Finding Fielder: Reality Television as Self-Examination and Expression

By Quinn Jennings, Edited by Maizy Zenger

Performers usually construct comedic personas to exist inside of a world– with most traditionally on a stage or in a sitcom. These characters function on the reliability of everyday life experiences. For an outsider to examine mundanity and highlight real, complex, complicated people and their stories, genuine connections are key. But how can an audience be convinced of a figure's authenticity? To reconcile this, situational comedy has shifted into meta-irony since the craziest ideas only need an observer, not necessarily an expansive audience, to create a pseudo-reality that allows for experiments that have the freedom to step out of the traditional comedic form and comment on the form itself. 

In his Comedy Central show Nathan For You (2013–2017), creator and star Nathan Fielder positions himself as an outsider and parodies marketing tactics by offering real business owners specific yet outlandish strategies to promote their struggling businesses. While his business school background and intentionally awkward demeanor usually failed to satisfy his subjects, it continually achieved his satirical goals. His unpredictable results set the scene for The Rehearsal (2022–), a documentary series on helping people plan for difficult life events or conversations through a rehearsal with actors and sets that mimicked their real lives, driven by Fielder's interest and expertise in studying human behavior. 

Fielder's gimmicks on Nathan For You depended on a borderline cruel level of interaction with the business owners, so the dynamics that his work satirizes ultimately pose challenges in the making of his shows. Multiple subjects featured in the cringe comedy have spoken about their experiences on the show in a revealing light. Kandiie Tapia, the owner of a house cleaning service that was "helped" by Nathan on the show and a Mexican immigrant openly regrets having her business featured in an episode. While originally she felt honored that the producers wanted to share her story on television, she soon found her experience with Nathan to be a reflection of a harsher reality than the one he was attempting to convey. Tapia recalls Nathan blowing his nose in a tissue and asking her if she would throw it out for him (although no such exchange made it into the episode). In 2022, she told Vulture reporter Lila Shapiro that "it was a power move, [...] like he’s white and I’m a minority and I’m young." Instead of dropping out, she was encouraged to put up with his antics since the show could benefit the business. When the episode aired and Tapia realized it was a comedy, she was so embarrassed she told her family not to watch it. In the same article, Fielder told Shapiro that he was surprised and upset to learn how Tapia felt. His goal is to make himself appear as a "pathetic fool" and provide ordinary people with an experience outside of their day-to-day lives, with the assumption that reality television is a "fairly absurd" thing (Shapiro). Fielder acknowledges the ways in which Nathan For You went about interactions the wrong way; he utilizes The Rehearsal to look deeper into the human psyche and determine why people, including himself, behave in the way they do. Although he works to exercise his empathy muscles, it is essential that Fielder's shows retain the honesty he is able to pull from his subjects. His tactics of prodding, misdirecting, or sitting in excruciating silence subvert people's expectations for how one is supposed to act to be captivating for reality television. 

To further understand the intent and motivation of The Rehearsal, the absurdist experiment of observation by Fielder pictured above, a viewer must examine Fielder's breakout hit: Nathan For You. Fielder made businesses the subject of his satire, many of which were owned by immigrants, and there was often a clear language barrier. At the end of Nathan For You and in later work (such as The Rehearsal and eventually veering into scripted television with The Curse), Fielder began to incorporate critiques of his methods and comedic style as he wished to avoid being perceived as "mean funny." He deploys the 21st-Century reality television aesthetic to critique what is contained and portrayed in the packaging of the genre, subverting the norm of classifying people as simply good or bad. Fielder's work demands suspicion from its viewers, as his television shows dramatize the camera as an apparatus and challenge the idea that it can appropriately and accurately capture reality. 

In 2017, Nathan Fielder released a 90-minute finale to close out Nathan For You. Fielder's depiction in the finale clarifies that he has been performing as the artificial character of Nathan throughout the run of his show, but he leaves the audience questioning his true identity and characterization. Fielder confronts the ethics of reality television and documentary filmmaking when he examines his subjects: an elderly man filled with regret, a woman paid to spend time as a companion, and his own self-reflective and over-confident character of Nathan. His comedy stunts transcend the purpose of creating a spectacle worth laughing at and instead speak to larger themes of self-identity and empathy.

