Why do we love and hate the way life is portrayed on Terrace House?
There’s a great ideal that we think of when we watch Terrace House.
For those who have not been exposed to it yet, Terrace House is a Japanese Reality TV show, where a total of six guests live together. A beautiful house, and beautiful cars are provided. It is a combination of three guys, and three girls. There is no script. This is clearly stated at the start of every episode, and the houses they live in really are beautiful.
The guests are known as “members” of the house. Each member has a certain lifestyle, and most of the time, they have unique quirks that make them either very approachable, or just leaves you wondering why and how they got onto the show. There is no monetary awards, it is just the plain experience of living together with other people. Members usually come in with an objective of some sort. The most common one is to find love, or a partner. Another one is to become famous, or more honed in their craft. After the member reaches that objective, they can either stay on for a new reason, or leave, “graduate”.
We like it because I think we try to find our own parallels to life. We think our own lives are similar in some way. Perhaps it’s a tool for us to be more aware of who we are as people, and what we hope for ourselves to do.
And yet, when shows like Terrace House are revealed to be scripted, we are saddened, and question the point of a reality TV show that isn’t real. But at the same time, we know our own lives are not that dramatic. We know that we watch that show because it seems to be this dream state. And when it is proven as it is a dream, we hate it. We are offended by that lie told by the producers of the show.
But we knew from the start, that that’s not what our own lives are. We knew that it was going to be a better version of our lives, and not our life on screen for sure. Because who would want to watch our own lives on screen right? What’s the point of that?
And yet, we hope and looked at Terrace House with anticipation. Maybe this group of people would have it better than us “naturally”. But it turned out not to be that way. And we’re disappointed.
So we go back to our Korean Dramas, because at least there we know we don’t have to carry hope. We know that it’s just fiction, and nothing there is real. But Terrace House, sigh, how you teased us.
Thank you for all the memories. I really enjoyed hoping, and dreaming that life would possibly be the crazy dream that you showed. Otsukaresama deshita.