‘Out of the Wild’: Adventures in Tastelessness?
Travel Blog • Eva Holland • 04.17.09 | 12:24 PM ET
A new travel reality show premiered on the Discovery Channel this week. Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment follows nine people who’ve been dropped into the middle of the Alaskan wilderness, with “just three days of survival training and limited supplies.” And, the promo claims dramatically, “Not everyone will make it Out of the Wild.” Sound familiar? Hey, yeah, that is kind of like what happened to that McCandless kid, now that I think about it.
Now, obviously the Discovery Channel is not going to let one of its contestants starve to death on air—even for reality TV, that would be taking things too far. But is it me, or is riffing on an actual young man’s death in the name of hype and cheap tube drama still more than a little bit tasteless?
Admittedly, I wasn’t able to catch the premiere on Tuesday, so the promo (below) is all I have to go on so far. Did anyone else see it? What do you think? Compelling adventure show or exploitation of the McCandless tragedy?
(Via The Remote Island)