Titled "Finding Frances," the episode broke his methodical format by departing from his deadpan and socially oblivious demeanor. Bill Heath, a 78 year old man who first made his appearance in season two of Fielder's show, approaches Nathan for genuine help. He was previously recruited as an actor to play a celebrity impersonator and go along with Nathan's satirical interaction with a shop owner. Bill confesses that a failed romance from over 50 years ago has haunted him ever since, and he now wants to connect with his old girlfriend, Frances, to inform her of his regret. Troubled by Bill's predicament, Fielder's caricatured version of himself as Nathan offers to use the resources of his show to help reunite them. 

Nathan and Bill embark on a road trip, and as pictured above, Nathan's visible attempts to keep deadpan comedic elements present throughout his emotional journey with Bill serve to please his usual audience who expect work aligning with the premise of the show while simultaneously introducing himself and Bill as multilayered subjects who require one to examine every angle of their personality. This creates a new balance that introduces introspection around his previous episodes. While spending time with Bill, Nathan interjects visual gags from the very beginning. After Bill's introduction of his situation, Nathan has him draw a picture of Frances from memory, which ends up resembling a stick person. Despite the comic absurdity created by the juvenile image and the undercutting of Bill's deep emotionality, Nathan then puts the sketch to use by giving it to random people as a reference for who they are looking for. 

The bits, like the aforementioned stick figure drawing pictured below, start off simplistic and obviously comedic, but they become increasingly more complex as Nathan and Bill gain more information of Frances' whereabouts. Nathan's search follows extensive processes with the help of people he encounters: faking the filming of a blockbuster movie for access to Frances' old high school to attain a copy of her yearbook photo; hiring a man who claims to be a professional age progressionist once it is obtained; having Bill perform Frances' hometown's anthem to try to fit in with the locals and gain information about her. Nathan's involvement of strangers and others he finds reliable in assisting his execution of deadpan comedy follows the traditional model of his television show; he gets a laugh from the audience by placing these people in intentionally awkward situations where an uncomfortable outcome is predictable, yet productive comedically. 

The absurdity of Nathan's actions add upon themselves as his serious, no-nonsense demeanor remains consistent, despite the profoundly immature actions he takes to help a genuine friend. The extended runtime of the finale allows him to explore the moments beyond quick, anxiety-filled interactions. The intentionally ridiculous ideas he presents to the usual business owners on the show accompanied by his combative yet awkward personality conveys his inability to connect with other people through most of the series' episodes. However, the purpose of the narrative arc in "Finding Frances" is to display his growth; Fielder wants the audience to reflect on the reasons they find Nathan For You funny and ensure that they do not take away the wrong message that Nathan's character is one to embody. Instead, he aims to shift the audience's perspective of the self-absorbed and often clueless character by exhibiting a new level of empathy towards Bill in the finale, suggesting that Fielder's character, Nathan, may also be one to empathize with. 

Nathan consciously makes the decision to learn more about Bill's past rather than regarding him as an old man with whom he can riff. As the finale progresses, it becomes increasingly unclear how much of the narrative is staged or exaggerated for cameras yet Fielder continues to successfully demonstrate his show is more complex and authentic than traditional reality television by forcing the audience to question to what extent his gags are scripted. When visiting Bill's niece, Shelly, she reveals that Bill initially lied to Nathan about his career as a celebrity impersonator for a chance to be featured on television. Nathan confronts Bill, who insists it was simply a misunderstanding between the two. Realizing that he is deep into the process of helping Bill and getting closer to finding Frances, Nathan decides to continue the documentary with the knowledge that Bill is likely lying or exaggerating much of his original story. Nathan does not exhaust the viewer with humor; instead, he recognizes when the narrative reaches an emotional and shocking point where he wonders if Bill is motivated to find Frances or even be on television because he is simply "desperate for any human connection" (Fielder). Much of Nathan For You's comedy comes at the expense of his subjects (and himself), but the finale does not punch down toward Bill. Instead, Fielder refuses to follow the same pattern with Bill on a human level, since he has come to understand Bill's struggles with love and regret from the perspective of a friend. Instead of continuing the mocking tactics he utilizes when dealing with businesses, he subverts the trope of awkward cruelty by investing screen time into Bill's search, even if Bill himself may not be a trustworthy source. Nathan places confidence in Bill as a person, making a critical stylistic choice to break form and avoid repeating narrative structure. Nathan's faith in Bill appears genuine, and although his goal may have shifted from mockery, Fielder does not give up on satire, but instead intentionally incorporates his humor to convey his character's ability to evolve. 

