Bear Grylis Fired by Discovery
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You've just made my case.
I don't do 'survivalism', I don't even watch tv or listen to radio, so I'm technically neither one side or t'other.
Apparantly I do do bushcraft though
Tell me; are those who criticise correct in the detail of their criticism ? Did his tv shows advocate, encourage and promote unsafe behaviour ? Were there inconsistancies in what he said he did and what he actually did ?
If so, then the criticism has foundation.
As I said earlier though, we all grow up even if just through hard earned experience.
cheers,
Toddy
I don't do 'survivalism', I don't even watch tv or listen to radio, so I'm technically neither one side or t'other.
Apparantly I do do bushcraft though
Tell me; are those who criticise correct in the detail of their criticism ? Did his tv shows advocate, encourage and promote unsafe behaviour ? Were there inconsistancies in what he said he did and what he actually did ?
If so, then the criticism has foundation.
As I said earlier though, we all grow up
even if just through hard earned experience.cheers,
Toddy
it was probably his persil adverts that did for the discovery channel and in his very own words.....
Right what next!
Right what next!
Discovery make and script the programmes. Not Grylls. He is just paid to present and do what they tell him to do. The Discovery Channel has a history of turning out sensationalist rubbish dressed up as documentaries. Most people on the thread aren't Grylls fanboys, they are just trying to say "seperate the programme from the man". At the other end of the scale you have Ray Mears (yes, I'm a fanboy here). But Ray is a ruthless and coy businessman who has nearly always been in control of his programming from the early Extreme Survival series. I like him personally too, but I could never work for him. He is much more aware of how he should come across on TV and his own future and what it entails to secure that. Grylls wears his soul and heart on his sleeve and is naive in those aspects. Work for Ray and you'd have a strict and controlled working life. Work for Grylls and you'd have fun and a good mate as your boss. The company would probably not last long, but your friendship would.
Ahhhhh - some of my own personal illusions being strongly challenged there.
Jonathan, have you met both Bear and Ray?
You can never judge a person from their TV programmes or films. My father has worked on some of the top movies since 1960, the people who you think are cool are usually far from it. And the people you expect to be right swines have been very nice in real life.
I've met both Ray and Bear, both are decent people, but with Grylls you cannot help but like the man with his schoolboy nervousness and genuinly self deprecating way about him. I've met Grylls within military circles, mostly at functions within the RN. Anyone that thinks he has not passed SAS Selection can be assured, he did. He also served as a trooper. Front end. That requires passing Selection and further training. Reserves is the same as TA, it is just a different term for the same thing.
Ray is a shrewd and wise businessman. Likeable, knowledgable and a person who likes to be left alone. You could be his friend, but I for one would not enjoy working for him.
I agree and I guess this is the guts of the point you've been making. It is fair to judge the TV program based on the content but not really the person fronting it.
Thanks for that. Those are interesting insights and sound to me like a fair way of putting it.
What's the definition of a 'fanboy'?? it's been used on BCUK a bit lately. I assume it's a fan who's a boy but has a derogatory connotation?? I miss out on all of the latest British patois / jargon.
Any how it looks like MvW is over he'll shift onto doing something else on TV and we'll either love of loathe that or neither if you don't happen to have a TV...
At the risk of being called a fanboy.....
I met him when he came over to NZ to film the latest series of MvW. He did a Fund raiser for the ChCh earthquake and Pike River families and I took my oldest son along SWMBO had booked us tickets. He talked and presented about Everest as well as a bit about MvW etc. The audience was full of families, kids, scouts etc and the front row was reserved for some of the Pike River families. He took about 20 questions at the end from scouts and kids about what's the worst thing you've eaten etc.....
My son has one of the kids books he has 'written' and was keen to get it signed after the show. We queued up after and he duly got his book signed and we had a brief chat as he picked up on the fact I'm a Pom.
He seemed like a genuinely nice bloke. That's it....
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BG did go through selection. I have a friend who went through selection with him. His opinion is that BG may be projecting an image for the TV shows but at heart he is a good bloke. As I know for a fact my friend completed selection and I trust him that's good enough for me
I heard the DID broadcast on the Friday slot. To be fair he came across very well. Not at all as gung-Ho as I expected. My opinion of the guy went up a few notches.
Oh, goody gumdrops.
ANOTHER BEAR THREAD!!!
Someone was asking what the deffinition of "Fanboy" was....
That quote sums him up quite well Mary. There was something childlike and naive about him in some ways, which is why he was signed into a contract with Discovery that gave him no control over the direction of his career with them. It's also to his merit that he has drawn the line and would not go into new projects with Discovery. It will be interesting to find out what these projects were and why he deemed them unsuitable.
As for the bat thing, quite a stir was caused with THAT thread I started on here and the ones on the bat forums. This led to the footage on that programme being cut and a disclaimer added that pointed out the illegality of killing bats in other countries. I brought the subject up of that incident myself, and although I can't remember the exact reply, he was actually quite disgusted by the filming itself and explained that his reaction was driven by fear and hate more than anything near fun as he has a deep phobia of bats and is terrified of going into caves with them flying about. I have to admit, I found myself in a similar situation in my teens when I was living in Kenya. I went into an old well (chimneying down) to see the bats that lived down there. Half way down I found a colony of whip scorpions as big as dinner plates that skittled around and towards me. I was so freaked out that I killed most in a frenzy of fear. It took me an age to control that fear and get back out. Nowadays, I wouldn't dream of harming anything like that, and although they still freak me out when they come at me at speed, I have no fear of them anymore.
Straight out of starship troopers that shevus!
Someone was asking what the deffinition of "Fanboy" was....
No that was definition.....
You need to think before you type. This sort of grandstanding, risk-taking forum posting sets a bad example John.
You are a role model for budding bushcrafters!
Sorry to say you know very little regarding the selection of TA and Reservists!!
It is the principle of the thing Johnboy. Many look up to John Fenna (too many Johns in this post) and are led by his example. I don't want to see a rash of careless forum-posting as a result of John's one thoughtless contribution.
I know that John's forum personality is not necessarily representative of the man but it is what the world sees.
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