Regular readers of this blog – and there are one or two – may be aware that, although enjoyable, I thought that the recent Channel 4 series Born Survivor featuring Bear Grylls (and know in the US as Man vs. Wild) was probably a little misleading in the way that it was shot.
An example of this was the episode in the Florida everglades where Bear has to cross a river that he believes is probably infested with alligators. He tells us that he’s going to cross in the middle of the day when the sun’s at its highest, and alligators like to bask rather than seek prey. He also lets us know that he’s going to wait 45 minutes, because that’s how long alligators can keep underwater for, before the return to the surface to take a breath. Cue long shots of Bear silently watching the stretch of river. Finally he decides to take the plunge, explaining that he’ll swim underwater to avoid looking like prey. He takes a large breath and off he goes. An underwater camera is at his side, and we watch him underwater all the way. Except that the camera is awfully stable, and keeps him in focus and visible all the way. An exceptional cameraman who can train his equipment on his subject without fear for his own life, and in such shallow water. Indeed, a cynic have believed that the shot was captured using someone who walked alongside Bear in the relatively shallow waters. When Bear emerges on the opposite bank, he appears very relieved. Fortunately, the hard as nails cameraman isn’t shaking too much.
As I’ve said previously, it’s not that I don’t believe that Bear did all his own “stunts” – it’s just that like so many shows these days, all is not quite as it was presented.
Anyway, this weekend more revelations have emerged about the series (and I believe that series 2 and 3 are forthcoming). According to an article in the Sunday Times, and picked up by the Telegraph, Daily Mail and Sun, Bear often spent nights in nearby hotels, and many of the stunts were not quite as advertised on screen.
Channel 4 has seemingly initiated an investigation into the programme, made by Diverse Productions. A spokesman is quoted as saying “Bear does do all his own stunts and does put himself in perilous situations. But Born Survivor is not an observational documentary series but a ‘how to’ guide to basic survival techniques in extreme environments. The programme explicitly does not claim that presenter Bear Grylls’s experience is one of unaided solo survival.”
Well I’m not sure that this claim actually stands up. Yes, there’s a survival expert listed in the credits of each show, but the programme is presented very much as Bear being dropped into the wilderness somewhere and having to survive until he can make it back to civilisation. The programmes should simply not have presented the situation as it was. If it was simply a series of survival techniques, then fine. But it’s presented as a narrative, and as such, it’s misleading the viewer if the presenter is not hiking for three days to get back to a town or village, but instead is spending the night in motels and hotels.
The thing with this series is that there really is no need for obsfucation – Bear’s doing these stunts and showing us (semi-) useful things. So present these things honestly, and we’ll have more time for his programme.
As I mentioned above, the second series has already aired in the US (although the Everglades edition that was shown on Discovery in June was not the “World Premiere” their website would have you believe). One suspects that the shows will be significantly re-edited and re-voiced before Channel 4 show them over here.
[UPDATE] It seems that Discover is also re-evaluating the series according to Broadcast (free registration possibly required).