With Survivor and the Amazing Race being on hiatus, I’m finding other reality shows to watch these days. Two of these reality genre shows stand out in my mind.
30 Days
Remember Morgan Spurlock, the guy who ate McDonald’s everyday for 30 days, thereby making himself fat and depressed? Well, he’s at it again, living a fish-out-of-water life for one month in 30 Days. Episodes like binge drinking and Christian in a Muslim family should make for some interesting documentaries.
This week’s episode involved Morgan and his girlfriend living on minimum wage for a month. They were forced to find cheap housing, live from paycheck to paycheck.
There was something peculiar about this episode. No doubt Morgan has made lots of money with Super Size Me, which was nominated for an Oscar. I’m sure he and his girlfriend have been living well off. It was somewhat laughable to see him scrounge enough money to pay the light bill. His girlfriend’s bellyaching over beans and rice…and crying over free furniture. Crocodile tears. The thing is they knew they were going to return to their normal rich lifestyles after a month. Rich lifestyles which are more extravagent than you or I have. So there was no need to get emotional about it. There was a way out for them after this social experiment was over. However many people on minimum wage have no way out. There is no way to truly experience minimum wage unless you are in that situation.
Morgan does have an agenda. In Super Size Me it was to show how unhealthy we as Americans are. In this episode of 30 Days it was how free healthcare is nonexistent. It was the emergency room visits which put Morgan over the top and into debt by the end of this hour long moral fairy tale. The moral of the story? Be thankful for what you have.
Hell’s Kitchen
Gordon Ramsay is a world renound chef. He’s been named Britain’s best chef several times in a row. Now he is master chef in the reality tv show, Hell’s Kitchen. 12 contestants will be put through the ringer. Last chef standing wins their own restaurant.
What is so funny about this show is the contestants came into the show knowing it was called “Hell’s Kitchen” and seemed to be surprised on how hard Ramsay was being on them. The early morning wake up calls; No air conditioning while cooking; The harsh language; the pressure of cooking at a fancy restaurant without any training whatsoever. Watching them cringe at the pressure was entertainment enough.
The week’s show had a patron at the restaurant vomiting at their table over the food. When was the last time you saw this happen? The truth is you don’t. Most people make it to the bathroom before puking. Plus no one actually eats enough bad food at a restaurant and pukes immediately at the table. The diner did it because the cameras were around. Milking it for drama purposes.
What is funny is that the service and food at Hell’s Kitchen has been poor several days in a row. You’d think that word would get around and it would be difficult to find patrons each night at the restaurant. Not so. The restaurant always has plenty of customers. Maybe its the chance to be supporting actors in the latest reality show. Maybe the food is free.
And a word about Dewberry. (Yes, that’s his real name.) This 33 year old bakery worker wants his own restaurant, yet we find out in the 2nd episode that he hates touching raw seafood (ie Squid). I foresee a problem here, Captain D.
Dewberry is a fallible human being. We’ve all felt as hopeless and helpless as Dewberry sometime in our life. Dewberry’s comment “[Ramsey] is trying to make me better than what I truly am” speaks volumes about his self-esteem. It is this self defeating attitude which is a self fulfilling prophecy. Dewberry was the 2nd person kicked off the show. No one, not even Dewberry, was surprised at this.
Hell’s Kitchen is Survivor in the kitchen. We see the contestants being yelled at and cracking over the pressure. All of this provides for some good entertainment, if not interesting drama.