Saturday, July 2, 2016

Is it all over when bloggers blog about tv? I kind of like it when other people do it. After all, it's not just about tv, it's about humanity, right? What they reveal, and what our responses reveal about us.

So... Naked and Afraid. Or rather, Butts and Whining, as I have renamed it. It's a survival show where two would-be amateur survivalists are dumped in some inhospitable tropical location where they strip, greet each other naked, and bring one item to help them survive (naked) for 21 days. In the beginning, they boast with all-American health and optimism, about how great their survival skills and personal resilience are.



Then they, to a man/woman, go to the said location which is more hellish than paradisical, get cut feet/infections, are savaged by biting bugs, can't light a fire in the monsoon, mostly fail to find stuff to eat and grow emaciated because they're living off not-enough coconuts. They bitch and whinge at each other a lot and cry about how horrible it is, and how they want to go home.

Now, my beef is not exactly with the whinging. It's a natural response to being in the situation. I too would whine, cry, and fail to kill things. I too would want to go home. The thing is, I know this, and subsequently not go on the show.

Last night took the biscuit. It featured a Californian girl who had PTSD because her friend had been killed in a robbery while she was abroad, and she wanted to ... well, survive something as therapy, I guess. She actually did pretty well, and I liked her overview - 'it's not that women can't do this, it's that you have to be a strong enough woman to do it'. Nice.

Her naked counterpart, on the other hand, was a Texan firefighter and hunter (he told us that a lot) who liked killin' things. He told us both of these things a lot, then failed to kill anything, until he beat a python to death with big stick right at the end of the experience. The primitive hunting skills of which he was so proud weren't hugely apparent, and to make matters worse, he bitched about needing to be the provider, because he was a man (And a firefighter) and that's how it's done in Texas. Women stay home and men kill stuff for them.

Which, you know, would have been ok, if he hadn't had massive tantrums about it. He dug for crabs and didn't find one. She had a go, caught one, whooped in triumph, and rather than share in it, he actually said 'Whatever. It's no big deal' in a sulky voice, and looked disgusted and near to tears. Later on, she (apparently) lost the firestarted he'd brought, so they had to tend a fire full time. She looked after it while he went to find food, but came back empty handed. Then she had a go, while he complained about having to tend the fire like a woman, while she was off 'having fun'. She came back with a fish, and he was furious, and refused to eat it.

Unbelievable.

She sat and talked to him, and took him to task about it, and he was quite humble. She asked him if he'd lied about his 'primitive hunting skills', he said no, and that was that - he was a little subdued after that.

But, Jesus. It was painful.

And some poor people have to go through each frame and blur out their genitals (and her breasts) in each one. For each show. Because beating a python to death is all good, but penises are scarring.

So his chauvinism was extreme, it's not always that bad (there's usually equal opportunity bluster and whining) but the outcome is pretty much the same. Demoralisation, mutual blame, emaciation and butts.

I'd love to see one where people actually made a go of it, and managed to get on better. It might restore my faith in humanity a bit.

But then, seeing as my skills are baking (when not under pressure), facebook and procrastination, I guess no one wants to watch my version of the show. I can do whining, though! 

4 comments:

Ms. Moon said...

I've never seen this show but I think that Mr. Moon watches it sometimes. I think the constant blurring would make me crazy.

Jo said...

I don't really register it, tbh. I suspect I might be distracted if bits were dangling in full view.

Lisa said...

I watched the show once. It was pretty much as you described.I wondered how much those people were actually getting paid.

Jo said...

Good question! I think people on reality shows often *don't*, but it's all kept a bit of a mystery, isn't it?