How Far Do You Think
You Can Go After Watching
Naked and Afraid ?
While watching this show, we maybe interested in the survival tactics and skills the couple may use. However, we must approach the elephant in the room here. They are naked! I can't imagine living in the middle of a desert or jungle wearing nothing but the skin on my back.We have all watched a show or a movie where there are parts where scenes can get a bit racy. Now there are shows out about people being naked and doing so many different things. According to Ann Oldenburg, from USA TODAY, "Naked and Afraid raised eyebrows and intrigued viewers as the highest-rated network to premiere which means copy cats were to steal the idea of naked Tv (2D)." It is intriguing to watch, as a viewer, someone build a fish trap while sitting on the cold ground naked. Sometimes watching the greetings of the strangers is the best part of the show. Many times, the survivalist are uncomfortable with having to partner up with someone who is also naked. Sometimes we may find these types of shows a little outrageous. Yet, as Nurit Tal-Or and Shitrit Hershaman have discovered, "this last decade has seen the increasing popularity of reality Tv shows, which are know for their voyeuristic nature (245)". To sum it up, the theme of being naked is genius. It pulls the audience in and compels us to watch more.
Participants and future wannabe survivalists get to become more educated on which tactic is the best and which aren't. Like every other reality television show, there is a pay off at the end of the episode. Based on the set skills each survivalist have, they are given in the beginning of the show a PSR, primitive survival rating. The highest you can achieve is 9.0. The survivalist scores can increase or decrease depending on how they conquer through an obstacle and the challenge as a whole. For example, if you go throughout the challenge just sitting doing nothing, barely eating or drinking, your PSR score will go down proving you do not have the skills you say you do. However, if during the challenge you do your best trying to hunt for food, building shelters and starting a fire, then your score will increase. It is exciting to watch the couples strive through and see their PSR score increase. It is also interesting to see how their bodies react to the starvation and numerous obstacles in the course of the challenge. At this point, as viewers, this is our pay off. Whereas we understand that are bodies are not to be taken for granted and what can happen if we were undernourished. As David Curcurito said, "what's
entertaining is watching people come close to death from exposure and starvation. It's inspiring (58)." Naked and Afraid is no weight loss show. It is legitimate and shows the true consequences if not well nourished.
Being naked is obviously not the only reason people watch this show. It is the rawness that we get to witness. The extreme moments we start to feel with the survivalists. Survivalist Taylor from season 2 became known for her description of where the bugs were biting her. She tells the cameras that the "bugs are eating my vajayjay alive!" Survivalist Cassie, explains that while tending to the fire and maintaining the flames, her face was covered in bug bites. Another inside look in the survivalists lives, were the night time cameras where they explained that the only way to control their body temperature was to snuggle together. One survivalist during the middle of the night was traumatized by a snake that crawled into her bed making the rest of her stay on the island so mortifying her had to leave. In the end of episode "Surthive", we see survivalists Bo and Debbie still recovering from Leishmaniasis which is a disease where you get icky rashes and infected holes throughout your body due to the terrible sand bugs on the island they were recruited at. So many different examples of how this show exposes everything. Although the motive for the show is to lure viewers in, we witness powerful and intense realities.
Obviously Naked and Afraid is for entertainment purposes and all of us love watching random stranger go into the jungle baring all to survive. From watching couples succeed on their journey or watching someone dive in nasty waters to catch a fish. It is all entertainment that is meant for the viewers. However, as you watch it, we get to understand the limits of the human body, our skills as individuals, and how our minds may react in certain circumstances. Starting from season one all the way to up coming season 7, it is my favorite show to watch and so will it be yours.
Work Cited
You Can Go After Watching
Naked and Afraid ?
Naked and Afraid is a reality tv show that follows around a man and a woman who are paired up to survive 21 days in an unknown environment, NAKED. Soon to be on their seventh season, the episodes are relatively the same thing every time. Meaning, there will always be a different pair of survivalist entering an unseen environment for each episode and they must figure out how to find food, water, and shelter with no help. However, what keeps you from changing the channel, is the uncertainty of whether or not the couple will succeed in the 21 days. During the challenge, the survivalists are put to the test mentally, physically, and emotionally. Each episode you watch becomes more captivating than the last. Whether it is in the jungle of Costa Rica or in the swamps of Cambodia, we as viewers get to experience with the participants the extremes of the environments and how they will survive the 21 days and nights.
