Discovery’s “Man vs. Wild” sounded like my kind of show. That is until I caught my first episode, “Sierra Nevada,” and spent the entire time yelling at the TV.
In this episode, host Bear Grylls, acts as if he’s dropped from a plane into the middle of the High Sierra and must make his way alone across many miles, unaided, to the foothills to survive.
What I observed looked more like a camera crew guiding a crazed British underwear model through a photoshoot in the woods.
Is this survival TV or ‘Fantasy Island?’
First off, Bear was ’stranded’ in the Sierra National Forest, a little more than a dozen miles from where I grew up, in locations listed by the Madera County Film Commission and photographed for the brochures given out by the Visitors Bureau. Many of shots were framed to getting any of the well-worn jeep trails in the shot. Now that would just spoil the illusion of being ‘lost,’ wouldn’t it!
Undoubtedly, he used these same jeep trails to get across the mountain by vehicle. It’s just too far to walk between each of his shooting locations and for the light to stay consistent. Yet it was portrayed to the audience as ‘real-time.’
Instead of survival, Bear seemed more concerned about finding excuses to remove his clothing and display his gym-toned body. For instance, he begins the episode by parachuting into a lake, and immediately stripping to his skivvies to “get dry.” Later on, he spends several hours building a makeshift raft so that he could hang off the side and into the freezing waters of a river only several feet deep, beating himself up on the bottom. He travels only a fraction of the distance one could on foot given the same amount of time, but he emerges from the banks dripping wet and ready to put himself on display once more. The ladies watching with me told me to hush, but who can take this seriously?
These criticisms would sound harsh if it weren’t for Bear’s constant monologue about the risks he’s taking and the supposed danger of the situation. What a posuer!
So kudos to Andrew Wallenstein of the Hollywood Reporter for exposing the soft underbelly of the survival show in ‘Man vs. Wild’ now Truth vs. Deception.
Grylls may be tough, but his show is just silly.
For useful Sierra survival tips call up the Southern Yosemite Mountain Guides. They’re the ones who guided Grylls and his crew for this episode, and they’re the real deal.
