Represent WTF: Reality TV Rant – Kidneys???
Did you watch Fear Factor this week? WTF??? It was absolutely frightening. Three contestants had to lie half-naked in a hole covered in huge scorpions that crawled all over them, stung them and clawed their bodies. Only one of the contestants – a guy – managed to remain in place for 2.5 minutes, the other two women screamed blood curdling murder and had to be removed from the pit as they got more and more hysterical. They freaked out completely! It seemed that the organisers had to ‘introduce’ another task to give the women another chance at winning – but more than likely to placate them. With those noomphie facial expressions and sarcastic tones, they were p-d off of note. So would I be. Damn those things were scary.
Then today I read about a Dutch reality TV show that has just been given the green light to go on air where “a terminally ill woman is to select one of three contestants to receive her kidneys when she dies” read more in the UK Guardian here. WTF???
One has to ask the question – does Reality TV have a sell-by-date – will EVERYONE bore of it like one does with anything they have too much of? What about the moral grounds of Reality TV – I find it an extremely morbid notion that a nation could be captured by a dying woman making a choice about who will save her. Especially if you’re someone else in her position that doesn’t have that choice. Or are we being too petty? Just how far can we go? The Dutch have always been renowned for their liberalism, particularly social, but what kind of a society gets it’s kicks out of someone else’s pain and debilitating medical condition. Will viewers find entertainment in the show or is it a purely voyeuristic attraction – letting someone else’s sad life make you feel better about yourself?
On a more cheerful note, a little birdie tells us the filming of Survivor 2 on an island off Malaysia is nearly over – we’re looking forward to round two. We’re such a unique (some would say screwed up) society that watching us interact is high entertainment! We’re sure we’ll soon meet the contestants.
And on a brighter than bright (lol) note there’s the Surf Fashion Your Future program that features one of Represent’s good friends – John Sithole – you will remember we supported John when he was starting out a few years back with our “Lotto Jeans” project which had great results (Sharpile to all of you again!). Apparently it’s a wannabe Project Runway, that features a number of young SA fashion designers all vying for the grand prize.
Sadly, we have not even been able to view a single episode of this show – not only because we couldn’t get clear info about when it was on but also because it’s in a totally obscure daytime slot. How can we have a show that is showcasing the brilliant creativity of our young designers on “SABC 2 on Mondays, 2.45pm – 3pm and will be repeated on Tuesdays, 11.45am – 12 noon.” Read more here. WTF???? Guys please support this show if you can (or are unemployed and watch daytime tv). Start a group on Facebook or something. Anything!
AND JOHN – from all of us at Represent – GOOD LUCK MFO!!! We always have been and always will be behind you. REPRESENT!
