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Reading 3 min.
in collaboration with
Amélie Boukhobza (Clinical psychologist)
By exploring the beginnings of French reality TV, and in particular the cult show Loft Story, the series “Culte” takes us back to the beginnings of voyeurism 2.0. But while today the absence of private life has become (almost) commonplace, what do the candidates on these shows look like? What is their psychological profile? Answer.
Since its release on October 18, the “Cult” series has been talked about a lot. Indeed, more than twenty years after Loana and Jean-Édouard’s antics in the Loft swimming pool, the series goes behind the scenes of this success story, new to France. But while the candidates are filmed 24 hours a day, how can we bear to lose any form of intimacy and private life? What type of personality can accept this “sacrifice”? We asked Amélie Boukhobza, clinical psychologist, the question.
Loft story, a show based… on voyeurism
On April 26, 2001, Loft Story burst into the living rooms of French families and caused unprecedented enthusiasm. Adapted from the Dutch concept “Big Brother”, the show marks the arrival of reality TV in France, following the daily lives of eleven anonymous singles gathered in a 225 square meter loft.
Spectators are invited to experience in real time the rants, tears and love stories of the candidates filmed 24 hours a day, thanks to the use of 26 cameras and 50 microphones.
A concept which arouses such fascination among the youngest that some will even try to enter the loft, while others will dump rubbish in front of the studio. This is what some will call “trash TV”.
By offering viewers total access to the participants’ every move, Loft Story ultimately transforms the mundane into a spectacle, and places voyeurism at the heart of the entertainment mechanism. At the end of the show, Jean-Edouard, one of the show’s emblematic candidates, will even go so far as to confide that he and the others “We were just products.
Good in his body, good in his head!
What type of personality can accept being filmed constantly?
In the first season of Loft Story, the candidates did not know what they were going to face. “But since then, we know!“, underlines Amélie Boukhobza.
“In fact, to stand under the constant eye of the cameras, I would say that you need a certain dose of resilience and, nonetheless, a pronounced taste forself exhibition“, assures the psychologist, before continuing”What we have been able to observe is that many candidates on these reality TV shows have very variable, almost unstable self-esteem: they can be comfortable with the outside view, or even draw on it. a form of validation, then can also become vulnerable to external judgments and the gaze of others the next moment. This can therefore result in a search for acknowledgement…. To exist in the eyes of others, with the mirror of cameras which becomes the essential tool to fill this void.”
Narcissists are obviously part of the “ideal candidates” for shows like Loft Story. These profiles are attracted to the idea of constantly being in the spotlight.
“They find there a perfect playground to showcase their image. But narcissism alone is not enough, otherwise it will explode in flight. You also need to have a certain tolerance for stress and be able to contain the related anxiety to the permanent intrusion and exposure, punctuated by criticism and emotions (triggered as much by the omnipresence of the eye of the cameras as by the various and varied manipulations are often those who succeed and survive the ordeal). experts in self-control, capable of maintaining a mask and never allowing themselves to be completely overwhelmed by the need to please”, warns the expert.
Furthermore, we must not forget that these reality shows have given the illusion “that everyone could have the potential to become a star in a few weeks, without any particular talent. With the power to change lives!”, concludes Amélie Boukhobza.
Slide: The consequences of lack of self-esteem on relationships with others