In most reality shows the contestants are chosen for a reason and compete for a prize at the end, usually a large sum of cash.  The shows need a variety of personalities to make the show interesting.  This means that some people are put on the show just to stir up trouble or cause drama and you can usually pick out those contestants on day one.

There are five steps that I’ve identified as the formula for The Biggest Loser show.  It’s currently in its fourteenth season.  Over the years the show has established a formula or pattern that it will follow.  The five steps in the formula are group training, excuses month, reward challenge, elimination, and finale winners.  The contestants will go through each one of these steps during the show.

The first step is group training.  Throughout the years the creators of the show have mixed things up to keep the show interesting but they always start the contestants off by letting them work together in groups.  This has been done by pairing them up in twos or by splitting the group up between the trainers.  This allows the contestants to rely on others in a sense while they get used to the idea of change.  I like to refer to the first month of the show as excuse month.  The contestants make excuses for why they’re in the situation they are, whine and cry about the workouts, and get ill or injured during that first month.  The third step in the formula is the reward challenges that are held each week.  During the challenges contestants can when prizes, money, family interaction, or an advantage for the weigh-in that week.  The fourth step is the elimination ceremony.  The biggest loser for the week has immunity but everyone else on the losing team can be voted for to be sent home.  The person with the most votes is off of the show.  It’s not the end of the road for the contestants though because there is an at home prize for the contestant that got sent home and loses the most weight among at home contestants.  This prize is awarded at the finale which is the final step of the formula.  The contestant who lost the most weight that made it to the finale is the winner.  Even though there is one crowned winner of the show, everyone is a winner if they were able to make lifestyle changes in order to live a longer and healthier life.

I enjoy watching reality television shows even though I recognize the formulas behind them.  Sometimes it upsets me when they put people on the show that are just there to cause drama.  I think that is the wrong reason to be there but I can understand the creators aspect in wanting to make sure that the show remains interesting enough for people to watch.  The formula for reality shows are able to bring out people’s true colors.  You get a great insight on the values and morals of people when they have a chance to when a large cash prize.  The nice thing about the formula for The Biggest Loser is that it creates change in people.  The setup or formula for the show is what’s responsible for people to sustain change once the show is over.

"The New American Hero: Dexter, Serial Killer for the Masses" Article Analysis

Journal Article Analysis

Crystal Kempher

HUMN240-E2WW

Whitney Ilse

February 10, 2013

This article analaysis is going to summarize the main points of an article that can be found in The Journal of Popular Culture, titled, “The New American Hero: Dexter, Serial Killer for the Masses”.  The Showtime series Dexter has been a big hit since it began in 2006.  When it began, it was loosely based off of a book by Jeff Lindsay that was written in 2004.  Dexter has been fascinating Americans and has a large following of fans as well as several critics.  If you’ve never heard of the television series Dexter, its main character is a serial killer that works for Miami Metro’s Police Department as a blood splatter analyst.  When he was just a toddler, he witnessed the brutal murder of his mother.  Three men killed her with a chainsaw and dismembered her body.  The first police officer that arrived on the scene ended up adopting Dexter.  As he was raising him, Harry realized that some kind of darkness was present in Dexter and a need grew inside of Dexter to kill.  Harry knew that this need would be too strong to stop completely and taught Dexter a code to live by.  This code would help him decipher who he was allowed to kill.  Dexter understands that murder is wrong but he has a strong urge to get revenge for those who have been victimized.  Dexter is a good serial killer so to speak, if there is such a person, and he only kills criminals who commit heinous crimes and defeat the justice system (Donnelly, 2012).

      Serial killers hit the media in the 1980’s.  During this time frame serial killers were easily identified as being different from the norm.  The traditional serial killer was stereotypically seen as an evil person with a freezer full of body parts from their victims.  Often times they were portrayed as having some kind of reason for acting and being the way that they were.  Some of the more common reasons were that they were abused as a child, have a mental disorder, or are demons from hell.  Serial killers scare us because they look like us on the outside but underneath of their mask they are monsters.  Serial killers also scare us because they target people just like us; normal people (Donnelly, 2012).

Dexter is a different kind of serial killer and is portrayed as an anti-hero.  We view Dexter as being abnormal and a killer.  However, we don’t fear Dexter like we have other serial killers in the past.  This is because he doesn’t blur the line between right and wrong by killing innocent people.  Instead, he follows a strict code that clearly defines who his targets are.  He understands that crimes such as murder and rape are unacceptable but that the vengeance he seeks is acceptable.  In other words, it is acceptable for him to torture, murder, and dismember his victims because he is getting justice for us.  We are able to separate ourselves from his hit list.  Dexter is actually a vigilantly that works to seek revenge for victims who look like us (Donnelly, 2012).

The reason that serial killers gained popularity in the 1980’s is a controversial topic but seems to be strongly tied to the economy and popular culture.  President Reagan’s administration was creating a feel-good, capitalist country and was eliminating outside threats to America.  America was emerging from a recession and oil crisis.  Americans continued to feel anxiety and didn’t know what it was stemming from.  Serial killers were the perfect outlet for that anxiety.  Now instead of fearing external factors that were out of their control; Americans had an internal fear.  This fear was now in society and knowing of these serial killers.  They also feared themselves when they realized that they too battled good versus evil on a regular basis.  The lines between right and wrong began to blur (Donnelly, 2012).

