We are reality shows: 'The farce: coexistence' / 'The other side', column by Omar Rincón

On Colombian reality television, the reality shows "Yo me Llamo," "La Casa de los Famosos," and "Soy Petro y qué" win ; in Mexico, "Exatlón" wins; in Spain, "Supervivientes," and in Colombia, "El Desafío." We are reality shows about running and striving, melodrama, and singing. The farce: coexistence.

We're better . These game shows win because they turn viewers into gods who decide other people's lives based on their morals and ignorance. There's nothing you need to know, think, or elaborate on to watch these game shows and give your opinion from the moral high ground. Those of us who watch are better than those who play.

The celebrity of ridicule. The contestants are hungry for fame, recognition, and worth. They have nothing special; they play to be seen and achieve quick success based on tears and melodrama. Each contestant loses their inner self to become a puppet acting out what they think producers and audiences will like. Everyone knows it's all for the money. This is yopitalism.

Television narrative. Expectation-Action-Reflection is the classic logic of television narrative. The structure of these game shows creates, with each character, an expectation based on a testament to their desire to succeed, their confession of life's misery, and their love of the opportunity to succeed. Then, as storytellers, they propose a game, no matter how ridiculous, a test where the hero risks his destiny, and finally, they reflect on what happened, on what went right or wrong.

Celebrating emotions . Television is a game of hate, love, fear, and joy. These contests celebrate that anything goes to get ahead, especially being identified by something unique: they love you, they hate you, they fear you, they stress you out. Emotions drive the narrative and generate identification.

The spectacle. Nothing happens, yet everything is talked about. It's not what happens, but what the channel says happened, the dramas that are created. Nothing is happening, but there's a show about human hardship, and that fascinates and moves the zombie viewer.

Reality . It doesn't matter. It's all fiction. The editing, framing, and the play with shots and music are all done to create suspense. In the end, nothing happens. It's just a show. And in real life, it's the same: Petro or Milei or Trump or Bukele don't govern; what they do is tweet, provoke, attack, and expose their enemies to express their egos as saviors of the world. Tweets turned into a scandal for journalists.

Cultural symptom . A contest like this speaks volumes about the society we live in and the moment we live in as a collective. Participants crave capitalism; their only value is their body; their inspiration is their family, their ally, God. In the Colombian case, we are individuals who want to sing as an attribute or want to be physically strong as a value. Coexistence is one of misery, the other is always an enemy, and falsehood is the norm.

We are the reality show we watch , amen.