MovieChat Forums > Man vs. Wild (2006) Discussion > Who Cares If Some Thing Are Staged?

Who Cares If Some Thing Are Staged?

posted 13 years ago by joeltrunks
4 replies | jump to latest

I'm a recent show watcher, I've been through all of S1 and have been through a majority of S2.

Now of course there are a lot of things which a logical person can muster through train of thought which may be staged for entertainment purposes, like:

- Bear only having one dangerous way to cross something, then the Camera Crew easily being over it in the next shot.

- When Bear is climbing something he has a handheld camera and talks about what he's climbing for or w/e, but on the external shots of him climbing he isn't holding one (implying they had multiple takes of him climbing up it, unless he kept throwing the handheld back and forth :P)

- Always finding a safe exit of his environment by the end of episode (not always large human settlements, may just be a boat or camp site he 'luckily' came across).

- He's already admitted to not spending the whole night in his shelters, "The night stuff [shown on camera] is all done for real. But when I’m not filming I stay with the crew in some sort of base camp.' Episodes now clarify when Grylls gets support from his crew and when situations are staged, 'We should have done that from the start,' he says. 'The more you see, the more real it feels."

Some of the things he teaches are of use, but I'm sure you wouldn't remember a majority of the plant / animal information (in terms of what's healthy to eat and what is dangerous) and I'm sure most wouldn't attempt the dangerous stunts.

Despite all of this I just find the show compelling to watch and Bear is just a very likeable person, this is a wonderful source of entertainment and I don't actually think a majority of its viewers intend to get trapped in the wild at any point (or would even be in a situation where that would be a result).

[–] jmsocool 12 years ago

I care if it's staged. If it appears that Bear did something by himself, when the crew actually helped him, such as building a raft, then it's misleading and dangerous. Let's say I'm in a survival situation, I want to try to get down a river to where people are. I'll build a raft like Bear did. It took him an hour, ok, I'm not Bear, but I should be able to do it in 2 hours or so. So I start building the raft, time is passing, the sun is going down, by the time I finish the raft, it's been 4 or more hours, because I didn't have a crew helping me. By now it's dark, too dangerous to try going down the river (because of rocks), and I don't have a shelter, or fire. If I had known he had a crew helping him, I would have figured out that I couldn't finish the raft in two hours, and I would have left sufficient time to build a shelter and fire to get through the night.

And why doesn't Bear spend the whole night in his shelter? The crew is close by, so if a truly dangerous situation comes up, he'll be okay. Is he afraid to be in the shelter by himself? If he wakes up alone from a bad dream will he start crying?

Watch Survivorman. Les Stroud does it ALL himself. He's his own camera crew. He builds shelters, finds food and water, finds his way out of dangerous situations, and films the whole thing HIMSELF. The simple fact is that Bear isn't MAN enough to survive truly on his own.

"My girlfriend sucked 37 d*cks!"
"In a row?"

[–] laurensdn 12 years ago

Do you honestly believe that either of them can take the risk of being in an actual life threatening situation? They're supposed to make it through to the end of the season so of course they will have some kind of backup and try and avoid unnecessary risks. It may be staged, but that doesn't make it fake or invalid information, because I certainly remembered a couple of useful things here and there. That said, I would then prefer to watch the most entertaining show, which is Man Vs. Wild.

Also, you don't prove anything by claiming that someone who climbed to the top of Mt. Everest isn't manly enough.

[–] fastguy45 12 years ago

Your first clue that it is all an act should have been the first time he flies into a location then makes a big deal about finding a high point to "get mah bearings". He just surveyed the whole area from the air.

[–] thepartydjz 12 years ago

"Some of the things he teaches are of use" that statement is absolutely false, if you can say that "Bear" actually "teaches" anything, which is rubbish, then you can say that he teaches you what NOT TO DO. DO NOT jump into a high fast river with extremely cold water, just don't do this, you are risking your life unnecessarily.

How does Bear teach anything? The show mainly shows him climbing around or crawling, I already know how to do that. This program is a JOKE and very irresponsible, if young people think that Bear is a teacher then try something stupid and get hurt who is to blame?