August 22, 2007
Man vs. Truth
A few weeks ago we posted an article about Bear Grylls' show on the Discovery Channel called Man vs. Wild.
Bear and his show have come under fire for reportedly fudging some survival facts, and in some cases even giving potentially harmful and dangerous survival advice. The biggest eye opener for us was an episode where he stumbles upon a WILD HORSE in an open field. He spends the next 20 minutes hand braiding a bridle made of long grass so he can attempt to ride the WILD BEAST. He ultimately fails, and spooks the WILD HORSE, commenting that he should have spent all day trying to get the horse comfortable with him before attempting to ride it. Turns out, Bear rented the completely domesticated horse from a riding ranch down the street from where he was "surviving."
The show was originally aired on The BBC, who have since launched an investigation into these claims. For what it's worth, we had our own discussion of sorts here on clunkyrobot.com. We mostly came to the conclusion that while we like Bear as a television personality and bad ass survivalist, we are simultaneously insulted by his show's blatant lies.
Commenter Christian C. turned us onto this youtube video someone made exposing one of Bear's made-up survival situations for the joke that it really is.
Thanks Christian.
Still not convinced? Here is video that reportedly shows evidence of Bear wearing a life vest under his sweatshirt as he "white water rafts" using only his backpack as a floatation device. Now there's nothing wrong with being safe, but don't tell us you are doing something as dangerous as this, and then lie and cover up how you've protected yourself.
Finally, in our original post we mentioned Less Stroud and his competing survival show "Survivorman." Our general consensus was that Stroud's show is far less exciting than Bear's. Stroud mostly hunkers down for his 5 days of extreme survival, prompting some people to label his show "Campman." Even fans of Survivorman admit that his show seems more like a PBS program than a survival show. But at least it's REAL.
Always trust a Canadian over an Australian.
Posted by: cdubthebabyshooter at August 23, 2007 12:13 AMWait... who's the Australian? Canadians, with their flappy heads and beady eyes, are pretty easy to pick out.
Posted by: christian at August 23, 2007 11:12 AMSnap, I thought Bear was an Aussie but I read the Wiki on him and he's English. It also says he's a motivational speaker. I wonder if he fakes his way through that too?
Posted by: cdubthebabyshooter at August 23, 2007 2:40 PMI was contemplating Grylls' popularity in the real world the other day (Obviously, Stroud is the winner in the world of the interweb,) and I came to this conclusion:
Obviously, Grylls is the more exciting guy. Because he doesn't actually have to worry about starving or dehydrating, he can (fakely) do all of the (bogus) exciting stunts that people enjoy. Plus, he's hawt! I'd give him a quick HJ if he asked me to, and I don't even like dudes.
Since Stroud actually survives in the wilderness, he can only do a few shows a year, making him far less marketable. He's also not very attractive, and he complains a lot (because he's probably in pain or really hungry or dehydrated, things that actually happen to you in the wild,) which can be a big turnoff to all the milfs at home.
Posted by: rp at August 23, 2007 7:24 PMrp's got it
Posted by: clunky at August 23, 2007 10:25 PMIt was a bit of a let down to see bear with the floatation device on running the white water... but you'd have to be a nut job not to wear something like that and very desparate to run it in the wilderness in a survival situation.
rp... hahaha! HJ!!! hahaha...
but I do agree with your reflections. well done.
Blah, blah, blah, in case none of you have noticed, this show, Man vs. Wild, is about teaching people how to survive in the wild, not about who's wearing a life vest or who knows how to drink pee properly. Jeeze, get over it already.
Posted by: TJ at November 5, 2007 1:58 AM"...this show, Man vs. Wild, is about teaching people how to survive in the wild, not about who's wearing a life vest or who knows how to drink pee properly."
How can you argue with someone who contradicts their own statement IN ONE SENTENCE.
(those are both survival situations dude)
The show is fake, and attempts to trick people in hopes that they'll not be smart enough to figure it out. Agreed... Case closed, we're already over it.
Posted by: clunkyrobot at November 5, 2007 9:33 AMthe whole point of the show is suvival techniques. so even if some things are staged he does it for educational purposes. on the episode i watched today he was in the sahara and had a cobra placed there by the crew to show how to overcome being in that situation. people always look for a reason to tear someone down. ive learned a lot from the show. so what if he has to stage certain things. its educational tv, thats actually fun to watch
Posted by: Kyle at November 11, 2007 9:12 PMMR grills i like your show a lot just remember there peopple out there brain less.they will never understand about surviving.they just like to sit on a chair and critisites every thing.they dont even know how to survive in their own home.continue doing your shows. and you are a great person i had learn alots of things.thank you for showing some of your skills to viewer like me and others they dont understant that you are showing them the survival skills. on my side you got all my respect MR GRILLS let those brain less alone dont them no mind.your skills had show me so many thing that some i knew.but others i dint.what i care is the skills you teach.well MR GRILLS take care.keep your show.and i will like one day before i die to meet you personal i will be the happies person in the world. VERY,VERY TRUELY jaime. take care[MAN vs WILD]
Posted by: jaime at May 26, 2008 10:01 AM
