Bear Grylls is not quite a survivor

[zenheretic]

Hopefully someone who actually knows the British military can set us straight.

 

[enderwiggin]

This show is NOT presented as fiction. "Bear" is NOT presented as a fictional character being played by an actor. They go out of their way to publicize his credentials in order to support the notion that he is a credible source when it comes to wilderness survival.

Comparisons to television fiction are weak and irrelevant. A better comparison would be to other "how to" shows. Bob Villa used his own name and gave specific advice. He was not "acting" per se. Tim Allen played Tim Taylor and ACTED like the host of a tool show. If you can't see the difference, the knitting needles are probably too little, too late.

-- FLIX

Well said. It's disappointing that many people seem to want to argue this point, or insult those who think it's kind of a problem the show is presented as something it isn't.

Of course, you do have to take things with a grain of salt to watch something like, say, The Sarah Silverman Program, but this is something else entirely.

 

[hikeeba]

Wow, this thread is still chugging along pretty well.

I said it earlier, and I'll say it again: If anyone was watching MvW as a bonefide guide to wilderness survival, I feel sorry for you, and recommend you get some books.

From the first time I viewed MvW, I suspected that some of the situations were staged. But that didn't bother me. Bear illustrates concepts and techniques for dealing with given situations. Period. Sure, they throw his credentials around, and depict him as dealing with saprtan appointments, but the mere fact that he has a crew with him should set off the bells and whistles that it isn't a 'real' survival adventure. Hello, do you think he needs to be filmed stating that he believes there's 'something big' outside his lean-to, and that he needs to get out of there ASAP? And does one really think, with his jumping experience, that he'd risk his life and put his chute in a tree, and get out of that completely unscathed? And have you noticed how early in each episode Bear smears dirt all over his face? C'mon now people...

MvW is infotainment. He conveys tips about getting out a particular situation, and entertains by going through most of the motions. It's a safe approach to dangerous subject. Not living off the land, but getting out of an unexpected situation. He shows 'extreme' concepts that most people wouldn't think of doing, but if death was on the line, squeezing crap for the water content could save a life.

And I applaud Bear on his selection of commonly available knives. I once saw an episode of 'I Shouldn't Be Alive,' where the jungle survival expert toted a $7 Frosts Cutlery machete for the entire episode. Not a uber-super-steel elite blade, but a discount, 'junk' steel piece. It worked.


Poor Bear... He has done the worst thing that you can possibly do in the Western world... He hurt peoples feelings. I feel bad that so many feelings were hurt by the fact that some of the elements of MvW are staged. I don't want this to happen, but I'm afraid that Bear's days on TV are numbered. If this controversy does lead to the demise of his show, I'm sure he'll be able to turn the negative into a positive on the motivational speaking circuit.

I always took what Bear did with a few grains of salt. The current allegations neither surprise nor disappoint me. I'll continue to watch Bear.

 

[ChadHahn]

When you watch A&E and they are doing a show on James Dean and there are scenes of James Dean doing something the show prefaces with a disclaimer that scenes are re-enacted.

Now I could figure out that the A&E Biography was staged, but if they have to state that it is, why doesn't Bear?

Chad

 

[xdshooter]

Poor Bear... He has done the worst thing that you can possibly do in the Western world... He hurt peoples feelings. I feel bad that so many feelings were hurt by the fact that some of the elements of MvW are staged.

No, you got it wrong. He didn't hurt our feelings. We love Bear, that is, we love to hate him. We rake Bear through the muck, because he is trying to tell us he raking himself through the muck. Nothing more American than that.

For example, go to a baseball game, let say there is a runner on first. The pitcher throws to first to hold the runner on. He throws over again, and again. The crowd starts to boo. Why? Did the pitcher hurt the crowds feelings? Maybe according to you, but the truth is the crowd is having fun booing the pitcher. Having fun, not being sad.

So in a way, Bear is the opposing team, the outsider, the Tony Clifton of survival. He is the man we love to hate.

later
xdshooter

 

[hikeeba]

Ha! Point well taken, xdshooter! When you put it in the baseball context, I can understand completely. I respect the opinion of another XD shooter.

 

[amiga]

Wow, this thread is still chugging along pretty well.

I said it earlier, and I'll say it again: If anyone was watching MvW as a bonefide guide to wilderness survival, I feel sorry for you, and recommend you get some books.

