Can Survival TV Shows Teach Us Anything Useful, or is it All Cinematic Hype?

SourceI’ll admit it: I’m a prepper tv show junkie of sorts. I enjoy watching shows like Survivorman, Dual Survival, Doomsday Preppers, and more recently Doomsday Castle. I used to watch them because I felt like I learned useful knowledge from people like Les Stroud and company (mostly because I’m not a wilderness survivalist) but also from shows like Doomsday Preppers but, recently, I’m beginning to feel like these shows are just way too staged to even be plausible anymore.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I know the entire purpose of these shows is to entertain the sheeple masses, so it’s not like they’re going to teach all of the truly interesting in’s and out’s I would love to see, but that’s not to say I haven’t learned anything from these shows, I have. At the very least I occasionally see some really cool ideas I can never afford. 🙂

Sadly, it seems these shows have jumped completely off the cliff. For example, I recently watched the season conclusion of Doomsday Castle (as well as every other show in the series) and it seems the show dovetailed completely away from anything interesting with regards to the castle build and went right into the cinematic hype and bascially anything that might get higher ratings. Granted, you’d have to expect that because it’s what the sheeple prefer and maybe I was hoping for something more (shame on me) but, regardless, I didn’t mind watching the ladies run around most of the time. 😉

On the other hand, I recently watched a few “updated” Survivorman shows where Les discussed his favorite ways to build shelter, clean water, and procure food that I thought were fairly informative for a television show. And, so, I began to wonder if any normal people… er, sheeple, might take away anything useful from such shows? I don’t honestly know.

You see, a large part of me prefers to think of all sheeple with near utter disdain. People who will NEVER choose to see life differently. People who will NEVER choose to rely on themselves. But, then I remember that once upon a time I had exactly the same mindset. Once upon a time it never occurred to me that the grocery stores could actually have empty shelves, that the gas station could truly run out of gasoline… that my neighbors would actually kill me and my family for a can of beans. Yes, I was there once. And you probably were too. But, something changed your mind and something changed my mind too. Granted, it wasn’t a television show but maybe it could be?

Perhaps the continued repetition and reminder that things aren’t always wonderful will sway some minds? After all, for each person that gets “converted” to prepping then that’s one less person to have to fight for what you’ve rightfully acquired in the first place.

I know I’ve strayed a bit from the topic of this post but I’m trying to suggest how even mostly cinematic shows *might* be able to convert the ignorant sheeple to “one of us.” Obviously, most people won’t convert. I get it. But some will. Some, after enough stimulation, will begin to see things differently. So, maybe these television shows don’t teach a lot and maybe they won’t convert many people but I do feel like they can plant a seed.

What do you think?


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Comments

11 responses to “Can Survival TV Shows Teach Us Anything Useful, or is it All Cinematic Hype?”

  1. T.R.

    I dont really see myself getting stranded in the arctic circle or african savanna , much less even going there , so yeah ……….its hype . Not only that , but its the same ” advise ” over and over , thats why the different locations , when it gets down to it , the basics and how to get them remain the same . The ONLY guy that I think was worth watching , and he really only had 2 episodes , was that Marine , that showed urban survival . Apocalypse man . That is going to be more useful in reality than outdoor stuff . Just Sayin .

    1. Yeah, it’s a shame that show didn’t last long… he was fun to watch. I do, however, enjoy the Survivorman shows.

      1. T.R.

        Me too , Les Stroud is a good survivalist . I also like the hippie , Cody ? .

        1. Yeah, but the no shoes things is a bit much… put something on your feet, darn it!!

  2. RoyG

    i think their is some lessons to be learned from the shows but on an average their is alot of hype and editing for ratings.. unfortunatly i do believe nat geo tries to make preppers look stupid or over hype them into making people think they are just idots… for example at the end the show they discuss the averages/possabilities of what they are prepping for to actually happen and the show down plays or dissreguards the issue.. just this alone will make sheeple think ‘how stupid”of them….

    BUT that being said if i watch a show i try to look it as an outsider looking for something i might have missed, something worth trying or any ideas that seem plausable..

    1. You are correct. I don’t like how they try to downplay the odds… it’s craziness and does make us sound like idiots!

  3. IMO, yo’ve got to choose your poison… either make your stand or be constantly on the move. I’d prefer to bug in but have plans to bug out. It is interesting to hear experiences from people like Ferfal (the guy from Argentina) who believes it’s far better off to be an obvious hard target in a SHTF situation. I can see how his line of thinking might be great in Argentina but not sure how well it would work here. I’d still prefer to “make a stand” but do so quietly. 🙂

  4. That’s right Douglas! Fluidic.
    a great portion is hype. As far as doomsday castle goes, I believe that family really learned something about themselves and each other. I liked that aspect of it. If nothing else a friendly reminder that one doesn’t know how one would react till it happens.

  5. Ive picked up unknown things from a few but if its on tv its there for ratings and profit

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