For anyone that keeps up with the television channel National Geographic, you know the new craze is called "prepping". Prepping is the new hoarding and there is a new TV show that follows these people. Doomsday Preppers on National Geographic is a show dedicated to showing the lives of individuals that decide that they have seen enough. Enough natural disasters, global economic crises, things flying at Earth from space, and the list goes on. In response, these featured preppers have done EVERYTHING in order to prepare for their end-of-the-world situations.
From creating a spider hole in a secret rural area that contains over 200 pounds of food, to teaching a family (including an eight-year-old) to located, load, and fire firearms, preppers are taking National Geographic and the TV nation by storm. At the end of interviewing and touring each preppers preparations, the show's experts rank each group and rates their chances of survival in a doomsday scenario. The ranking is based on a point system, taking in account several survival necessities WHEN doomsday strikes. Not IF doomsday strikes.
This is yet another example of how ANYTHING can be "gamified". National Geographic has taken some of the most...(umm) interesting people in America and eventually turn it into a competition to see who is the best prepared for doomsday. Further evidence that gaming applications are truly... LIMITLESS!
This is an interesting topic because there have been comedies based off this idea, as well as, high grossing Hollywood action thrillers like 2012. This topic becomes relevant for those who are paranoid and superstitious because according to the founders of our calendar the Mayans, the world ends on 12/20/12 only a little over eight months away. So how can this be addressed? Can you prepare in enough time? Should you be getting prepared? Is this serious? or is it like the rapture, and that priest is wrong and looks insane to most of the same people out there. There is a lot more uncertainty, but most people believe that this is all just a big joke, yet popular media is doing exposes like this and making movies to make fun of it to put our neurotic minds at ease. This is a game of whether or not we trust the rumors and if you decide to play and feel they are real threats, what's our strategy? Anybody else want to comment with their strategies. Please weigh in!
ReplyDeleteThese are very interesting tv shows and there are a few other similar shows on the discovery channel and tlc that are about the same concept where there are people that are super paranoid about what they eat, and how they operate their lives etc. I was watching this other show called addicted the other day and it presented an old lady who was addicted to eating cat food and she didn't know how to control herself, a mother who loved to smell mothballs, and another lady who was addicted to drinking nail polish. Similar to how anything can be gamified, these people who are addicted take it as a challenge to quit eating cat food or smelling moth balls. It is very difficult for some people to quit what they are addicted to and they can create game scenarios in which they set goals for themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn general, I somewhat feel that shows like these are also putting a bunch of psychos and weird people and bringing it to the attention of the public. Many of their problems are difficult and challenging to solve. Just a similar comparison I thought was somewhat similar and "gamified" to that show.
I agree with these posts and think that it is kind of sad that shows like this are so successful in this country. I think it is sad that these shows that are simply working to expose the strangest most paranoid people in this country are doing as well as they are. It is obviously very entertaining to see people like this, it is just strange to me that this has become so prevalent on US television and i wonder if it speaks to our insecurities or what it means exactly that we continue to subscribe to these shows that are explicitly making fun of others. I also wonder how aware the participants of the show are and if they are not simply buying in to the show and magnifying small paranoias that they may have just to make for good TV and a chance to get some face time.
ReplyDeleteI actually really enjoyed reading this post because I did not know or hear of this show, yet I think I'd actually like it. Although it does sound stupid and humorous because of the fact that no one knows if "doomsday" will ever come, but isn't that what makes shows entertaining? At least for me, it's the shows filled with stupidity that really makes me laugh. Not only do the aspects of this show interest me, but as you say there is also a scoring system that goes along with it, which also sounds very interesting to me. I think it's a good idea that they are showing these people's preparations which gives the audience a sense of comedy, but the scoring keeps the viewers watching as now they have some sort of premise to follow and keep up with. I personally don't think that this so called doomsday will be coming anytime soon, or at least I hope, but if it does, I sure know who I'll be running to for help now.
ReplyDeleteI actually watched an episode of this with a few of the guys I live with, and even though we had a good, we did critique the people's designs as well. This is akin to how a lot of people think while watching shows like The Walking Dead or killing Nazi Zombies in Call of Duty. I'm not sure exactly how many times I've thought about what would be the best way to protect a house from a zombie horde or what kind of weapons would be best to use in case of a disaster, but probably more than I should. That being said, it is a bit humorous to think about all the things people do in case of the 1% chance of something happening. Some people enjoy the mental exercise and fun of talking about it or playing games about it, while others actually do preparing for what they deem as a foreseeable threat. For the most part though, I don't think any of these people are just doing it to get on TV. They might be crazy, but they believe themselves, which can be refreshing in today's TV lineups.
ReplyDeleteAs weird and paranoid as I may sound saying this, I believe very much in the Mayan's idea of 2012. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't think that the natural disasters and the current state of the world are a coincidence. I think the show helps ease the worries of people or even make a joke out of the fact. Like what the government often does to take the people's mind off of financial problems or wars, social media is using shows to make light of people's fears. Making it a game show with scoring helps to keep the show interactive and unpredictable. While I am not marking my calendar for the 20th of December, I do think that soon enough we will be the generation that sparks the tipping point of what the earth can handle. If and when that day does come, THEN they should have a tv show... a "survivor" of sorts.
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ReplyDeleteDoomsday Preppers