on the possibility of critique

A theory of the contemporary theater might begin with the juxtaposition of Bertolt Brecht and the reality show.  They share more in common than one would think.  Indeed the reality show, which rejoices in the struggle for survival and forces the viewer to identify with the principle of selection in all its savagery,  is nothing but the Brechtian drama trans- and disfigured through ideology.  And a reversal of the process, explosive in its potential, is also possible: take the script of a reality show, and have it performed on stage by Brechtian actors.

The celebrity only is, and never becomes.  They are the only thing in the world that can be represented by a snap shot. Why else do the paparazzi swarm around them?  In the reality show, however, everything is an apprenticeship towards a state of celebrity that dissapears the moment it is realized.