Piece Comment

Review of Near-Life Experience: Interview with "The Amazing Race" host


In this interview Phil Keoghan shares his observations of mankind. He seems most impressed by the resourcefulness of those who have the odds against them. He draws particular inspiration from the industriousness and perseverance of those living in third world countries. He goes on to lament that the media are perpetuating unrealistic life style expectations: we have become a society obsessed with our deficiencies--a society unappreciative and unaware of what we DO have. His world view, however, is obscured by hypocrisy when he reveals his latest cathode ray tube tour de force: Discovery channel's NOW ( No Opportunity Wasted!). This show indulges people's life long dreams of becoming nude go-go dancers, playing professional hockey for a day, joining the WWF, and so on. (to be fair one guy dreams of opening up a boxing ring for inner city kids.) The effectiveness of this interview depends on the context in which you would broadcast this. Bill Moyers will be leaving PBS' NOW after the presidential election. Ideally someone will interview Moyers about his Now and life after NOW now and juxtapose it with this interview. The duo might make for an interesting portrait of American media.