            The economy and popular culture continue to play a major role in our fears and anxieties today.  The attacks on September 11, 2001 gave Americans new fears.  They began fearing external factors again.  They realized that not everyone is a fan of America and what it stands for.  Dexter entered the picture and clearly defined right and wrong in a serial killer’s mind.  This gave us a sense of relief and allowed us to stop fearing those in our society.  It also allowed us to look at ourselves and see that we follow a moral code of right and wrong and the norm is not to harm innocent people; good will prevail over evil.  The economy and popular culture have switched our fears back to external factors (Donnelly, 2012).

            Dexter is America’s primetime hero.  He’s marketable, attractive, witty, and is absolute by showing us his moral code of right and wrong.  He is abnormal and we are able to understand why without fearing him.  He doesn’t pose a threat to us; he threatens only those who deserve it.  Dexter has gained so much popularity that you can find fan pages on Facebook and MySpace.  He’s on the cover of popular magazines.  Showtime has an online store that sells bobble-heads; blood splattered coasters, body part earrings, posters, t-shirts and much more.  One of the most popular slogans is, “Power saw to the people.”  This slogan reiterates that Dexter has removed the internal fears of Americans and allowed them to focus back on external fears (Donnelly, 2012).

            The article by Ashley Donnelly, that this paper is based off of was written for several different audiences.  It was written for fans, critics, and philosophers of the show.  It was very easy to follow as it was presented in a chronological order that explained the transformation of serial killers since the 1980’s.  It was clear to see the differences between good versus bad as well as, internal versus external fears that Americans have tried to clearly define for years.  Any information that was complex was followed by detailed explanations to help the reader digest the information.  It was a great article that really showed the affects of popular culture on America over the last three decades and solidified the importance of understanding popular culture.

References

Donnelly, A. (2012, February). The New American Hero: Dexter, Serial Killer for the Masses. The Journal of Popular Culture 45(1) 15-26. Retrieved on January 12, 2013 from http://0-journals.ohiolink.edu.olinkserver.franklin.edu/ejc/article.cgi?issn=00223840&issue=v45i0001&article=15_tnahdskftm

The Biggest Loser: Heroes and Celebrities

            The Biggest Loser definitely has its share of both heroes and celebrities.  Heroes are thought to be people who are courageous, modest, and empathetic, possess good morals and ethics, and help others around them.  Celebrities on the other hand, are people who are famous; which may be because they are talented, know someone who is talented, or have made a decision that has stood out to others either good or bad.  Celebrities often times put themselves before others unlike heroes.

            There are several people that come to mind that would be heroes from The Biggest Loser.  These heroes are made up of trainers from the show, former contestants, and other show personnel like the chefs.  The first two heroes that I have to mention are Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper.  These trainers have been on the most seasons of the show and have really changed peoples’ lives for the better.  Even though it may be hard to see at times, they are empathetic to the contestants, share good values when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle, and have the courage to uncover what got the contestants in the shape that they are in, so that the contestants can begin to change.  Many of the previous contestants, including past winners, can act as heroes to current or future contestants.  In other words, they are role models.  The chefs from the show are also heroes.  These are people that teach the contestants how to eat healthy.  This includes what foods to buy, how to prepare the food, and simplifying the process of healthy living.

            The show has also had its share of celebrities.  Most often the show brings on celebrities that the contestants will recognize during special challenges.  This helps motivate the contestants and makes them feel like they can become famous if they accomplish their goals.  One famous celebrity is the host, Alison Sweeney.  Alison is an actress on the soap opera, “Days of our Lives” but brings no specialty talent to The Biggest Loser.  In recent years, the show has had an NFL week when famous football players like Drew Brees have come onto the show to motivate the contestants.  The show has also brought on celebrities to be contestants on the show which includes two Olympic athletes: Rulon Gardner and Emily Joy.  The two of them were both Olympic weightlifters at one time.  Olympic athletes are thought to be the most superior athletes in the world.  By bringing these celebrity athletes to the show as contestants, it inspired the other contestants to work hard with the possibility of beating a celebrity.  Anna Kournikova was a celebrity that was brought onto the show as a trainer last year.  She’s an extremely talented tennis player but didn’t really posses any talents that would make her an outstanding trainer as Jillian and Bob have proven to be.

            The Biggest Loser has been able to produce its own heroes and celebrities.  Several of the past contestants now find their pictures on The Biggest Loser’s gym walls as motivational posters with quotes from the contestants.  Some of the contestants have gone onto write cookbooks or become personal trainers themselves.  Jillian Micheals and Bob Harper are now celebrities because of the show.

            The Biggest Loser has helped to motivate me to become healthier from both its heroes and celebrities of the show.  I’ve been really motivated by some of the contestants on the show especially those who I can relate to.  I work in a male dominated career field and have been told many times that I’m not strong enough to do my job when someone first meets me.  I love to prove them wrong and I see that same strength in the heroes that are made on the show.  I serve my community everyday to try to help those in need and can also relate to Bob and Jillian as they are trying to do the same thing with their contestants.  They are not only helping the contestants who are on the show but many Americans who are at home watching.  I’m looking to live a healthier lifestyle, to feel better and look better but by no means do I want to become a celebrity because of the change that I’m making.