Hello,
After reading all the blogs, I'm in blog mode. Please bear with me – I haven't contributed much to this forum, and I have a lot on my mind about 5 Takes.
When I first heard about 5 Takes, I was intrigued. The premise of the show was novel, and it was coming to my part of the world. I began following it, first with a mixture of curiosity and amused outrage; then increasingly with a kind of morbid fascination, the kind that compels you to watch an F1 race.
I'll explain.
5 Takes represents the kind of interaction between TV and audience that is possible in the digital age. The way the technology allows an audience to get directly in touch with the actors in a TV show through the online forum and to direct the script through their comments and suggestions is amazing.
5 Takes is also reality TV without the worst parts of human nature that we've come to expect. The experiences of 5 kids travelling the world show us a more positive side of ourselves. The TJs travelled light, armed just with US$50 a day and a charming faith in people. They were met with random acts of kindness from strangers who had no idea who they were and probably didn't care.
Turns out that when we're out of our comfort zone or faced with people out of theirs, we're capable of responding with warmth. We don't always want to vote someone out, we're also capable of creating connections with complete strangers. In the current climate of fear, we often hear bad news about bad things done by bad people, but here is some evidence to the contrary. It's possible that human nature has some redeeming qualities. There's something affirming and reassuring about that.
So why the outrage? I notice that the American site has dubbed this season "5 Takes: Pacific Rim", while the Southeast Asia site went with the more geographically factual "Asia Pacific". The American characterisation is peculiarly – and yet so typically – US-centric. We are the USA, the centre of the universe; all you other countries are out there on the rim, somewhere on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. Hey, let's call it the Pacific Rim!
And this from the Travel and Living offshoot of the global giant Discovery Channel, assumed by millions to present a comparatively more factual version of the world as we know it. The irony is almost suffocating, not to mention alarming. If you're American you might dismiss this as yet more US-bashing. But there are just 300 million of you, and 6.3 billion of the rest of us out here on the Rim. And we can't all be wrong.
The other thing I struggled with was the idea of the blogs. I don't understand why people write blogs and why anyone would read them. I mean, who are you, and who cares what you think, really?? It's one of the effects of the internet. Everyone has something to say, and now with the internet they say it, whether or not it's worth saying and whether or not you want to hear it. You get the gems with the filth, and it's up to you to sift through it all.
Having said that, I must admit I spent countless hours following 5 Takes! Against my will, I've found myself identifying with aspects of the TJs' personalities, blogs and vlogs.
I retched when Gabe ate a worm in Australia, and drank deer penis wine in Singapore. You just couldn't pay me enough.
I had my heart in my mouth when the TJs went bungee jumping in New Zealand, and Tiffany decided not to do it. I like to think that I would've jumped, but what do I know? It's different when you're standing at the edge of the third highest bungee site in the world, and not many of us have to make that decision in the full glare of the public eye.
I chortled with glee when the TJs arrived in Singapore, their first stop in Asia. They were culture-shocked, but also had no clue that the Lion City was Asia lite, Asia for dummies – the gentlest possible introduction to the rest of Asia. I enjoyed it when they faced language barriers, foreign food and space constraints. ...Ok, so it was vicarious pleasure at American discomfort. Give me a break.
It's also been fascinating to watch the TJs' perspectives widen. At heart they're just kids, but their can-do attitude, despite the wear and tear of travel and the demands of always being "up' and switched on for the camera, have been impressive. They agreed to put themselves on public display in order to have this chance to travel to parts of the world that, left to their own resources, they might not have reached. That's no small thing.
I get the sense, though, that the adulation from complete strangers in the discussion forums sits oddly with the TJs. Although they've handled it gracefully, they seem to find their new celebrity surreal, and must privately be wondering if they've been mistaken for other people. The return to obscurity must be looking pretty good.
Would I follow the next season of 5 Takes? I don't know that I could. The problem with reality TV shows is that it gets so intense, and I now have 5 Takes fatigue. Also, each season of 5 Takes features new TJs, but I have an attachment specifically to Gabe, Josh, Renee, Tiffany and Tony now. It would just be too exhausting to do this all over again with a new bunch.
at least thailand. SOS CALLING ALL THOSE WHO KNOW WHICH COUNTRY THESE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE AND WHEN