At our bi-weekly Baby Zoomer meeting I have been hearing repeated references to something that I think is called “The Amazing Race”. I finally had to stop and ask, “What is ‘The Amazing Race’?” The simple answer is, another reality show. I suggested that they needed to get library cards. They didn’t get huffy but they came close. Several showed me their library cards. Of course they also admitted that they had not used them in a long time. To give you an idea of how long, one guy talked about handing his books to the librarian at check out. If you don’t know how old school that is then you need to update your card and get out a little more.
But I digress.
What gets me is that we have labeled these things “Reality” Shows. Where is the reality? I broke down and watched the trailer I found on You Tube for this show. It looked like a remake of Around the World in 80 Days. I liked the short shot of a guy racing down a river with a camera man taking a close up. It takes a lot of reshooting to make a staged moment look like reality. I guess they do a good job.
How do you film spontaneous moments in a mad race? The only clue I could find without actually watching the show is that it is broken down in segments. I suppose that is so they can post thousands of cameras along the possible route to catch millions of shots to chose from. If they were making a reality show out of the Indianapolis 500 they would probably keep restaging the crashes until they got the lighting right. I get the feeling that these shows are as spontaneous as an Obama speech.
I have three library cards. I have to renew them every year. At one library all you do is have the computer scan your card, lay your books on the tray and decide it you want a receipt. The librarians are hiding behind plexiglass, wearing masks and looking at you with fear in their eyes because you might ask a question on your way out. Or maybe you might read a book that makes you think.
That is my reality show.
homo unius libri
Saturday, October 23, 2021
Opus 2021-301: New Terms: Reality
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Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.