On Nov 18, 8:14 am, "Kevin M." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> To all who have commented so far.
>
> If the show went to America's deep south, to a replica of a small
> plantation, and contestants had to grab their next clue from a bunch
> of African-American slaves picking cotton, would you all point to that
> as a brief taste of American culture? Would you say that, though not
> truly representative of the country as a whole, it was more
> entertaining than watching contestants walk up to a well-dressed black
> man or woman and to take their next clue from them?
Of course not. Are you saying that they did the equivalent of this in
Kazakhstan?
> Or a less extreme
> example, if the show tried to use some modern day back woods town like
> Bakersfield, CA as a microcosm of America,
Hey watch it. Bakersfield is not a back woods town. I have been to
Bakersfield, and those people think you are a racist to call their
city back woods.
> would you be alright with
> that town representing America on the series?
Few people watching this show has any illution that what we saw on TAR
somehow is representative of any country they visited. Another poster
has given a selection of tasks previous TAR shows had contestants do
in various countries. I certainly don't think it is in any way
representative of those countries. For example, bungi jumping is a
favorite task. It's been performed in at least three or four
countries from what I can remember. Are we to think that residents of
Macau, for example, regularly bungi jump from the Macau Tower? Anyone
who thinks that is delusional.
> Because the parts of
> Almaty they chose to show did not represent the city I know Almaty to
> be, much less the country Kazakhstan is.
>
> Almaty has a rich history and a vibrant present. Hell, the airport
> alone has improved leaps and bounds from when I was there five years
> ago. What did they focus on? The Mongols. The Kazakhstani people were
> raped, slaughtered, and conquered by the Mongols (among about a dozen
> other peoples). What appear to be foothills on the outskirts of
> Almaty, at the foot of the Tien-Shan mountains, are actually countless
> graves... sacred ground. That was the aspect of Kazakhstan's culture
> they chose to spotlight.
>
The Mongolians think you are racist. They claim it was no more than a
trade mission.
This was chosen with the approval of local tourism officials, no
doubt.
> I agree that the show should be entertaining, but, at a higher level,
Yes we all like to see TV shows at a higher level. Desperate
Housewives, for example, are they representative of all housewives in
America? I don't think so. Why don't they show regular housewives
who cook and sew and teach their children homeworks and join the PTA?
CSI, is Las Vegas full of murders? Show the good side of Vegas, such
as their great airport. OK bad example. How about Law and Order? Do
people in NYC do nothing but rape and get raped? How about showing
all the friendly residents of NYC helping tourists?
> Americans should strive to be better than the ones on that show, and
> American viewers should strive to be better represented. I agree with
> Darren that trying to change my mind about this show would be next to
> impossible. I find most reality TV to be deplorable wastes of prime
> time real estate, and this show seems to be as bad as the worst I've
> seen. As I said at the outset, I don't know if this installment of
> "The Amazing Race" is indicative of the series as a whole, but
> people's replies would seem to indicate that it is. If so, there is a
> lot of shame that should be felt by a lot of people.
>
The time to feel shame about American TV shows has long passed.
> --
> Kevin M. (RPCV)
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