Just in case you were dying to know what life was like in someone else’s shoes, one guy has agreed to attach a camera to himself to document every minute of his existence in San Francisco (site).
Known as Justin.tv (his name is Justin), today marks the 30th day he’s been online 24/7. Last week I caught a few moments of him chatting with friends, on the weekend I saw him sleeping like a baby, and so that led me to believe maybe I had too much time on my hands–the San Francisco Chronicle gives it a more positive spin (article).
The video-lifer (it does seem like a prison sentence) has also sold advertising on his site (the Hollywood movie “Disturbia” when I checked) and he ensures that the advertisers get the biggest bang for their buck by sleeping in front of the movie poster for 8 hours a day.
All I could think of whenever I see reality shows is David Cronenberg’s 1983 cult classic “Videodrome“, though “Ed TV” (1999) explored similar themes using Hollywood’s cinematic dumbing down. Justin.tv’s gimmick will get very old very fast unless he find a way to spice things up (so far sex and parties haven’t worked).
Though…
“someone spoofed the caller id of the Justin.tv official cell phone number (listed on the website), called the San Francisco police department and reported a stabbing in the North Beach apartment. Police arrived, guns drawn, and entered only to find a bunch of (surprised and nervous) geeks with laptops and webcams. All broadcast live.”
…so maybe he is getting hip to the program (TechCrunch posting).
Some web citizens have been shooting off warning flares that our obsession with reality TV is bad for our communal health. One web article suggests, “Reality television is also engendering a message that the key to success is image rather than ability (source).”–yeah, yeah, but anyone who watches politics knows that is partly true anyway.
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