Bear Grylls Gets Called Out
Published by Joel July 23rd, 2007.More and more “Man vs. Wild” is looking totally fake, at least as far as any real “survival” is concerned. [BBC]
Where every man is king.
Where every man is king.
More and more “Man vs. Wild” is looking totally fake, at least as far as any real “survival” is concerned. [BBC]
I have to say that I’m still addicted to this show and will continue to watch. I know it’s television and some of it will be manipulated, but it doesn’t matter. When I watch Bear scale a wall like a monkey, eat directly from a zebra carcass, or drink water from a pile of elephant dung…you can’t fake that. Well, I guess you can, but I still don’t care. It’s just pure entertainment. It’s called television.
Goddamnit. I love that show, and I’m sort-of-homo for Bear. I hope the show isn’t completely fake. The guy seems like such a total badass.
3 years in the SAS, broke his back, then climbs Everest a year later — the youngest Briton to do so at the time. This year he broke a world record flying a paraglider over the Himalayas, dealing with temperatures of -60C and going to almost 30,000 feet. He’s done plenty of other things besides.
Whether the programme had some faked elements, it doesn’t change the fact that he *is* a total badass.
Steve: Actually, you *can* fake that. He’s been caught at least three times wearing climbing gear on his MvW climbs. The camera tries to hide it, but occasionally a rope or harness slips through. There’s lots and lots of camera magic. I love how in Ecuador his incorrectly made rope from green fibers magically gets transformed into a correctly made rope of brown fibers in a blink of an eye, and how his Rocky Mountains life vest appears and disappears in a blink of an eye.
You can fake a lot by messing with the camera.
Sure, he’s willing to do gross things, so let’s call it what it is: “Jackass: Wilderness Edition”. Let’s not pretend that it’s a person surviving, or that good survival tips are being given. Example: gotta love the logic of drinking from elephant dung rather than “polluted” water (polluted because there’s a turtle in it so long dead that its shell is crumbling). I.e., drinking a bacterial concentrate rather than a dilute solution. You know, Bear, most waterborne diseases come from the fecal-oral route; no need to help them spread ;)
Television shows, scout jamborees or the encyclopedic memorization of survival techniques will not guarantee your survival in a situation that demands it. In too many well documented instances the people who “should have survived” expired within hours while 15 year-old girls wearing skirts and high heels walk out of jungles days or weeks later.
It’s TV. Enjoy it or turn it off.
“The programme explicitly does not claim that presenter Bear Grylls’ experience is one of unaided solo survival.”
I don’t care one way or the other about the fakiness, but how exactly do you explicitly NOT claim something?
Even if it is “FAKE” or not, Bear Grylls is still an amazing adventurer and survivor. He still does crazy ass adventures in real life and sets world records. All he’s trying to do is educate people on how to survive. and its TV! let entertainment be entertainment. Who cares if he gets help with things cuz he’s still doing really amazing things with no help, like flying up to Everest or crossing frozen oceans. Thoses are World Records and that cant be faked. Bear Grylls is the man weather you think he’s fake or not. Just go check out his website.
You guys are freakin crazy….even if this was as choreographed as the London ballett….this guy is still a badass….
He crossed the Atlantic in freezing conditions on an open rubber boat….and climbed Everest….I am confident that most of the people criticizing him can barely climb off their butts to go to the fridge. This guy is in top shape and is totally a survivor….get over it…it is entertainment and education not a documentary…
I love this guy….
It almost sounds like we’ve upset some people who work for him.
As more and more things keep occurring in the world. I find it more necessary to have some basic survival skills and some quality survival gear.
I studied survival extensively in the 1980’s so I am in a position to know something on the topic. The overwhelming majority of the survival tips presented by Bear are superb. Yes of course some of the scenes are choreographed so that the program can depict certain specific survival oriented activities. I don’t have a problem with that practice since the tips are still educational and of use to the student of survival.
I agree with Karen in that drinking the water squeezed from animal dung is terribly dangerous and not something that I would care to do under any circumstances.
I also disagree with the way he tends to take horrible risks in some of his climbs on the program because most survival students will end up getting killed if they attempt such dangerous climbing techniques. I realize that his climbing experience makes the activity something that the program would want to exploit, however it would be a greater service to the survival student to tell them to always avoid such climbs and find a safer path. Such climbs should be attempted only as a last resort of desperation unless you are an accomplished climber.
Yes, he has to have some support. After all, somebody must be there to film it all. I suppose there is help there, but I feel they must be there just to pull it off!
Either way, he’s still a stud! He has got to be in great shape to do all the things he does, even with help Give him a break! I’d like to see you complainers do half the stuff he does.
Yea, I admire him for what he does.
Steve
I don’t get it… At the begining of the show - there are few words - that the show is made not in one shot, but, like a film. Mean - there were a lot of shots. And they also say that there is spesial helpers - like doctors, other specialists… They don’ t make a mystery of it.. So wat’s the problem??? It’a an educational show - not like ‘big brother’.
And i love this show!!!
bear grylls is the shit, he does this as a job you cant expect him to do all this by himself and carry the camera and get these great action shots and hey if he wants to stay in a hotel let him i would instead of sleeping in a quick made bed of leaves, the guy can climb any cliff. hes 100% badass.