By blurring the line between documenting real stories and a planned narrative by inserting absurdity for comedic effect, Fielder's approach proves itself to be revolutionary for its medium. The narrative of Nathan For You is always built on a farce, and its finale "Finding Frances" is no different; however, the subject of parody shifts from business strategies to reality television that advertises itself as completely unscripted. Nathan's actions throughout the run of Nathan For You position Fielder's character as manipulative of the people he encounters. The structure of the previous episodes all involving business crumble under Nathan's human exchanges with Bill in the finale. Fielder writes the finale of his show to expose the harsh nature of his character Nathan in order to critique the audience's previous notion of Nathan as shallow. The audience's questioning of this distinction enables them to appraise the validity of his proposal that the authenticity of a story is subjective to the fallibility of one's own memory and perception, altering the meaning and purpose of documentary filmmaking to tell a story with straightforward facts. 

Nathan's capacity to express empathy comes to fruition during the finale through his interactions with Bill and Maci, a prostitute he hires for Bill to rehearse with before he reunites with Frances. Bill is mortified at the suggestion when Nathan explains this idea to him presented in his classic no-nonsense manner, pictured above with a deadpan expression and a professional presentation. In a change of plans, Nathan interviews Maci instead of having her play out a tête-à-tête with Bill. Nathan claims she may be able to give insight into how Frances may react as a woman and further justifies the pivot to this new exercise by adding the detail that his crew already paid her. This absurdity seemingly undermines his newfound empathy. Nathan introduces Maci to the premise of Nathan For You, and she, previously unaware of his comedic background, labels him "mean funny" (Fielder). Nathan appears offended at her take but insists that his approach is simply rooted in "business" (Fielder). The conversation with Maci encourages Fielder to further break free from his television persona and change the audience's interpretation of his character, and to achieve the multidimensional approach he takes with Bill as an effective mode of storytelling, Nathan continues to spend time with Maci to change her idea of him. Now, the episode adds a layer of complexity in terms of Bill trying to win over Frances and Nathan attempting to win over Maci. The balance of pathos and comedy remains as Bill appears sincere and authentic complimented by Nathan being a touch absurd, as his connection to Maci continues under the condition that he continues to pay her for her time. The audience cannot help but gawk at the situation that Nathan has found himself in; he has made a seemingly genuine relationship, but Fielder's detail that Maci may also be simply portraying a character hinders the notion that Nathan can develop as an empathetic person. 

As the episode continues, Nathan becomes increasingly vulnerable with Maci, a sudden and unexpected shift from his usual inexpressive manner honed throughout the four-season series. His sensitivity rises to the surface in these contrived scenarios because there are no true stakes to his relationship with Maci or his character development. Even though Fielder is filming a version of a documentary (somewhere near but not entirely mockumentary), the situation Nathan finds himself in with Maci is built entirely on an artificial, one-sided relationship. Fielder's character begins to connect with another person, but it is still clearly only for the purpose of the television show. Fielder constructs this relationship between Nathan and Maci to reflect his own relationship with Bill; Fielder connects with Bill, but their relationship is driven by the mission of finding Frances, all of which could be created in Bill's mind. As Fielder's storytelling fluctuates between reality and artificial situations, Fielder openly acknowledges his character's blurring of the line that separates reality and entertainment, claiming it’s "hard to tell" the difference between the two when he is with Maci (Fielder). It is unclear if Nathan can truly connect with other people, be it Bill or Maci or anyone else, for any purpose other than staging a performance for the cameras. Fielder intentionally plays on the scripted components of reality media, suggesting that real life will always have insincere moments. As much as Fielder attempts to blend unreality with sincerity in Nathan For You by overwhelming the audience with awkward silences and imperfect interactions, he nonetheless conveys authenticity that points to the inevitable conclusion that there is still truth in artificial stories. The show continues to be entertaining and provocative while Maci motivates Nathan to become a better person even though their interaction is based on monetary value. Nathan chooses to embrace the artificial reality presented to him rather than continue the model he created for himself throughout the run of his show, all while being sincere in his choices. 

Although the finale breaks the show's usual structure, Fielder never truly loses control in "Finding Frances." Fielder's manifold presentation of Bill's journey and the evolution of Fielder's own story involving identity and career compels the audience to reflect on the subjectivity of time and the pain of regret while urging them to consider reframing the goofball character in their own lives. On a filmmaking level, Fielder manipulates the structural rules he set for himself earlier in the series and plays around with the responsibility of a filmmaker to portray authentic stories. Fielder ends "Finding Frances" and his series as a whole in the powerful shot above, by telling the crew to turn off the cameras while he sits with Maci. Fielder closes out Nathan’s character arc by allowing him to embrace his artificial reality and communicates to the audience that his contrived situation can still manage to bring about authentic moments and inspire introspection. A chorus of "Don't be sad / Be glad / Be happy for me" by The Kinnardlys echoes as the credits roll, leaving the viewer as Fielder's final subject of irony. While the audience is unsure if they were just fooled by Fielder's antics or finished viewing a film documenting one man's evolution towards empathy, they can at least be sure it was an authentic, human story. 