He starts every episode with something along the lines of "I will show you how to survive..." then he jumps down from cliffs, swims under some unknown stuff to unknown distance, risks his life with almost every step he takes, all in the name of "i'll show you what to do in a survival situation". We as survival enthusiasts, hobbyists know what to do in such siituations, we know he shows us the wrong things, but most of the viewers don't know and maybe one time they will use this wrong knowledge. This is what wrong with him. I don't know what is so hard to understand in this.

From the first time I viewed MvW, I suspected that some of the situations were staged. But that didn't bother me. Bear illustrates concepts and techniques for dealing with given situations.

He illustrates them very badly, he don't know the proper techniques, constantly giving bad advices.

MvW is infotainment. He conveys tips about getting out a particular situation, and entertains by going through most of the motions. It's a safe approach to dangerous subject.

Yeah, safe for HIM, because he uses safety harness, and ropes and all that, but somehow he forgot to mention this facts...

 

[redbones]

is bear an expert survival dude?
no, but he did stay at a holiday inn express.

 

[LittleHairyApe]

I appreciate the fact that nearly everyone wants to give Bear a break of some kind, but it's pretty well documented that the show isn't even infotainment. There are a couple of pretty good websites listed earlier in this or one of the other Bear threads. There's Bearwiki and another one that I can't think of the name of right now that dissect the show with pictures as well as words. It's really not controversial whether or not Bear and Diverse were being, even by Hollywood standards, deceptive. It's so bad the Discovery Channel pulled it without comment. It's gone.

Now there's a new story about the guy in the bear suit during the Rocky Mountains episode. Come on! They spent a lot of minutes from that episode on grizzly-related information that was based on pure fiction. Add that to the fake wild horses, the fabricated raft, the roadkill snake, the small animals being sacrificed for nothing, etc. and what do you have left. The mistakes. That's not much to base a show on. Fakery and mistakes based on misinformation.

And one more thing.

I like animals, particularly rabbits, and these beautiful harmless little critters are being sacrificed for nothing. Period. Nothing. If my family and I were starving, I'd kill and eat rabbits in a heartbeat, but I wouldn't do it for laughs. Bear is never in much danger, never goes hungry, never goes without a nice shave or a clean shirt, and so on, so guess what. I'm not watching. It's just pointless cruelty. I'm no bleeding heart, but I know cruelty when I see it. All joking aside, this is a shitty way to make harmless infotainment.

 

[MG_Saldivar]

Many of us on this forum were surprised, even before the latest Bear controversies, that Discovery was selling Season 1 of Survivorman for less than $20 while MvW was being sold on multiple DVDs with two eps per disk for about $20 each...

I just noticed a new 'anthology' version of Season 1 of the show is about to be released... Selling the "stock" before it crashes...?

At the risk of sounding COMPLETELY like a conspiracy theorist: I note that Discovery's online store is selling all MvW eps produced to date in a "Season 1" set for $40. Could Discovery be positioning itself to say, "We only aired one season of MvW... Please don't sue us..."?

 

[okbohn]

is bear an expert survival dude?
no, but he did stay at a holiday inn express.

Now THAT is funny

 

[Guyon]

I was driving to work this morning and noticed a large number (well over a 100) of what initially looked like office workers strolling about in freshly cut field. As I got closer I realized they were a film crew. I've never seen so many in one place before. I pulled over to watch for few minutes and something caught my eye above me at an 11:00 position. Falling from the sky was Bear Grylls with feathers coming off a parachute fashioned from old Kroger bags and some kite twine. He held a turkey vulture in his hands. He crashed into the ground about 30 feet from me and about 3 feet away from a large hay bale. Not more than 5 seconds after he hit the ground, a huge hawk landed on the hay bale and stared at Bear's vulture. Bear immediately jumped up, grabbed the hawk by the legs, and bit its head off. I missed his precise grabbing technique.......DAMNIT! I slowly moved around my vehicle to grab my camera but I must have spooked him because he took off running into the woods, blood dribbling down his chin. The 100 or so members of his film crew trailed behind him.

I wish I would have seen his grip but it was still a nice way to start the day.

Someone needs to put a leash on this guy...

 

[nemoaz]

but most of the viewers don't know and maybe one time they will use this wrong knowledge. This is what wrong with him. I don't know what is so hard to understand in this.

+1... a thousand times again. People do what they see on TV. People bought stupid knives with hollow handles after Rambo. I suspect people will drink piss/shit or eat rancid meat then try to rappel down cliffs with grapevines after seeing Moron vs. Wild.

 

[Guyon]

People don't emulate fake, stupid acts they see on television? Acts that are clearly for "entertainment only"?

hmmmmmm..............

