Klein Publishes book on MTV

Dr. Amanda Ann Klein’ s book Millennials Killed the Video Star: MTV’s Transition to Reality Programming has been published by Duke University Press. You can read the introduction for free on the Duke Press website.

Millennials Killed the Video Star historicizes and analyzes MTV’s original cycle of scripted, identity-focused reality shows that started with Laguna Beach (2004-2006) and continues on today with series like Catfish (2012-to the present). Why did MTV stop selling rock music videos and start selling identity-focused reality television in the 2000s, and what might this shift reveal about the way Millennial youth were instructed to understand identity (their own, of those around them, and of the subjects they watch on reality TV)?

Klein analyzes MTV’s larger role in discourses of self-governance in relation to Millennial youth identities in particular, the fascination with and normalization of self-scripting and self-disclosure that characterizes Millennial public discourse. For Millennials, the first generation who regularly documented and projected their selfhood via social media and smartphones, MTV’s reality programming functioned as an “identity workbook,” showcasing a variety of ways of being in the world. This book tells the story of MTV’s changing programming and the role that this programming has played in the way Millennial audiences of the 2000s thought about, talked about, and embraced a variety of identities.

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