Authors also watch television. Media realities become the subject of novels (as oral narratives once were), and perhaps even poetics. The two novels by Delphine de Vigan, Les enfants sont rois, and by Aurélien Bellanger, Reality showThese books appear twenty years after France's entry into the new television landscape. According to Bellanger, his starting point for his book was the sale of Endemol, while Delphine de Vigan's was the realization, through a television program, that there are children who are treated like stars as very young YouTube influencers.
The screen is a mini-sondage Instagram device in impression:
“What should Kimmy take?”
A- Les Nike Air
B- Les Adidas
C- Les baskets premier prix. »Mélanie returns the portable version to conclure: « Mes chéris, heureusement, vous êtes là et c'est vous qui décidez ! »
Dix-huit ans plus tôt.
The 5th of July 2001, the day of the finale Loft Story, Mélanie Claux, her parents and her sister, Sandra, installed in every place habituelle devant la télévision. Depuis le 26 April, date of launch of the game, the family Claux n'avait raté also prime time of the game.
Delphine de Vigan, Les enfants sont rois
A small Instagram poll appears on the screen:
"What should Kimmy get?"
A- Nike Air
B- Adidas
C- the Puma Baskets".Melanie turns the phone towards her and says: "My dears, it's good that you're here and can decide for yourselves!"
Eighteen years earlier.
On July 5, 2001, the day of the final of Loft StoryMélanie Claux, her parents, and her sister Sandra sat in their usual spots in front of the television. Since April 26th, when the game was released, the Claux family hasn't missed a single Thursday prime-time broadcast.
De Vigan's novel Les enfants sont rois The film coolly observes the world of staged lives on Instagram and YouTube, portraying the altered relationship between parents and children as a social novel with thriller elements. It would be natural for bourgeois high culture to offer a condescending analysis, but what is truly unsettling is the worldview from the child's perspective, so different from that of generations who grew up without social media. It is, therefore, a kind of media generational novel: socialized so early in a consumerist environment, as subjects of product placement, but also as objects of their parents' media strategies.
The two women in Les enfants sont roisMelanie and Clara meet when six-year-old Kimmy disappears from the garden of the house where she had been playing. The lonely, intelligent, and energetic Clara works as a public prosecutor in Paris. We follow the investigation and get to know the two women's very different personalities: Melanie's fragility contrasts sharply with Clara's strict morality; Melanie has become a businesswoman in a time when one must be exposed and intimacy suppressed.
In conversation with von Les Inrockuptibles Bellanger, however, criticizes French TV criticism, saying it is always moralistic and rarely aesthetic: "That says nothing about the grandeur, the sublime, the potentially terrible, disturbing nature of this spectacle." 1 This suggests that the contemporary novel aims to provide this aesthetic critique of new television and social media.
In response to Eugénie Bastié's question in FigaroWhen asked whether reality TV has faded into obscurity in favor of social media, Bellanger replies: “The figure of the influencer, which thrives on social networks, originally emerged in reality TV – full of unemployed artists, celebrities without careers. The two genres blend quite well, for example, when the question of the second screen arises and people on Twitter start posting footnotes about…” Secret Story or Top chef write. It is clear that if we were to step back and write a history of subjectivity at the turn of the third millennium, the two phenomena would be largely indistinguishable. Self-representation no longer really shocks anyone. 2
Since the search for fame in reality TV, de Vigan said, referring to the first French Big Brother-Broadcast since 2001, Loft Story On the M6 channel, everyone seems to think they have a right to attention. 3 The French media sociologist Nathalie Nadaud-Albertini has noted the initial criticism of the reality TV He went very far and compared the phenomenon to a totalitarian system, to fascism, and even to concentration camps. Gabriel Segré titled his study about Loft Story “La télévision de la honte.” Sociologist Nadaud-Albertini now also sees a fundamental influence of reality TV on fiction. 4
Mélanie Claux also tells the story with a phrase from the face camera. Récemment, elle available de nouveau change de coiffure (une coupe plus dégradée, qui mettait en valeur ses boucles) et de style vestimentaire (sa predilection pour les fleurs semblait s'être affirmée, à mesure que ses finances et ses sponsors lui avaient permis la multiplication des tenues).
Au fil du temps, Mélanie Claux était devenue Mélanie Dream. À la fois glamour, féerique et domestic, son image mêlait les codes avec habileté.
Mais Mélanie Dream restait, avant tout, the mère de Kim et Sam. A maman fée qui orchestrait leur bonheur. Du matin au soir, dans a va-et-vient permanent entre elle et ses enfants – les rendant ainsi indissociables d'elle-même, et réciproquement –, elle racontait leur journée et produisait ainsi une sorte de téléréalité familiale autogérée, aux sponsors plus ou money bien dissimulés. Il s'agissait avant tout de thunder à chaque abonné the sentiment d'appartenir au clan.
Delphine de Vigan, Les enfants sont rois
Mélanie Claux began each story with a speech in front of the camera. Recently, she had changed her hairstyle again (a layered cut that emphasized her curls) and her style of dress (her fondness for flowers seemed to be confirmed, as her finances and sponsors allowed her to multiply her outfits).