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backyard_wrestling

 

[storl]

People don't emulate fake, stupid acts they see on television? Acts that are clearly for "entertainment only"?

hmmmmmm..............

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backyard_wrestling

Not to mention the kids who recreated the human BBQ stunt on Jackass and forgot the whole "fireproof suit" part. Like it has been said a thousand times before in this thread and everywhere else, it is not that people are trying to recreate dumb stunts that they seen a known group of idiots like the Jackass crew do, it is that a show billed as expert advice on a survival situation is giving advice that could get someone killed.

 

[Kirk D]

And there's more:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001320029-2007350072,00.html

TV Bear 'faked' grizzly attack

July 30, 2007

SURVIVAL expert Bear Grylls faked a bear attack by getting a colleague to dress up as one in fancy dress, it was claimed yeterday.

The star of TV’s Born Survivor was filmed creeping out of a tent in a bear-infested forest, nervously looking at a shadow moving a few yards away.

Back inside shelter Grylls, 33, says: “It might well have moved away, but sure as hell it knows I’m here.”

But an adviser for the Discovery Channel documentary, shown on Channel 4 last year, claimed the sinister shadow was a fake.

Ron Hood said programme makers asked him to find a bear suit when plans to hire a tame grizzly for the shot fell through.

Mr Hood added: “They decided they wanted to somehow dramatise the attack on the shelter.”

A Discovery spokesman insisted that the pantomime outfit was hired as a prank by the crew — and no footage which included the bear costume was broadcast.

Last week it emerged Grylls does not sleep rough in the woods during episodes of Born Survivor but instead stays in hotels.

and, Survivorman mentioned a LITTLE about Bear:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001320029-2007350072,00.html

I have to ask you about the recent Bear Grylls controversy about him supposedly staying in hotels. Do you think it casts a bad shadow on survival documentaries like yours?
It doesn't cast a shadow on mine, because his is completely different. I'm not there when he makes his show. I've never met Bear, I have nothing to do with that production, so I can't comment on the allegations. If they are true then, as any other viewer, I'm disappointed. I just continue to go out and do what I do and survive on my own and give truest representation of survival that I feel is possible as filmmaker. I don't let that other stuff worry me or get into my psyche.

So you aren't worried that people will be skeptical about how real your show is?
Worried? No. Are the lines going to get blurred? Yeah, that's the business. So I just keep my [goal] in sight and people that watch my show will go, "Stroud's the real deal man. He really does it." End of story. I have very strict orders to my production team. If something goes really wrong during the week, say all my cameras [stop working] ... they are under orders to come in and quarantine me from any and all food, water, aid and assistance. They straighten out the problem and get it over as quickly as possible so I can get back to my zone. I have a safety crew out there, but it is very strict. I tell them, 'I don't want to know you exist.' There are going to be technical issues along the way, but I've got to stay in my zone and stay true to my promise to survive a week alone.

 

[Wgpauto]

TV ain't always what it seems to be. I think the URL to your link sums it all up Entertainment..

 

[Siggyhk]

Anyone notice when Survivorman was putting together the fishing line in the swamp, (spring, rope, bubble gum, credit card) that the rope he was using seemed to become an actual fishing line out of nowhere?

 

[amiga]

Anyone notice when Survivorman was putting together the fishing line in the swamp, (spring, rope, bubble gum, credit card) that the rope he was using seemed to become an actual fishing line out of nowhere?

Didn't noticed. It looks like ordinary 3mm climbing utility cord.

 

[MG_Saldivar]

It looks like Bear has chosen to respond to criticism by publicizing attacks on his critics...

Re: the recent press accusations of motels and stagings in the show that have been doing the rounds, all I can say is they don't always tell the full story, but that’s life and part of being in the public eye I guess.

The upshot is we’re determined to make all new shows more inclusive of the crew and their role. Discovery and Channel 4 will also include a disclaimer at the start of the show so there's no confusion....

"No confusion" about "I will show you how to survive?"

Ps here are a few nice letters from fellow explorers who know me best.
Thanks guys.

Sir,

The recent alleged "revelations" that Bear Grylls stayed a night in a motel whilst on location filming for Man Vs Wild/Born Survivor and that some of his feats of endurance are being questioned for authenticity, leaves me irritated.

Should we really allow jealous local survival experts, past their sell-by-date adventurers and disloyal expedition organisers the time of day in print to attempt to discredit a man attempting things most of us wouldn't dream of doing and providing great entertainment on the small screen to boot...


Neil Laughton
Chairman, Office Projects Ltd
(World 7 Summiteer)