Topical Juice

Does anyone really believe that it is? Even after all of the obviously scripted shenanigans on shows like the Simple Life, The Hills, The Real World, and countless other reality shows?

Even on shows like Discovery Channel’s Man vs. Wild, in which host Bear Grylls heads off into the wilderness to survive for a few days or a week, reality isn’t real. Come on, what would Discovery Channel do if Bear ever met with a life-threatening accident, like say getting eaten by a (real) bear? Would they air it? Of course not. Would they really risk losing their charismatic host? Of course not. So we have to assume that although it “looks” dangerous, it isn’t really. It’s simply entertainment of another form, not much different that any half-hour sitcom or hour drama, except without the canned laugh-track.

Apparently however, those at Discovery Channel themselves were fooled, since they’ve launched an investigation into allegations that much of the danger didn’t exactly exist as depicted in the carefully edited episodes.

While I won’t share my opinion of anyone at Discovery who really thought that Bear was risking life and limb in every episode, I heartily applaud their decision to keep the show on the air, albeit making clear that he does receive assistance, and not all the dangers presented are as real as they seem (as well as re-editing older episodes so as to be less misleading).

The reason I think this is a wise decision is that Man vs. Wild, along with The Science Channel’s Survivorman, presents the viewer with a true education in survival techniques, in a way that is both interesting and memorable.

I will point out that in episodes of Survivorman, it’s host Les Stroud does indeed venture into the wild alone, and truly does face a real degree of danger that is unscripted. No cameramen accompany Mr. Stroud (he films himself) and receives no outside assistance until he is picked up by his crew at a prearranged time and place.

But in either case, real or scripted, the techniques taught by these shows could very well come in handy should one unexpectedly find oneself in a dangerous survival situation. So should we care more that it’s “real”? Or that we can learn something from it anyway.

So often the news that the average citizen hears regarding Corporate America is negative - primarily because our news media loves to trumpet the latest accounting scandal, or tear apart the most recent disgraced executive. Corporate greed is running rampant in some industries (oil, pharmaceuticals, insurance, etc.) leaving many of us with a bad taste in our mouth for big business.

Less media noise is made when a corporation does something very good. Maybe it doesn’t “sell” as well. But when a company steps up to the plate and says “here’s a problem that we can help with” and it DOESN’T also boost their bottom line significantly, that’s worth trumpeting.

Nike, the giant footwear corporation, has developed a shoe specific to the needs of a segment of the population suffering most from severe health issues (including obesity and diabetes), Native Americans. Obesity generally causes major changes in one’s foot - which flattens, widens, and the arches fall - from carrying so much excess weight. Foot changes make it extremely difficult to find comfortable shoes, and not having comfortable shoes makes it difficult to get excercise in order to lose weight. American Indians, as an ethnic group, also have wider than average feet, making it even more difficult for them to find comfortable shoes.

Best of all, Nike is offering these shoes to American Indian tribes at wholesale, and all profits from the sale of the shoe will be reinvested in health programs for tribal lands, where problems with obesity, diabetes and related conditions are near epidemic levels in some tribes.

I would like to see Nike extend this wonderful program to include all Americans who have been diagnosed with morbid obesity, which is at near-epidemic levels amongst much of our population, including a large number of children, but regardless Nike deserves three cheers for exhibiting such a high level of civic responsibility.