THE CONTESTANT-- Reality Hell

Review by Joseph Fayed

Reality television has become a cultural phenomenon over the past three decades. The television industry has heavily relied on its success, traced back to some of its pioneering programs of the '90s. One aspect that has never changed since its inception is its critics, who feel it is ethically wrong. The Contestant profiles one participant from an infamous Japanese reality series and revisits the exploitative nature of the program but doesn't offer much insight into the growing television genre or its subject beyond that. 

Tomoaki Hamatsu, better known as Nasubi (Japanese for "eggplant"), appeared on Susunu! Denpa Shonen from 1998 to 1999. For 15 months, he lived alone in an apartment, completely naked and cut off from communication with the outside world. His day-to-day tasks consisted of entering magazine sweepstakes and surviving off the prizes inside them should he win any. The goal for Nasubi was to win one million yen in prizes. Nasubi had no idea the show was airing, and while starving himself and slowly losing his sanity, millions tuned in to watch it unfold weekly. The documentary asks Nasubi how one copes with that and lives a fulfilling life afterward. 

The documentary features interviews from both Nasubi and the series producer Toshio Tscuhiya. Featuring both of them is essential because it allows us to understand the creative process behind the scenes and how one could pull it off. Nasubi retells his story in a rather chilling tone, and there is not too much he feels the need to reflect on kindly about that period. On the other hand, Toshio discusses his role simply as a job with which he had no qualms. Neither set of interviews was edited to rival the other. Both men explain their experiences with the program without having to answer hardball questions toward them. The interviews don't feel they are victim-blaming Nasubi for being a willing participant, even if he didn't really know the full extent of the show, nor are they seeking answers for Toshio being in charge of the whole operation. They are mindful of Nasubi's own misunderstandings, while Toshio addresses from the start that he was there to create entertainment. Make of that what you will, but participant and producer deliver on their own and create the best moments of the documentary when it's just one of them speaking. 

The latter half of the film is where the story prematurely ends. When the program finally ends, and Nasubi is back to facing reality, we don't get to learn much of what happens next. The ending, meant to be inspirational, was filmed years after the initial events and feels more like an epilogue than a conclusion. All the talk about reality television, specifically Nasubi's condition, being exploited by different experts in talking heads gets ignored in favor of Nasubi's passion for charitable causes. But nothing correlates with the last hour we witnessed. Nasubi's road to recovery sounded like an eventful one, so seeing that fluff piece of an ending cuts down on the focus of the harm from the program. 

Some of the editing and production choices were strange. One of the darkest moments is when Nasubi explains how he thoughts of death towards the end of his 15 months in isolation. His answer, full of raw emotion, could have been shown as she speaks in the present day. Instead, he gives a voiceover as more footage of him roaming around the apartment naked is shown. It takes away from the seriousness of the subject, and by that point, we had already seen enough highlights of the program, so it feels extra icky. Fred Armisen narrates several portions of the original Japanese announcers in English for some reason. While that doesn't hinder the documentary, what we do hear of his voice is like something out of a ride at Disney. Just give us subtitles; they're not that hard to read. 

The Contestant will remind you how the reality show that inspired this documentary gained its infamy. In many ways, it was a predecessor to international franchises like Big Brother. But if you ever watched reality television before, you will probably have strong opinions going into this. What is discussed here won't necessarily shock everyone in 2024 because the past few decades have already shown us all the good, bad, and ugly that genre has to offer. Nasubi's 15 minutes of fame are heavily reexamined, but what we ignore is the healing process that was needed after the cameras stopped rolling. But I suppose that's "too real" for reality television standards. 

​The Contestant streams on Hulu beginning May 2.​

Rating: 2/5