The Paradoxal Defeat of Authenticity: A Sociopsychological Perspective on Television Competitions

Television competitions are those which mostly examined within the context of popular culture. In a wider perspective, they have been debated in relation to the authenticity which the audience consumed while looking for her/himself. While the stage performances, caused by a desire for a more colourful world, a salient reputation, and a better economic future, are attracting social interest, they on the other hand allow the audience to keep away from the surrounding difficulties even if for a few minutes and provide them with a wonderland for tens of episodes. Therefore, this article, based on the first TV competitions broadcasted in 2000s and the theoretical and mediated debates, aims to tackle the Turkish television contests such as Survivor, Popstar and Bugün Ne Giysem through a critical and theoretical aspect. With the analyses which are also conducted through an interdisciplinary perspective (audience studies, sociology, psychology), the article also handles the audience’s dilemmas within the process of the structuring the authenticity and the contradiction of new truths with her/his values and social norms. The assessment based on TV programming, screen culture and audience behaviours, suggest that the audience is synthesising the displays with the entries in her/his everyday lives