Over time, Mélanie Claux became Mélanie Dream. Her image was glamorous, fairytale-like and domestic all at once, combining codes with skill.
But above all, Mélanie Dream remained Kim and Sam's mother. A fairy-tale mother who orchestrated her happiness. From morning till night, in a constant back-and-forth between herself and her children—making them inextricably linked to herself and vice versa—she recounted their day, producing a kind of self-managed family reality show with more or less well-hidden sponsors. The main goal was to make every participant feel like they belonged to the clan.
The media exploitation of children in the age of social media is becoming a legal tragedy for parents. The right to be forgotten is being fought over between generations.
« Les procès intentés aux parents ne concernent pas seulement les ex-children stars. Le movement of deconnexion and de réduction des traces ne cesse de progresser parmi les younges. En entrant dans l'âge adulte, a certain nombre d'entre eux prennent conscience qu'ils sont déjà lestés d'un loud passif numérique, les privant de tout espoir d'anonymat. Au nom du droit à l'image et de la virginité numérique, ils ont alors recours à la justice pour exiger de leurs parents le retrait des photos ou vidéos d'eux, publiées et taguées toute leur enfance sur les réseaux sociaux. Certains fromt même jusqu'à réclamer des dommages et intérêts. »
Delphine de Vigan, Les enfants sont rois
"The lawsuits against parents aren't just about former child stars. The movement towards digital detox and reducing digital footprints is growing steadily among young people. Upon reaching adulthood, some of them realize they already carry a heavy digital burden that robs them of any hope of anonymity. In the name of their right to their own image and digital virginity, they then turn to the courts to demand that their parents remove photos or videos that were posted and tagged on social media during their childhood. Some even go so far as to demand compensation."
the novel Reality show Aurélien Bellanger's novel tells the story of the rise of the fictional Sébastien Bitereau, heir to Balzac's Rastignac, who quickly rises from assistant to a Wheel of Fortune host to number one. In the war between broadcasters and producers for program concepts and market share, the protagonist revolutionizes television programming, not so much for economic reasons, but rather as an aesthete of contemporary art.
Sébastien accorda on this occasion une interview, unique, au Financial Times : il y évoquait les synergies du marché européen, les conquêtes à venir des marchés Américains et Asiatiques, son intérêt pour l'Afrique ; The access to the TV media is inquiet, the strategy is multi-screen, and the device is available to monitor the disruption of the Internet, portable, YouTube and Netflix. […] Il en profitait pour advertiser le lancement, imminent, you spin off de la serie de téléréalité à succès du moment, Parisians, French equivalent of the Kardashian, with the arrival of a series appeal Les Provençaux, qu'il promettait d'emmener à leur tour faire la party in the world, from Miami to Cancún and passing through Ibiza and Phuket. The producer also welcomes all the filmmakers Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and the six children in the Viticole de Miraval domain, who also has the chance to see the plus ones - the actor is available to him as he watches the part of the bastide of Saint Thomas d'Aquina aurait passé une nuit: pouvait-on rêver meilleur confessionnal ?
Aurélien Bellanger, Reality show
On this occasion, Sébastien gave the Financial Times A unique interview: He spoke about the synergies of the European market, the future conquests of the American and Asian markets, his interest in Africa; the future of television didn't worry him, his strategy was multi-screen, and he had already survived the collapse of the internet, mobile phones, YouTube, and Netflix. […] He took the opportunity to announce the imminent launch of a spin-offs the current hit reality series Parisians, the French equivalent of the Kardashians, to announce: Les ProvençauxHe promised they would take turns celebrating all over the world, from Miami to Cancún, via Ibiza and Phuket. The producer also dreamed of filming Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and their six children at their Miraval vineyard, where he had been fortunate enough to visit several times—the actress had even shown him the room in the bastide where Saint Thomas Aquinas is said to have spent a night: What better confessional could there be?
Themes associated with Téléréalité, such as mass culture in general, narcissism, the "quart d'heure de célébrité" (which is also called that in France after Andy Warhol), "réalité scénarisée" (scripted reality), and of course "télé poubelle" (trash TV or lower-class television), have also become finely differentiated in France. List of reality TV shows has become unmanageable since the prototype chosen by de Vigan Loft Story, most recently alongside international formats such as Love Island France or Je suis une célébrité, sortez-moi de là! to Les Anges, Patron incognito, Les Marseillais, La Villa des cœurs brisé, Love is in the meadowEven though Figaro predicted in 2017 that reality TV formats were running out of steam, 5 says the author Aurélien Bellanger about his novel Reality showTelevision is inventing its own circus games in this format, a total spectacle. 6.
Il faudrait, pour corriger le tir, écrivit Sébastien dans un mémo à l'intention d'Anne-Sophie, intégrer la mauvaise humeur du public au dispositif: les candidates ne seraient pas là pour être admirés, mais pour être percés à jour. Il pourrait s'agir d'une téléréalité à énigme, avec des candidates ni all à fait anonymes, ni all à fait célèbres: ils auraient par exemple une ascendance célèbre, une participation à un fait divers, un lien à l'histoire commune.
