Suspended "Reality"

The Great Indian Melodrama both on TV and Cinema is a way of life for most of us. But there were some remarks by M.Night Shyamalan that made me think. Speaking of Indian Cinema and how it has influenced Shyamalan's work he talked of the theme of Suspended Reality.

Suspended Reality implies that when we agree to be entertained by the soaps and cinema there are certain presumptions that we implicitly decide to agree to. So its ok for the actors to run in the woods around trees singing , the emotional breakdown of mothers , the big entry of the hero (male protagonist) and more than perfect looking damsels in distress , the heroines (female protagonist) - its all acceptable and nothing really disturbs us. In fact the biggest grossers on box office have been really high on these elements of fiction. After all its just a movie, a story , a piece of fiction. Its not suppose to be real. We all as viewers enter this realm of suspended reality. Soap operas are no less. The long shots and zoom in ,zoom out, just to create impact is more common in K-serials than in thrillers. The film song and dance sequences are also finding time in the popular 30- minute slot of soap operas.So there is a clear line of demarcation between real and unreal in cinema and TV soaps.

But what with the reality shows.Is there a similar line that can be drawn between real and unreal in these shows as well. The "Idols" of the world aren't real but they aren't unreal either. So how does one understand and interpret this realm of entertainment? How real is the reality TV scenario and how far do we suspend it from reality, if at all, is the challenge we all face?