REALITY TV shows have now become the most talked-about entertainment programs in the country, next to telenovelas. Adapted from foreign programs, they have crowded the airwaves and have since evolved into many different forms—from the various types of star searches to the more adventurous extreme sports.
ABC 5’s Dokyu is one reality program with a twist. It features the perspective of the youth in the world around them through documentaries the young people themselves make.
The idea of creating Dokyu, a show that would become the medium for young voices, was conceptualized last November by Thomasian Jim Libiran, head of the public affairs group of the network. With him in the creative process are the show’s executive producer Annabelle Maaño, creative director Dodge Dillague, and director Ramon Bautista. Its first episode was aired last May 18.
Letting teenagers run almost the entire show is not exactly mainstream material, but it does present a venue where the youth can express their perspective. The documentaries are aired raw and unedited, which gives more room for them to truly communicate their points of view. Dokyu exemplifies how appealing it can be to visualize the multi-faceted life of the youth, without having to make an impression that teenagers are immature and shallow.
The month-old program has already generated positive responses from the youth. There are a lot of documentaries submitted, the makers hopeful for a shot at creative expression through the television as medium.
Communication Arts student Adrian Gret is one of the 13 filmmakers whose work has qualified to be aired on the show. Embalsamador, as the documentary is called, reveals the life of an embalmer and his work. The documentary also won first place in the Broadquest competition, a contest for junior communication arts students. Embalsamador is set to be aired on June 22.
Like many of the reality TV shows being aired today Dokyu teeters between factual presentation on the one hand and fictionalizing the truth on the other, stretching facts and details, if only to give them more drama or effect.
Whether it is about the next singer or star, the next survivor or champion, it all boils down to one thing—TV programs are becoming more and more real. So phenomenal is this occurrence that it has created for itself a whole new era in television. It is an era where fiction does not anymore monopolize entertainment. More importantly, it is an era where things are presented as they are, and from the standpoint of real people who were previously unheard, like in the case of Dokyu, the young. Anne Nerissa C. Alina