In 2023, Fielder took on scripted television–but only in an effort to further illustrate the deception of reality television. The Curse (2023) premiered on Showtime, with a vastly varied reception. Critics embraced the show positively, but many audience ratings disagreed. Despite the negative reviews from some viewers, the show exists as its own niche. Created by Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, The Curse is an uncomfortable watch that utilizes a satirical twist of the home improvement genre deep into darkness and absurdity. Safdie's unconventional framing focuses on distorting characters and creating frenzied environments. Combining his style with Fielder's caricatured stiff demeanor and fearless social obliviousness curates a viewing experience full of anxiety. The cringe drama and subtle dark comedy certainly alienates some viewers, leaving only an invested and dedicated audience left watching. The show is ambitious in its mobility of style; it does not take away from the commentary made on gentrification, the absurd commodification of marginalized people, or Jewish mysticism; rather, the stylistic choices enhance the irony within the show and the creators' messages. Safdie and Fielder do not allow themselves to be restricted by the objective of appearing intriguing to the masses, permitting more passion to come through in the series. They reward audiences who recognize the themes as ones of social discomfort and appreciate the stylistic choices as conscious. 

Fielder's past catalog of work is almost exclusively a reality and documentary series, all with the same dry humor as The Curse. Safdie is a long-time fan of Fielder. He previously wrote on Nathan For You, stating that a person "obsessed with creating realism" ultimately creates something fake, while a person "obsessed with recreating reality" can create something hilarious. The Curse combines their strengths; it stems from the brain of someone that has worked in reality television and has questioned the morality of their both job and themself. They incorporate the flaws of Fielder's caricature of a businessman into the pitfalls of the main characters. The series interrogates Fielder's own self consciousness and personal flaws when creating entertainment. 

HGTV programming is relatively stiff. The home improvement channel, as it is widely thought of, is ripe for parody, often featuring fairly formulaic, vapid storylines, even by reality television standards. The Curse follows Whitney and Asher Siegel, a mismatched married couple filming their own home renovation television show. The show dares to ask the question: what if the hosts of HGTV shows were blatantly awkward, uncertain, and deceptive in their presentations? Starring Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder as the Siegels and Benny Safdie as Dougie, a producer who sees opportunity in the midst of the couple's anxieties and misfortune, The Curse is an insight into the inner workings of creating reality television and shines a light on the questionable practices of hosts or creators to produce entertainment. The series urges audiences to reflect on the morality of consuming and creating reality television by accentuating distorted realities and their unethical repercussions. Fielder is a co-creator and stars as the titular character who is cursed, pictured below, as he gives and then takes back money from a young Black girl for a camera stunt. Asher can consistently be seen depicted in this way: smiling for the cameras while having ulterior motives to sharpen his own image. He utilizes the series as a self-examination of his own work in reality television; the dramatized consequences of fake reality television serve as a facet of Fielder's atonement for past complicity in the business. 

Whitney and Asher enter the small town of Española, New Mexico with the goal of building "passive" homes that are energy-efficient and eco-friendly. With their construction, they move locals out of their homes and raise rent prices higher than the community can afford, actively gentrifying the neighborhood they are claiming to help. An HGTV crew documents this process as part of the Siegels' reality show, promoting the narrative that the couple is improving Española through their investment in green efforts. The Curse represents HGTV as a network with skewed ethical perception of their hosts, failing to see that they are harming a community on a larger scale. The actions of HGTV and the Siegels are purely performative. The series is sure to implicate the network as a negative life force that propels the power of reality television. By supporting the production of Whitney and Asher's show, the channel of HGTV gives the couple a platform to spread an incomplete message, fueling the exploitation of an underfunded and overlooked community. 

