Thursday, July 26, 2007

Man vs. Wild not real? Another hero with clay feet.

I am shocked, shocked to hear that the Man vs. Wild show is not as authentic as it is portrayed. The premise of the show is that Bear Grylls, an ex British special forces soldier, is dropped into various wilderness situations from the tropics to the alps, from islands to deserts. He then uses his knife and the various sticks and twigs, if available, around him to survive and get back to civilization.

The show is filmed somehow. One of the most annoying questions I ask when we are watching the show is who is filming the action. Often the shots are Gryllis holding the camera but the far away from him shots are not still like on a tripod, someone is carrying the camera. Apparently the crew goes and stays in motels each night, and perhaps so does Gryllis.
"Bear Grylls had partaken of indoor accommodations on at least two occasions when his series had depicted him spending the night in the wild."
There are also accusations that the rafts and other stuff he builds as part of his survival are built by the crew for him.
"But among the charges made against Grylls is that a raft he is depicted as having built himself actually was constructed and then disassembled by consultants to the show in order for the host to put it together. In another episode, Grylls happens upon what are referred to as wild horses that were said to be brought in from a trekking station."
Now I wasn't copying down all the tips during the show in case I was ever in a "survival" situation, maybe I was, but now that information is suspect. I am so crushed.

2 comments:

whirdly said...

It's silly that he would take a dip in ice-cold water for the cameras, but he wouldn't spend every night in the wild in order to make the show authentic?

Richard said...

That's show biz. I have always thought that the term reality show doesn't mean that the show is a documentary. It seems to just reflect a class of shows that is trying to give the impression that it is filming unscripted events, but we all know that isn't true.