On décida d'appeler l'émission Secret Story, et l'équipe casting se with aussitôt à la recherche de ces candidats atypiques, à double fond. Sébastien has an interest in the CV of a potential candidate, recapturing the prize d'otage de la maternelle de Neuilly in 1993 – this served as a part of the fair allégeance au future candidate de la droite à la president. On retint also a victim of the RER attack of Saint-Michel and a survivor of the tsunami of 2004. Les other candidates, discreet tribute to Sébastien to the inventor of the castings sociaux, also tous pu être invitations à It is discussed, and voir leurs secrets communiqués à Delarue via son iconique oreillette: « I am bisexuel, strip-teaseuse, j'ai un QI de 140, je suis né sous »
Aurélien Bellanger, Reality show
To improve the situation, Sébastien wrote in a memo to Anne-Sophie, the audience's negative mood had to be incorporated into the program: the contestants weren't there to be admired, but to be exposed. It could be an enigmatic reality show, with contestants who were neither completely anonymous nor completely famous: they might, for example, have a distinguished lineage, be involved in a news story, or have a connection to shared history.
It was decided to discontinue the broadcast Secret Story to name them, and the casting team immediately set about finding these atypical candidates with hidden depths. Sébastien read with interest the CV of a potential candidate who had survived the 1993 Neuilly kindergarten hostage crisis—a perfect way to pledge allegiance to the future right-wing presidential candidate. A victim of the Saint-Michel RER attack and a survivor of the 2004 tsunami were also present. The other candidates, a discreet homage from Sébastien to the inventor of social casting, would all have been suitable for the role. It is discussed They can be invited and share their secrets about his iconic listener to Delarue: “I am bisexual, I am a stripper, I have an IQ of 140, I was born under X, I am a dismissed priest, I live with the heart of another.
The protagonist understands this development as a return to a time of the prototype format, LoftHere the circle closes, although Sébastien refuses to consider anything resembling an ethics committee. In his foreword to the reader, Bellanger emphasizes that despite the recognizability of real people, the novel is not intended as a roman à clef, but rather that the author, as if in a dream, has taken public facts and led them into uncharted territory: the role of literature in the media context of all recent art forms.
The littérature a vu naître et mourir presque tous les arts. Sans cesse, elle s'est vue dépassée, oubliée et défaite, toujours elle est réapparue pour reprendre son interminable récit. On voudrait qu'elle ait des adversaires, que les new temps empêchent les hommes de lire des livres et lui contestent sa sovereignté. The faudrait qu'elle se venge. This is not the object of the book, which looks, fascinates, this is what it looks like, the television.
Aurélien Bellanger, Reality show
Literature has witnessed the birth and death of almost all the arts. Time and again it has been overtaken, forgotten, and defeated, and time and again it has reappeared to continue its endless story. One almost wishes for literature to have adversaries, so that the innovations of the age would discourage people from reading books and challenge their sovereignty. Literature would then have to take its revenge. But this is not the aim of this book, which looks back with fascination at what television could have been in its heyday.
This article is written in German and can be found at https://rentree.de. Automatic translations into English and French are available. English, French.
Notes- "Ce qui est intéressant, c'est que la critique de la télé en France est tout de suite morale et rarement esthétique. Elle ne dit pas la grandeur, le sublime, potentialement affreux, mais glaçant de ce spectacle." >>>
- "Pareil pour les réseaux sociaux. La figure de l'influenceur, qui y prospère, on l'a initialement dans la téléréalité — pleine d'artistes sans œuvre, de célébrités sans carrière. Les deux genres s'hybrident assez bien, quand apparaît par exemple la question du second écran, et qu'on écrit sur Twitter les notes de bas de pages de Secret Story or Top chef. As you can see from the past, you will find a history of the subjectivity in the three millenniums, the phenomenal phenomena are largely indiscernable. The exhibition of soi-même ne choque plus vraiment personne.” Le Figaro, 30.4.2021.>>>
- « Depuis Loft Story, chacun pense avoir droit à un public. » Le Soir, 25.4.2021.>>>
- "Reality TV is now an everyday genre whose codes have also influenced other media such as fiction and magazine reporting. The concept of the 'confessional,' for example, can be found in 'narrative interviews' in magazines, in which people describe their point of view instead of a voice-over commentary." – "Reality TV is now an everyday genre that has become banal, whose codes have influenced other media, such as fiction and reportage magazines. The concept of the 'confessional' can be found, for example, in magazine 'narrative interviews,' where people share their point of view instead of a voice-over commentary." Nadaud-Albertini.>>>
- Damien Mercereau, « La téléréalité en France est-elle à bout de souffle ? », Le Figaro, February 1, 2017.>>>
- “The télévision invente ses propres jeux du cirque, le spectacle total”, France Inter.>>>
