Guilty Pleasures for the Masses

Brit

As I was reading about dime novels, I couldn’t help but think about the kind of fiction available today.  I would compare them to the genres of the mystery novel or sci-fi/fantasy.  Not that they necessarily have the same kind of content or story lines, but rather their reputation has similarities.  There are genres that are generally not at all considered literary, but they are popular, and while these may not be considered “impossible trash,” sometimes, especially in literary circles, these books are looked down upon.  Many times certain genres are considered guilty pleasures, and I also wonder if this can been seen with the rise of reality television.  “Dime novels provided a source of entertainment and diversion for any individual of any social class who sought relief from the anxieties of the age” (28).  This idea of relief or escape is often associated with guilty pleasures.  By no means is there any merit in most reality television, although TLC does have some reality television that tends to be realistic and somewhat informative, but overall, reality T.V. is our generation’s guilty pleasure.  I would say that there are many examples of guilty pleasures from “Jersey Shore” to “Survivor” to “Real Housewives of the O.C.” or “Sarah Palin’s Alaska.”  There are literally dozens of shows to choose from, and the genre has become even more popular, which is why there are so many spinoffs of certain shows, aligning this with the idea of the “literary factory” (25).  The production of reality television has become the thing to do in our culture today.

“The readers of the dime novels are farmers, mechanics, workwomen, drummers, boys in shops and factories, and a great many people who are so much appalled by the abuse of the daily press that they do not confess what they have been reading” (29). With popular culture today many people don’t mind admitting that they watch reality television, but there will always be some judgment associated with certain television shows, making people feel embarrassed to watch it and instead keeping that secret to themselves.  It depends on the merits of the show and the type of coverage it receives.  Reality game shows do not (for the most part) have the same reputation as the many ridiculous reality shows about celebrities or “real people.”  Along these same lines, Sarah Palin had a reputation all her own before starting her reality television show.  In many ways I feel like the cheap dime novels of this age are the cheap (cheap more so in the sense of cheap thrills) reality television shows.  I also think of this really only in terms of reputation and general mass appeal, since most reality television does not have any type of moral complexity as many of the dime novels are suggested to have.