[pct-l] Man vs Wild

[Broc Mohon]

It does clearly say in the disclaimer before each show that some of the
situations are presented to Bear so he can demonstrate survival techniques.
In other words... They're simulated! So yeah, it's scripted. Even the so
called reality shows are scripted. Duh... It's TV! No producer would ever
invest money into something that didn't have some kind of script or plan.
Not to mention all of the FCC's regulations...  How else would you fit all
of the necessary info into a one hour TV show if you didn't plan and edit?
It could be hours before he comes across the next thing he presents. But
since it's only a hour long show, they edited the footage down. Which might
explain why he finds everything so fast :)   No matter how hard any TV show
tries, they won't ever be able to recreate a real survival situation. And
you can't recreate a survival simulation without planning.

Survivor Man is scripted and edited, too. Being alone is more realistic, but
it's also the bait to make a TV show seem more realistic. Les always has
time to prepare to be "stranded". Les always consults the locals and
experts for info before he gets dropped off somewhere.  Les always knows
that he has a week (which is closer to 6 days) before a scheduled meeting to
pick him takes place. Les always knows exactly where that scheduled meeting
place is. Les always has a way to be found just in case. These TV shows are
only for PRESENTING survival techniques. You do whatever it takes if you
want to survive. There is no one way of doing it. It's right if you survive,
and wrong if you don't. What he does seems ridiculous to most of everybody
because most of everybody has never been in a life or death situation in the
wilderness.

p.s. Who cares about the man's military career. Why hate on the man and
downgrade his life? He brings up his military career because of the training
he received. Even if it was in the reserves, he still has the training and
experience that most of everybody doesn't. I know that his training was more
advanced than any US basic training. And I never read any self proclamations
about being a war hero, either. At least it doesn't say that anywhere on his
own site.



The guy has a camera crew following him through the river rapids. Need we
say more?

He always seems to find everything he needs, usually right when he needs it.
Old goat carcass? Hey, I'll grab the skin, it could come in handy - oh look,
I can use this skin to make a paddle. I'm hungry - oh look, here are some
edible slugs, took me 30 seconds to find them.

For the record, I love the show. But it's pretty clearly scripted. I'm sure
he's mapped out every inch of the terrain in advance and figured out how to
approach it. So nope, not a place to learn survival skills. But it is
entertaining.

Jay