May
12
Last week, USAToday.com ran an article about the recent phenomenon of reality shows depicting gruelling and seemingly impossible challenges/job/etc… I’ve got to admit, I’m a fan of several of these shows. My favorite is by far Survivorman. I believe Les Stroud to be the “real deal” when it comes to knowing how to make it in the most challenging of conditions. Some of the others have more of a shock-and-awe factor that I think appeals to many today, especially the 18-34 year old male viewers studio executives claim to gear these shows towards.
While reading the piece I got to wondering if there’s a deeper meaning to the facination and popularity of these shows than simply being entertaining. One TV exec mentioned:
“There’s a nostalgia and romance that speaks to where we were as a country and a desire to rally around our heritage. These shows help do that.”
Whatever happened to that heritage? Is it lost? What does it mean that today most of us are reduced to, as the article puts it, “live … vicariously” through these shows? Are we so lazy and detached from how life was 30 or 40 years ago? The obvious answer is yes. I know even just in my short lifetime, we as a population have become so used to our technical wonders that we’ve become oblivious to the simple pleasures of say camping in a tent. Instead we have to pack up the RV and head out to a campsite with indoor toilets and a clear view of the sky (not to stargaze, but to ensure satellite will work ok!).
In the article, Stroud says:
“There’s that ‘I wonder if I can do this?’ that speaks to all of us.”
I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds like a challenge. One I want to own. While I can’t expect to be able to do the crazy stuff Stroud is capable of, I can go camping… in a tent… without a laptop… I’ve been promising my wife a camp trip for a while now. Looks like I’ve run out of excuses and just have to do it. At least I have plenty of Mountain House. Can’t expect me to give up EVERY convenience right?
So what about you? What are you going to do? How about showing your kids, wife, friends, whoever! that you don’t have to watch actors to appreciate our frontier heritage.