cover of episode 568: Human Spectacle

568: Human Spectacle

2024/4/28
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A
Ariel Sabar
I
Ira Glass
J
Joel Gold
N
Nasubi
S
Stephanie Foo
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Joel Gold医生介绍了一种名为“楚门秀妄想症”的精神疾病，患者相信自己的生活正被24小时拍摄，并被当作真人秀节目播出。这种妄想症通常与偏执和夸大感有关，患者认为自己非常重要，并且正被全世界关注。Gold医生认为，“楚门秀妄想症”并非由电影《楚门秀》直接引发，而是精神病患者的一种表现形式。一些患者相信自己参与了一个复杂的益智游戏，并以此为慈善事业筹款。一些患者能够康复，但有些则无法恢复正常。康复的患者会感到解脱，但也可能因不再是世界焦点而感到悲伤。 Nasubi讲述了自己参加日本真人秀节目《继续前进吧，电波少年》中“抽奖人生”环节的经历。节目组让他在一个空公寓里靠参加抽奖维持生活，直到赢得100万日元奖品才能离开。Nasubi起初不知道自己正在被电视直播，在最初的两周里几乎没有食物，只能靠面包和水维持生命。他通过参与杂志上的抽奖来获得食物和衣物，并经历了精神和身体上的巨大挑战。节目组对他的日常生活进行了夸张的后期制作，包括添加音效和字幕，这引发了争议。Nasubi最终赢得了10000美元的奖品，但节目组并没有告诉他，而是将他带到韩国，并要求他重新开始挑战。Nasubi感到精疲力尽，失去了继续挑战的动力，但他最终还是屈服于节目组的压力，继续完成了挑战。在最后一集，节目组安排了惊喜环节，让Nasubi出现在一个大型演播室里，他意识到自己成为了家喻户晓的人物。这段经历给他带来了创伤，也影响了他的喜剧事业。 节目制作人土屋利雄对节目中发生的事件表示没有后悔，他认为节目是为了展现人们的奇迹，并为此感到自豪。他将自己对节目的行为比作体育教练对运动员的训练，认为节目展现了人类最原始和简单的状态。Nasubi与土屋利雄和解，并愿意再次与他合作。 Charlie Brill和Mitzi McCall讲述了他们参加艾德·沙利文秀的经历。他们原本以为这是一个改变他们职业生涯的机会，但由于种种原因，他们的表演以失败告终。他们没有意识到彩排的重要性，也没有意识到观众的构成。Ed Sullivan对他们的表演提出了批评，并要求他们重新编排节目。在匆忙之中，他们重新编排了节目，但最终还是没有取得成功。他们与披头士乐队同台演出，但由于观众的疯狂尖叫，他们并没有听到披头士乐队的表演。 Ariel Sabar讲述了心理学家Roger Barker在堪萨斯州奥斯卡卢萨镇进行的一项研究，研究人员详细记录了孩子们日常生活中的每一个细节。Barker认为应该在真实环境中研究人类行为，而不是在实验室里。这项研究的成本和后勤工作非常巨大，最终并没有取得预期的成果。

Deep Dive

Chapters
Ira Glass discusses the Truman Show Delusion with psychologist Joel Gold, where patients believe their lives are reality shows. They explore the paranoia and grandiosity associated with this delusion, and how reality TV can influence it. The segment ends with a reflection on the upsides and downsides of being a human spectacle.
  • The Truman Show Delusion involves patients believing they are constantly filmed for a reality show.
  • Some patients with this delusion believe 9/11 was staged for their reaction.
  • Joel Gold co-authored a book about the Truman Show Delusion with his brother.
  • Some patients who recover feel relieved but also a sense of loss at no longer being important.

Shownotes Transcript

Gladiators in the Colosseum. Sideshow performers. Reality television. We've always loved to gawk at the misery or majesty of others. But this week, we ask the question: What's it like when the tables are turned and all eyes are on you?

  • Prologue: Ira talks to Joel Gold, a psychologist and author, about a strangely common delusion known as the "Truman Show Delusion," in which patients believe that they are being filmed, 24/7, for a national reality television program. (6 minutes)
  • Act One: Producer Stephanie Foo speaks to Nasubi, a Japanese comedian who, in the 90s, just wanted a little bit of fame. So he was thrilled when he won an opportunity to have his own segment on a Japanese reality TV show. Until he found out the premise: he had to sit in an empty apartment with no food, clothes or contact with the outside world, enter sweepstakes from magazines… and hope that he won enough sustenance to survive. (23 minutes)
  • Act Two: Writer Ariel Sabar tells the story of Roger Barker, a psychologist who believed humans should be studied outside the lab. So Barker dispatched an army of graduate students to follow the children of Oskaloosa, Kansas, and write down every single thing they did. Sabar wrote a book about Roger Barker called "The Outsider." (8 minutes)
  • Act Three: Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall were a comedy duo back in the mid-1960s, playing clubs around Los Angeles, when their agent called to tell them he'd landed them the gig of a lifetime: They were going to be on The Ed Sullivan Show. The only problem was that their performance was a total fiasco, for a bunch of reasons, including one they never saw coming. David Segal reports. (17 minutes)

Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org)