Reality TV Bull

Reality TV is common these days. Comes in a couple varieties, some will be a "day in the life of" type of deal, and some will be more like competitions. A lot of it is complete shit from the get go, stuff about spoiled rich kids or pregnant whores or well, Jersey Shore. Some can be alright in my opinion though, such as Pawn Stars, which I find entertaining. One of the 'competition' reality shows is called Mantracker. It may be a Canadian show that not many have seen, I'm not sure. The concept is actually pretty cool: two people, who are 'prey', set off with a map in some deep wilderness, and are to get to a certain point a few kilometers away within 48 hours. Meanwhile Mantracker, who is an old-school cowboy type guy, sets off after them intending to catch them, riding on horseback and using old tracking methods and bushcraft to figure out where they have been and where they are. The prey must evade Mantracker as they make their way to the goalpoint, and Mantracker must catch them before they do.

The program is shown from both perspectives in an hour long episode, and here is why it's bullshit: They are filmed by a camera crew at various angles as they run around, both prey and Mantracker. So..does Mantracker just pretend he doesn't notice the camera crew following his prey around tramping through the wild? Are we really supposed to believe he has to struggle to find them? Now, I watch wrestling which some would argue is the same type of thing, but the fact it's a scripted athletic performance and not real sports competition is not denied at every turn, there are multiple mentions of how this is the case in books by wrestlers, documentaries and commentary by people in the business. With Mantracker it's like they are really trying to convince people it's some reality TV contest where this guy has to struggle to find these people on the run and in hiding. But a camera crew just can't be ignored, come on now. If the prey were strictly self-filmed with their own cameras, then maybe, but they aren't; partially they are, but most of it is camera work by a crew. It's trying to take a bite out of the successful 'reality TV' racket without really being so, and I find that to be bullshit.

Has anyone else seen this show, or seen other glaring examples of a supposed reality TV show not being reality while trying to claim it?

 

I watch Hoarders to feel better about my own generally untidy ways, cause it's always not even a tenth as bad as what is on that show.

Although some of them are gross..like one where this woman collected bottles of her own waste in jars and left them around her house.

 

I used to watch Survivor too, I watched the first few seasons. It is an interesting idea. Recently I just can't bring myself to sit through it, I always find most of the people they pick to be irritating as hell.