So, the new trend seems to be this so-called reality based television shows. You know the ones where people are surviving some in some jungle or desert for weeks at a time. They even had one where cameras were installed throughout a house so that the world at large could tune in at any time and see how other people did exciting things like, brush their teeth or heat soup. Boy, is this entertainment at it’s finest! I can’t think of anything I’d rather do that to clear my social calendar so I could stay at home to see someone wash socks and underwear. I’m sure we are all just thrilled out of our minds thinking about being able to listen in on someone while they’re having an argument.
Makes me want to rush home every night, as I’m sure it does you. How exciting, it just doesn’t get any better than this. Give me a break. First off, the survivor program isn’t in real time. It isn’t live. It’s been taped weeks in advance. Secondly, how tough is it to survive the dangers of the jungle, desert, whatever when there is an entire film crew within 15 feet of you at all times? You know those guys aren’t eating lizards and rats. They have contracts that take care of them. They have made provisions for medical emergencies. They don’t live in tents or shelters. So it’s not like these folks are just dropped off on some remote island and left to fend for themselves without any outside help of any sort.
Now, in my opinion, a real survivor show would have the contestants dropping out of a plane into some remote and desolate spot with just the barest of tools and materials. In fact, I think I’d split the tools up, so that everyone would have to join together or work out some deal to cooperate in order to exist. Give the matches to Sarah. Let Tom have the knife. That kind of deal. Also, I’d make certain there was an element of danger by having bears or something equally menacing in the area. Sort of like, you don’t do well; you get to be lunch for the local’s sort of thing. I don’t think we still have cannibals any longer, but maybe we could rent some for a short period of time just to spice things up. And what kind of a program votes to see who stays and who have to leave? Call me crazy, but I always thought the people that actually managed to survive the longest would be the winners, not the person that was the most popular or who could sing the best. Makes me think about the voting process…what did they score you on? How well you built your lean-to or if your raw fish dish was tasty and had the right presentation?
Personally, I think if they want to see survivors, then send in some camera crews into some of our nursing homes and interview some of those people. Take some guy 85 or 90 years old and let him talk about surviving. He’s gone through 2 world wars, a depression, probably made the leap from a horse and buggy to rockets to the moon. Was alive when you died from smallpox or whopping cough. Didn’t have a microwave or a computer for the first 60 or 70 years of their life. Now, there’s a real survivor living it out among us. Maybe do follow-ups on what happens at the local Wal-Mart or K-mart when there’s a sale going on…..People who survive those things deserve some form of recognition. That would be more real than anything I’ve seen so far. As usual, send kindly comments to me at www.pearyperry.com.
