Wednesday, July 25, 2007

man vs television....and chipmunks

Part of my morning routine is to drink some fresh brewed java while checking e-mail and reading a few newspapers/news links online. I had to laugh this morning at peoples' reactions to this article on aol: http://news.aol.com/entertainment/television/story/_a/wild-grylls-not-so-manly-after-all/20070724065109990001

Basically, the article is about the show "Man vs. Wild" with host Bear Gryllis. If you haven't seen it, the show has Gryllis out in the wild, explaining survival techniques if you were lost in various wilderness environments. The article points out that some people are accusing Gryllis of having not actually slept out in the wild on at least two occasions, even though the show implies that he is really roughing it.

The first thing that humors me is that people are actually shocked that a television show would depict one thing (Gryllis actually roughing it for multiple nights in the wild) that is contradictory to reality (he slept for a couple of those nights in a hotel). The second thing is that, according to the poll in the article, most people would stop watching this show because it's "misleading" and that it "lessens Gryllis' credibility".

Come on people, it's television. You actually believe everything people dish out to you, especially on TV? Reality television is far from real. Also, the show is still the same thing: It's presenting what to do if you're lost in the wild. The survival skills don't change just because Gryllis stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. He's a television host, not an actual person lost in the wild. The shows producers would never want to truly put their host in danger. A survival show in which the host does not survive: now THAT'S losing credibility.
And now for a public service announcement:

WHEN IN THE WILD, BEWARE OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN ATTACK CHIPMUNK. THESE WILD CREATURES HAVE BEEN KNOW TO ILLICIT "OOHS" AND "AWWWS" AT A MOMENTS NOTICE, AND ARE SNEAKY ENOUGH TO SWIPE CHEETOS AND PRETZELS FROM UNSUSPECTING TOURISTS. BEWARE!!!!

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