Its ok.....
If you need to see him again he got the job on the till at tesco in Bognor Regis :D
http://www.gigwise.com/news/71460/TV-Ne ... ry-Channel
:shock: :D :lol: :lol: :lol:
Discus :wink:
Its ok.....
If you need to see him again he got the job on the till at tesco in Bognor Regis :D
Amazing what a brief period in the TA can do for a mediocre old etonian.
Of course scripted and whatever but Bear is a hero. I really like his program!
LOL. Oh, what a shame.
Why the animosity towards Grylls?
Admittedly, I seem to remember more survival tips from Mears. Perhaps it's his delivery. :)
I like Bear and Ray. Lest Stroud is not my cup of tea. However none can match the Bushtucker man.
Isn't he the bloke that was discovered staying in hotels instead of the outdoors? That's not very hard...I could do that...
This, viewtopic.php?f=2&t=199269, thread summarises it nicely.Originally Posted by AlphaOmega
An example of Grylls' 'Man vs. Wild' (aka 'Born Survivor') fakery: http://volcanochaser.smugmug.com/Nature/Man-vs-Wild
Ah - I see what you mean. :?Originally Posted by markrlondon
That's taken the shine off it a little, for me at least. :)
I think they covered the hotel thing on Mock the Week. In the words of the comedian Ed Byrne "He's not even a real bear!"
There are plenty of other examples. He is a popular entertainer and should have stuck to that, rather than misleading the audience with lies IMHO.Originally Posted by AlphaOmega
Ray Mears = Mercedes, Bruce Parry = Lamborghini, Bear Grylls - 1.0 Saxo with tinted windows and a boot full of sound system.
Harsh but amusing. :DOriginally Posted by Jeremy67
Too True but he will pass himself off as Regular over a beer!Originally Posted by thebuffoon
RIAC
This is all a bit harsh. I enjoy the show and the fact my 5 year old is motivated to venture into the great outdoors on the back of it is great. I enjoy it and frankly if the hardship isn't genuine I don't care as it makes good telly and it presents, at face value, a good role model/adventurer which frankly is missing from a lot of kids lives right now.
Without intending to criticise you or your 5 year old, in your position I would rather my 5 year old was motivated by someone else. There are others to choose from. See below.Originally Posted by Brewer999
However, face value is not everything. Appearances are not necessarily the most important thing. Reality is what counts, especially when it comes to positive role models for childten. The fake aspect of 'Man vs. Wild' is surely what destroys Grylls as a suitable role model for children to my mind. He is the last person I would want my child seeing as a hero or role model.Originally Posted by Brewer999
There are other, better, role models in the contexts of survival, bushcraft and/or adventure (e.g. Ray Mears, Mors Kochanski, Les Stroud, Les Hiddins. Bruce Parry, Lofty Wiseman, and so on). It's not like there aren't others to choose from!
None of this is intended to take away anything from Bear Grylls' genuine achievements, which are very far from trivial. However, 'Man vs. Wild', whilst it made him famous, has also damned him in this respect. Thus, regardless of Grylls' real achievements, there are, as above, better, more positive, dare I say more genuine and less showbiz-focussed, role models to choose from.
A 4 mile trek - wonder if he had to survive off bear poo in that episode :lol:Originally Posted by AlphaOmega
Ray Mears is more the real deal for sure. I like Bear as a person but his shows were pretty lame imo.
An affable fella, but only so much mileage in "watch me eat this!" :P
Agreed. Yeah, it's a bit OTT and pointlessly melodramatic at times but there are plenty of presenters I'd rather see lose their jobs before him.Originally Posted by Brewer999
That is not a bad analogy. He is alight but not particularly convincing or inspiring. If you go through hardship it should make you reflect on things differently, you should get something out of it. He just sees it as an extreme sport.Originally Posted by Jeremy67
What a load of tripe about him not being a role model. He's hardly done a Rooney, Terry etc, he's just stayed in a hotel ffs.
How about considering he broke his back and instead of giving up he fought back to get in the TA SAS? This isn't a guy who wanted the easy life in the city, he's worked hard and made some great TV.
He's an inspiration to many
He did mislead viewers - but then the entire English football team misled all of its supporters into thinking that they were any good, and they're still feted.Originally Posted by Daveya.
This bit was quite good:
"The British survival expert has recently come under fire for misleading viewers about the content of his shows. In 2008..."
2008 is recent? It's 2012
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
I say well done to the cameramen on the Mears show. So many boxes of pies for the lardy one, and all kept out of shot. :albino:
F.T.F.A.
Bushtucker man just thinks food and hes not hungry anymore! He could survive on mars! Legend!Originally Posted by Ventura
Hasn't his latest series (the one with the "celebs") been for Channel 4?
Anyway he's probably far to busy endorsing outdoor clothing to care.
Ray Mears summed it up well: -
"The spat began when Mears, who founded a bushcraft school 25 years ago, laughed out loud in a Radio Times interview after being asked if he watched his rival’s programmes to pick up survival tips.
He said: "Do I look for tips from Bear Grylls? Yes, on how not to make television programmes! As far as I’m concerned, these people are just showmen."
He'd be baited into saying it by comments that Grylls had made but still, he hit the nail on the head: Grylls is an entertainer.
