Comments | biggrumpy: On Deadliest Catch & Voyeurism

biggrumpy

On Deadliest Catch & Voyeurism

Jul 13, 2010 00:11

One of my favorite, and I believe most engaging, shows on TV right now is Deadliest Catch on the Discover Channel. The show chronicles 4-6 crabbing vessels as they venture out into the Bering Sea and fish. The job is one of the deadliest in America. Every season people die doing this job. Part of the original appeal of the show was that the job ( Read more... )

Comments 4

superpastelgirl July 13 2010, 20:24:27 UTC

I totally understand, and I guess I feel like no one (including you) has the right to see this. This is sort of the opposite problem that I have with most reality TV: that it isn't really reality, it's just an unrealistic scenario involving real people. It's glorifying entertainment by calling it reality. This is trivializing reality by calling it entertainment. It should be a personal moment with his family, not a TV show, and there's no way it can be both. Observer effect is too large to ignore in these cases.

biggrumpy July 15 2010, 18:25:17 UTC

I ended up watching the After the Catch to see what happened there. It was really well done, so I watched the episode of Deadliest Catch. I was really surprised at how well they handled the issue. The majority of the episode was about the fleet, and not about Phil. The episode is entitled "Redemption" and it actually was about that. Prior to being hospitalized one of Phil's son's, Jake, admitted he had a drug problem. Phil told him that he had to get treatment. One of the things that happens in the episode is that Jake leaves for a rehab facility. His father is lucid and understands his decision, telling him that he loves him and is proud of him. It was wonderful to know that Phil did not die not knowing if his son would get help. The episode focused on the broken bonds that are created from doing the job and being family, and the redemption of bringing those bonds back together--not just with Phil's boat and family but the other boats as well. It wasn't really about Phil's death, but rather the unity of an often ( ... )

willwrite4books July 14 2010, 02:59:51 UTC

Your post compelled me to look into the show, as it sounds interesting. Perhaps this excerpt from E! concerning tonight's episode will help (I hate to even use E! as a source considering I agree with the content of your post regarding reality TV, but there it is):

"Before anyone cries exploitation, know that it was the skipper himself who requested that the cameras keep rolling inside his hospital room. According to son Josh, who talked about his dad on The Tonight Show Monday, Harris knew that his struggle was going to make for 'good TV.'"

biggrumpy July 15 2010, 18:12:32 UTC

The show now has an after show called, conveniently enough, "After the Catch" which takes place several months after the actual crabbing season. The main people gather and just kind of shoot the breeze. It is cool to see them in a more "real" setting, since most of the show you see them overworked, exhausted, and very heavily caffeinated. It's cool to seem them as normal people too ( ... )