09 January 2017

Please Tell Me I Didn't Just See an Ad for a #RealityTV Series About Tracking Down Ethnic Groups??? #Hunted #WTF #BadIdea #JumpedtheShark

Flipped the TV channel to catch a news program while making breakfast this morning. An ad came on and the voiceover said something about "nine fugitive pairs" and "that's eighteen people on the loose" while displaying little headshot photos, then it zoomed in on one set of pictures and cut to a "live" interview with a featured pair, two Muslim guys of (presumed) Southeast Asian descent who were talking about being dropped off in an altogether different Southeast (that of the United States) and knowing they'll stick out like a sore thumb (not blend in) and thus, be found quickly. It cuts to the show title, Hunted.

My head swiveled. I was like, "Did I just see an ad for a "humans as prey tracking show" that uses ethnic and/or religious identity juxtaposed with the idea of a "homogeneous" society to thwart cover options?" I was only half paying attention as I tend to tune out ads when waiting for actual TV programming, but zeroed in as the gist of the show concept unfolded. I'm hoping that I misheard or at least missed a crucial detail of the show overview. Otherwise, expect the proverbial crap to hit the fan in 10, 9, 8... once it gets out that some Hollywood-type greenlighted a show where the concept is to hunt down humans using gross stereotype as a point of "tension" (and this occurs, not in a suspended disbelief movie set, but in a "real footage" television show). Who thought this would be a good idea? Social media is gonna have a field day, on both sides of the aisle. If we ever needed any proof that Reality TV jumped the shark (a long time ago), we could simply cue this commercial.

No wonder I avoid (most) regular TV. Thank the Maker, I can filter out nonsense like this. As a cordcutter and a timeshifting viewer, I control my media programming. (I seldom see ads, period, and never "just watch" whatever happens to come on the TV.) Entertainment is one thing, idiocy is another.

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