Unscripted programming cracks the locks and thrusts open the places in ourselves that we keep hidden, both individually and as a society. One way it does this is by showing us the people who run amok of our norms, why they do that, and how we attempt to yank them back into the fold. It reveals the “polymorphous techniques” we use to curb deviance, via loved ones, individual experts, and behemoth institutions. It teaches us whom we view as legitimate but also how those views are fundamentally shaped by our culture. And it reveals that these views, while socially constructed, are still “real” in
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