During this weeks lectures, Dr. Dennis talked about reality, and how media tries to convey it through tv shows, movies, and many other forms, but some fail to do so. One example of a TV show or movie that I believe shows reality quite well is the Netflix exclusive show, Drive To Survive. I have linked the trailer to season 2, which comes out tomorrow (Friday, February 28). In this show, it gives people a behind the scenes look at what it’s like to be a part of a Formula One racing team, as well as getting to know the drivers more personally than just the people in the cars.
Some might say that because this show is a documentary, some things may be scripted for TV. But for this documentary, that is far from true. This show follows all 10 teams throughout the whole season, from February to November, traveling all across the world as each race is in a different country every week. In this article by Bleacher Report, they go through how hard it really is to drive an F1 car.
But back to the question at hand. How does this media show reality? How truthful is this media? What is left out, unexplained, or misrepresented?
This media shows reality by following all the F1 teams throughout the whole season. In lecture 6.1, Who’s Reality?, a slide about factuality pops up. This show would fit under this category because it documents the Formula One season from a behind the scenes perspective. Most people just see the brightly colored cars, the loud noises, and who wins the races. What most people DONT see is the stuff this TV show provides. I would’ve never known that Daniel Ricciardo started kart racing at age 9. This YouTube video shows Daniel Ricciardo talking about how the show Drive To Survive on the map in the US.
I think this media is incredibly truthful. You get behind the scenes with the drivers, the pit crew, even the lead engineers for the teams. The only team housed in the US since 1986, and Team Principal 
Guenther Steiner (pictured above) has become an iconic figure in the F1 scene since the release of Drive To Survive season 1. In this video, it mainly shows the Haas pit team, and their success in the qualifying, but ultimately the Haas driver both do not finish the race.
I don’t believe that the series leaves anything unanswered, as the go from the start of the season to the end, which also means nothing is left out as they go into detail and cover most if not all teams and drivers. The only thing I think is misrepresented is the fact of how difficult it is to become a Formula One driver, and stay in Formula One. One season you could be the lead driver for a bad team, but next year comes around and if you aren’t performing well, the team has all the right to get rid of a driver at any point if they are underperforming. With that being said, another thing they leave out is how cutthroat the sport is. Nobody cares how good you were last season, if you aren’t doing well now then it doesn’t matter, same goes for the pit members, engineers, even the leaders on F1 teams.
To bring it all together, I think that the Netflix exclusive series Drive To Survive is a form of media that depicts reality to the most exact detail. They don’t leave much out and are pretty truthful and trustworthy because of how in depth they go, and the perspective the show is help from.
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