Dead Famous

Dead Famous

I must admit, it is probably my dislike of reality shows that drew me to this book. Dead Famous by Ben Elton is a thriller whereby a contestant is murdered in one of those over-hyped reality show programs. Thus, the cops spend quite a bit of time observing the rest of show, trying to figure out the murderer. While this is essentially a thriller, it also contains a number of commentary about fame and reality shows in general. It is such commentary that makes the book worth reading.

The overall story is about a bunch of hopefuls who wish for a grander life simply by being part of a reality show called House Arrest. The contestants are folks from all walks of life. However, since reality shows won't be TV gold without a bit of absurdity, the folks are picked by the producers based on their ability to create a bit of melodrama. The idea is to build up ratings through tensions between contestants or by uncovering more of the people's pasts. In this way, the author keep pointing out the lengths to which folks will go for publicity, be it the producers or contestants themselves. This is where the murder also comes in. Was it because of the bad feelings between the house mates? Or was it one of the behind-the-scenes folk?

Like I said earlier, what appealed to me was the author's take on the whole reality show phenomenon. Thus, he describes the viewer's hunger for sensational material, which is why the producers end up tweaking bits of the show for dramatic effect. Because of this connection between the viewers, contestants and producers, the show is often pushed beyond folks' comfort levels. In this way, he is parodying the desperation and tastelessness of a lot of shows out there. For the sake of this novel, the author throws in the dead contestant, which admittedly is linked to the uncomfortable atmosphere created for the sake of ratings. I figured he was also making a point about sensationalized television shows that such a show when House Arrest continued broadcasting despite the occurrence of a death. After all, what better way to be assured of increased viewers?

Where humor is concerned, it was not as funny as some of his other works. In fact, I'd say that Popcorn was better than this one. Not only was it funnier, but the narration style was also more interesting. In this book, you end up guessing the identity of the murderer halfway into the novel. Plus, the way the story unfolded was not as gripping. There were bits where it seemed to drag on a bit and you feel like the story could have been more tightly wrapped up. I was somewhat wary of the characters as they were in danger of being social stereotypes. But then again, it was one of the points of the novel. After all, folks who are picked for such shows are meant to be nothing more than stereotypes, ones that can be judged and dismissed easily enough.