The meaning of reality TV in American culture can vary from person to person. Overall, the purpose of reality TV is to provide entertainment, to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. At the end of each episode, the producers show a preview of what will happen in the next episode, leaving the audience with a cliffhanger. In the preview, the producers show a conflict that could arise, in the hope that the audience will continue to watch the show. After watching the preview, viewers develop a sense of anticipation and want to know what will happen next. Reality TV is divided into certain categories such as competition, entertainment, etc. In this essay I will discuss The Amazing Race using both narrative and visual analysis. The Amazing Race is a reality show where teams of two race around the world competing against other teams in search of a million dollars. dollars. The Amazing Race was created by Elise Doganieri and Bertram van Munster and has aired in the United States since 2001. The Amazing Race shows how ordinary people behave when thrown into a competition. Furthermore, this particular program illustrates the challenges these contestants will face to earn a million dollars. It's interesting to think about how different our society might be if Americans worked so hard with their minds and energy to get jobs in America. The central characters of The Amazing Race are the twelve two-person teams who compete against each other by completing unusual tasks, which they may or may not be accustomed to. These everyday people have a pre-existing relationship with each other before the show. The pre-existing relationship helps, because when teams compete… middle of paper… but it was an intimidating task for the American teams, because they are not used to the lifestyle of Indian culture. Fishing is a way of life for some people in India, because they have to fish to provide food for their families to survive. Finally, I saw groups performing cultural dances that they had to learn to do from the Russian people. This gave American teams an internal cultural experience that most people will never have the opportunity to have. This basic cultural dance taught these participants a little about Russian culture. Ultimately, participants gain a new perspective from their experience on the show as they get a "once in a lifetime opportunity" to explore different areas of the world. The Amazing Race creates meaning by showing a new perspective of different cultures to millions of viewers to build an eye-opening experience.