I'd suggest that watching Bear for survival tips is akin to basing your next car purchase on what the Top Gear muppets have said on the show. Entertaining: yes. Factual at all times and focusing on the truth: no.
:thumbright:Originally Posted by AM94
He's like James Blunt without the songwriting ability.
Bear has been places most of us haven't and he knows what he's doing. Yes, Mears (my hero!) and others could probably do better in many situations, but I'm sure Bear can beat Mears in others. I can't see Mears climbing Everest any time soon (and he probably has no interest), and I can't see Bear carving intricate patterns into the handle of his antler knife (and he probably has no interest).
All this, along with his charity work and Boy Scouts role hardly point to a guy who's a bad role model.
Ah. Now I understand. This is partly about fraudulent TV, partly about the fact he was TA rather than Regular and partly about class, too. :)Originally Posted by Scrubnut
No, he's more of a faker than that.Originally Posted by Daveya.
See this link, http://volcanochaser.smugmug.com/Nature/Man-vs-Wild. for example, that I previously posted in viewtopic.php?f=2&t=215036#p2215691. It is this kind of out an out forgery that I think makes him wholly unsuitable as a role model (at least to anyone who proposes to treat him as anything other than a role model for popular entertainers!).
As I already said in viewtopic.php?f=2&t=215036&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15 #p2216206 :Originally Posted by Daveya.
None of this is intended to take away anything from Bear Grylls' genuine achievements, which are very far from trivial. However, 'Man vs. Wild', whilst it made him famous, has also damned him in this respect. Thus, regardless of Grylls' real achievements, there are, as above, better, more positive, dare I say more genuine and less showbiz-focussed, role models to choose from.
Many people have worked hard in many fields. And I don't think making some "great TV" is exactly worthy of being a role model (other than in the field of popular entertainment), especially when that very tv was, at least in some cases, substantially faked.Originally Posted by Daveya.
Indeed, and that is the problem. As an inspiration he is, taken as a whole, shallow and empty in my view. Those who look up to him as anything other than an entertainer should choose different heroes and role models in my opinion, ones who are quite simply more genuine.Originally Posted by Daveya.
In summary, by all means treat Grylls as a role model in terms of light entertainment or even as a skilled purveyor of camera trickery but to think of him as a role model in terms of bushcraft, survival or adventure is, after 'Man vs. Wild', farcical and absurd.
Well said.Originally Posted by AM94
And this is large part what, to me, makes viewing him as a role model utterly farcical. To do so is to confuse mere entertainment (faked entertainment in some cases) with substantive reality. I am greatly concerned by the effect on society by those who make this facile error. Don't they value the difference between (completel) real vs. (at least partially) fake?
parry fan here. did you see his pilot for tv in new guinea i think it was? genuine nutter.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
It should be pointed out he did break his back parachuting in South Africa which was in his own time and not the TAs, he was badged TA at this time. His father i was reliably informed pulled strings to have him casevaced from there in UK Military assets and he was treated under the guise of been a soldier injured on duty !!!!!
My kid's prefer Bear's travalogues to the others, frankly there all a wee bit bogus -so- if if they get enthused about t'great outdoors by Mr Grylls then more power to him :)
Joe
Mears over grylls any day of the week but when you bring Bruce parry we go up a notch yet again. The prime example if this was the Amazon series, you can tell he was a para. Quality guy I would live to have a pint with.
Best not tell him that, he was a Royal Marine.Originally Posted by JuanKing
Used him for an event recently and he was a bit of an arse/diva to be honest, so I can see where Discovery were coming from and imagine the loggerheads from Bear getting right up himself and being unreasonable...
I have a hard time watching his programmes its like seeing a toddler with a caffeine addiction.
Is that the one where he turned his willy inside out and fainted?Originally Posted by seikopath
Parry's an interesting guy as well- proper hard man who likes people and is genuinely doing a lot for Arctic culture.
I am a fan of Bear, as his is probably the only none cartoon show that all of my children will sit down with me and watch with genuine interest...Yeah he was busted in 2008 for going to stay in a hotel, but i couldn't really care less...Its TV at the end of the day, he has a disclaimer at the start of the show saying some stuff is set up and makes no secret of the fact his crew help him...
Its just entertainment in the same way Top Gear will try and convince you that their cars "accidentally" role down hills, or caravans "accidentally" catch fire...If you want a proper lecture in survival, then watch reruns of the Bushtucker man, I loved his show when i was a kid, he even made sucking the honey out of an ant look tasty....
Point of fact: He was never 'badged'. He joined the TA SAS but never got to the point of completing his training.Originally Posted by anokdale
This post is a great example of why we should get a 'LIKE' option on the forum. :)Originally Posted by markrlondon
Perhaps all the armchair adventurers should take the time to listen to Grylls on Desert Island Discs before they dismiss him as just another Etonian nob.
I have and that was what made me do a bit of research; unfortunately, in that interview he perpetuates the myths rather than dispels them.Originally Posted by hopak
On balance, I'd rather see Bear Grylls on television than not. I think he is a good role model for my son in many ways. Of course, I'm not keen that he posed as if he was in certain areas and wasn't but I should imagine he has the skills and knowledge to deal with those areas.
I don't need to see him dehydrated or hypoxic on K2 to learn useful information. :)
good