Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica
In high school, one of my favorite shows was Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica. I repeatedly watched the episodes when they aired on MTV from 2003 to 2005. The episode I choose to watch is titled “Jessica’s Dessert,� and it is from the second season. I watched it on the DVD collection of the second and third seasons.
The producers of Newlyweds are Rod Aissa and Lois Clark Curren. They have produced many other reality television shows together including: Punk’d, The Osbournes, and Cheyenne, which all aired on MTV. MTV is targeting people between the ages of 12 to 34 years. It has a large target audience because fans of 98 Degrees (Nick’s former boy band) and Jessica Simpson tune in to watch two of their favorite celebrities, and newly married couples can relate to the stuff displayed on screen. And some just tuned in, in hope that something outrageously dumb would come out of Jessica’s mouth (“Is this tuna or fish, I know it say’s fish but….�). The show follows Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, both B-list stars before the show, on the first few years of their marriage while they deal with the pressures of stardom. The episode “Jessica’s Dessert� follows Nick and Jessica to Manhattan, where Jess will have a photo shoot for her line of beauty products, Dessert Beauty, which are completely edible. During this time, rumors spread that Jess may be pregnant, and she actually ends up getting sick in the episode.
The shots edited in are mostly of Jessica, even if Nick is talking in a conversation. For example, Nick and Jessica were out to dinner with his brother, Drew, and sister-in-law, Lea, and the majority of shots were of Jessica and Leah on one side of the table. Jessica usually has the camera close up on her, from the chest-up, if she is not moving. If she is walking or standing, the shot usually was from the calves-up, showing off her figure. However, Nick tended to have chest-up shots. The lighting was very soft and made their skin appear flawless and void of imperfections. Music was edited in as the show was progressing in or out from a commercial break. As the show shifted from one place to another, establishing shots of the place or situation were inserted. For example, at the beginning of the show the first clip shown is of the New York City skyline. At the Dessert Beauty photo shoot the outside of the building is shown, followed by numerous shots of the different areas in the studio that are being used for the shoot.
Nick and Jessica are constructed as following gender roles very strictly. Nick is the man’s man, who is portrayed as being smarter than his wife (but that isn’t too difficult in this show) and has an unbelievable passion for sports. He is repeatedly shown watching sports, and even goes to ESPN Zone in this episode with ‘the boys.’ He is very inattentive towards Jessica until he is not too busy or desires her sexually. Jessica on the other hand makes herself seem as if she is a complete idiot, living up and confirming the stereotype of dumb blondes. For example, at the beginning of the episode Jessica recalls a moment in seventh grade when the teacher asked the class what the names of the seven continents were, and she raised her hand and said “A, E, I, O, U.� Nick then points out that those are not even consonants; they are vowels. In the article on humiliation, subjectivity, and reality television, Fredric Schick believes “that a defining characteristic of the process is that the victim is made passive and conscious of the humiliating act.� Jessica consciously contributed her story knowing that she would be made fun of, but passively sat there laughing at herself, along with everyone else in the car. Throughout the rest of the episode, there are two more situations where Jessica subjects herself to being made fun of. Another example is when Jessica is having a discussion about her performing at the Golden Globes post-party. She does not know if post means before or after the show, which leads her to discuss that you put a postage stamp on a letter before you mail it. Even though Jessica is making herself appear stupid to millions of people, it does not matter because people have continuously tuned in. The show also sent her career skyrocketing. Mark Burnett believes that “even the losers are gratified by their experience.� This show transformed them from b-list celebrities to household names, and this was mirrored in the increase of album sales and success seen in other projects. It did not matter how they were being portrayed as long as they profited from it or publicized their projects.