Reality television hosts must possess a certain level of charisma in order to make reality television palatable. Charisma is more natural when rooted in authenticity–hence why the often repetitive and seemingly scripted nature of some reality television shows are stiff. The absurdity of passive homes is highlighted to increase social discomfort and comment on irrational practices in reality television that often go overlooked and accepted as fact. In episode five, a couple tours one of Whitney and Asher's homes and begins to grow uncomfortable when they realize the limitations of owning an eco-friendly home. While sporting visible sweat stains, the couple is told by Whitney that they cannot put in an air conditioning unit since that would taint the carbon footprint of the house, and to cope with the New Mexico summer they should simply not open doors or windows to avoid letting in heat. The couple begins to joke about living in the passive house, comparing it to an $850,000 prison, causing the Siegels to shift uncomfortably. Whitney and Asher build passive homes to benefit the environment as an effort to declare themselves ethically good people while working towards their own personal goals (rebelling against slumlord parents, being seen as good enough for their partner) that are not translated into their HGTV show. Their jobs as television hosts exist in a place of privilege that is unable to understand the true reality of affordable living. They are unable to chuckle their way out of tough and serious questions that challenge the validity and ethics of their work. Fielder is known for his deadpan style; he incorporates the uncomfortable atmospheres from his previous work into the storylines of The Curse with his performance as the socially awkward Asher. He breaks the boundary previously established by his other television shows by portraying the issues with reality television as stretching far behind only the hosts themselves. Reality television holds the power to create illusions, such as the tense environment picture below depicting a clear divide between the crew and subjects, and this power is dangerous when it is held by people in privileged positions. 

The action of reality television often relies on false depictions of reality. In the pilot episode of The Curse, the series opens with Whitney and Asher filming themselves telling a community member, Fernando, that they have gotten him a full-time job at a coffee shop to pay for his mother's cancer treatment. When the environment in the room does not change, as if the camera crew was expecting some kind of karmic applause, Dougie steps in to put water in Fernando's mother's eyes to convey fake tears. What Whitney initially calls a "little TV magic" quickly turns uncomfortable as Dougie then blows menthol in her eyes to make them red. In his role as the producer Dougie, played by Benny Safdie, became aggressive for the visual effect he could capture and the emotional impact he believed would translate on screen. Safdie is widely known for his documentation and gravitational pull towards realism in his own films; he translates these skills and utilizes his reputation as an aid to the truth in The Curse's portrayal of reality television. Fielder makes a statement to say that his work in reality television is created by a team of people, and it does not represent his whole character. The series has an array of unsympathetic, odious characters, but the element of realism treats them with dignity nevertheless by portraying their lives on and off camera. Immediately, the fictionalized HGTV crew sets the tone for the way reality television sets operate. As the team, including the hosts, stand by, they all become complicit in the show's deception.

The Curse depicts deception on multiple levels as Fielder is making a statement about his past work in conjunction with the creators' ideas of reality television as an industry, supported by Safdie's keen eye for realism. The manufactured nature of reality television results in exploitative work environments and jobs that profit from deceiving their audiences. 

Through his previous work in reality television and take on scripted drama, Fielder's stance on the morality of the industry becomes increasingly clear. Considering the individual viewer experience when creating comedy television allows for a level of complexity and care that could not be achieved with the goal of trying to please all audiences or make a mainstream hit. Television is a unique and intimate experience, so series that feel tailored to address viewers in a specific and nuanced way are more likely to form a lasting impact on an audience. With a plethora of content available at their fingertips, audiences have the option to choose what they watch as carefully as what they desire. 

Many will no longer settle for a formulaic sitcom, forcing television creators to innovate their concepts. The combination of audience specificity and television creatives placing their passion in speaking to those varied audiences has made the current age of television more captivating than ever before. Fielder's ability to step back and criticize his own oblivion to empathy in creating entertainment encourages audiences to indulge in the same self-reflection for engaging with his television as viewers. Whether through fiction, pseudo-documentary, or somewhere in between, Fielder wants audiences to see through the obvious and examine the action of performing as oneself. And have a laugh doing it, of course.

Works Cited

The Curse. Created by Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, Showtime, 2023. 

"Finding Frances." Nathan For You, created by Nathan Fielder and Michael Koman, season 4, episode 8, Comedy Central, 9 Nov. 2017. 

The Kinnardlys. "Be Happy for Me." Singer-Songwriter. Extreme Music Production, 2010. 

Nathan For You. Created by Nathan Fielder, Comedy Central, 2013–2017.

The Rehearsal. Created by Nathan Fielder, HBO, 2022–Present. 

Safdie, Benny. “The Gag of Realism: Nathan For You.” Cinema Scope, 23 June 2020, cinema-scope.com/features/gag-realism-nathan/. 

Shapiro, Lila. “Nathan Fielder Is Out of His Mind (and Inside Yours).” Vulture, Vulture, 5 July 2022, www.vulture.com/article/nathan-fielder-rehearsal-profile.html.