A recent airing of MasterChef Australia made waves among viewers, some of whom believe the editing controversey was taken too far with a raw moment involving contestant Laura. During the high-pressure challenge, Laura was seen upset and in tears as she made her dish before the judgment began.
The editors (I presume) at Channel 10 may have inadvertently made a more monumental impact in contrast to merely showing Laura upset. Just as Laura was crying, the camera chose to linger on her gelato mixture still turning in the ice cream maker. Many viewers felt the editors filmed this scene, to add unnecessary drama.
Social media was quick to respond. Some fans referred to the editing as "diabolical," while others used words like "cruel" and "on the mean-spirited side." Many clarified that they did not like the scene that showed the gelato churning away while Laura was in tears, and it was seen as overly harsh by most, who expressed it was all done for TV drama and didn't meet the narrative's goal of supporting the contestant.
Many longtime viewers stated they were surprised HB put that edit in, as they didn't think MasterChef normally is like that, and usually preserves a relative positive tone, even in extreme challenge situations, where they can be stressful. They thought no line should have been crossed, and Laura should not be the focus of at least that amount of attention on suffering for the sake of clothing the entertainment.
As it stands now, Channel 10 have said nothing about the backlash, it is still available on demand, and they have made no moves to correct stuff.
This moment really opened the floodgates for a larger discussion with respect to editing on reality television. While the shaping of storylines through selective editing is as old as time, segments that get real emotion from a contestant - especially when the contestant is visibly distressed - will often provoke criticism about how the editing producers are behaving.
My lead-in is centred around the fact that many fans of reality television know that this genre of television uses various editing techniques to heighten tension in a moment in order to keep the audiences invested. However, the less spectacles shown for entertainment value like/editing someone's vulnerability can warrant a deeper discussion around ethics and compassion. Some fans of MasterChef, are asking that producers lessen their focus on the drama and heightened emotional breakdowns and more on the food and cooking.
This is not an isolated instance of reality/television programming - across various genres accused of manufacturing drama through editing - play up vulnerabilities/emotions or is expected to treat the material in a more respectful manner when dealing with competitors or participants, when they are given challenges that are emotional in nature.
The incident has brought even more fans to a better understanding of how emotional scenes are presented on competition reality television. It also demonstrates how much eyes are watching, not just everything that happens but the this is shown through the editing - and whether the editorial choices seem fair to the people involved.
As the season progresses, it will be interesting to see whether Channel 10 will change its approach to editing in response to the concerns of viewers. For now, the debate adds to an ongoing conversation about how much reality television can shape the real into drama.
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