A typical episode of Naked and Afraid usually begins with the casting tapes of a man and a woman who is chosen for that particular challenge. Viewers start to become more familiar with each person and grow attached to them. Survivalist, Kim Shelton, explains in her video her skills in plant identification, hunting, archery and tracking. We also learn about her faults which are communication and confrontation. At this point, we can expect that throughout the episode if there is a situation between her and her partner, there will be problems and we will empathize with her if something happens. Another survivalist, Steven Hall Jr., explains in his casting tape that he is proficient at building shelters, purifying water, hunting, gathering, and his level headedness. However, his cockiness can get to the best of him. We watch each survivalist grow dirtier and filthier in every crevice with mud and dirt. We watch vegetarians eat meat due to starvation and people drinking poop infested waters due to dehydration. We watch the tears of frustration roll of their cheeks when nothing is going well. Learning about the cast members before watching them go throughout their journey gives us a sense that even though they do have expertise in this field they are just like us. People who have selected skills, however, will never fully know how it is to survive in the wilderness. This gives the show an amateur status. Which reinforces what June Deery speaks about when "producers seeks applicants who have not appeared on screen before.(63)" Because of this amateur status, we as an audience feel more connected and involved with the participants.
 |
| Steven Hall Jr. Casting Tape for Naked and Afraid, Season 5. |
While watching this show, we maybe interested in the survival tactics and skills the couple may use. However, we must approach the elephant in the room here. They are naked! I can't imagine living in the middle of a desert or jungle wearing nothing but the skin on my back.We have all watched a show or a movie where there are parts where scenes can get a bit racy. Now there are shows out about people being naked and doing so many different things. According to Ann Oldenburg, from USA TODAY, "Naked and Afraid raised eyebrows and intrigued viewers as the highest-rated network to premiere which means copy cats were to steal the idea of naked Tv (2D)." It is intriguing to watch, as a viewer, someone build a fish trap while sitting on the cold ground naked. Sometimes watching the greetings of the strangers is the best part of the show. Many times, the survivalist are uncomfortable with having to partner up with someone who is also naked. Sometimes we may find these types of shows a little outrageous. Yet, as Nurit Tal-Or and Shitrit Hershaman have discovered, "this last decade has seen the increasing popularity of reality Tv shows, which are know for their voyeuristic nature (245)". To sum it up, the theme of being naked is genius. It pulls the audience in and compels us to watch more.
Participants and future wannabe survivalists get to become more educated on which tactic is the best and which aren't. Like every other reality television show, there is a pay off at the end of the episode. Based on the set skills each survivalist have, they are given in the beginning of the show a PSR, primitive survival rating. The highest you can achieve is 9.0. The survivalist scores can increase or decrease depending on how they conquer through an obstacle and the challenge as a whole. For example, if you go throughout the challenge just sitting doing nothing, barely eating or drinking, your PSR score will go down proving you do not have the skills you say you do. However, if during the challenge you do your best trying to hunt for food, building shelters and starting a fire, then your score will increase. It is exciting to watch the couples strive through and see their PSR score increase. It is also interesting to see how their bodies react to the starvation and numerous obstacles in the course of the challenge. At this point, as viewers, this is our pay off. Whereas we understand that are bodies are not to be taken for granted and what can happen if we were undernourished. As David Curcurito said, "what's
 |
| PSR score of Joe Brandi. Before and After. |
Being naked is obviously not the only reason people watch this show. It is the rawness that we get to witness. The extreme moments we start to feel with the survivalists. Survivalist Taylor from season 2 became known for her description of where the bugs were biting her. She tells the cameras that the "bugs are eating my vajayjay alive!" Survivalist Cassie, explains that while tending to the fire and maintaining the flames, her face was covered in bug bites. Another inside look in the survivalists lives, were the night time cameras where they explained that the only way to control their body temperature was to snuggle together. One survivalist during the middle of the night was traumatized by a snake that crawled into her bed making the rest of her stay on the island so mortifying her had to leave. In the end of episode "Surthive", we see survivalists Bo and Debbie still recovering from Leishmaniasis which is a disease where you get icky rashes and infected holes throughout your body due to the terrible sand bugs on the island they were recruited at. So many different examples of how this show exposes everything. Although the motive for the show is to lure viewers in, we witness powerful and intense realities.
Obviously Naked and Afraid is for entertainment purposes and all of us love watching random stranger go into the jungle baring all to survive. From watching couples succeed on their journey or watching someone dive in nasty waters to catch a fish. It is all entertainment that is meant for the viewers. However, as you watch it, we get to understand the limits of the human body, our skills as individuals, and how our minds may react in certain circumstances. Starting from season one all the way to up coming season 7, it is my favorite show to watch and so will it be yours.
Curcurito, David. "Naked and Afraid is the Best Survival Show." Popular Mechanics, March 2012, p. 58-58, 3/8 p.
Deery, June. Reality Tv. Malder, MA : Polity Press, 2015.
Deery, June. Reality Tv. Malder, MA : Polity Press, 2015.
Neuhaus, Cable. "Naked Bunch." Saturday Evening Post, vol.287, issue 4, Jul/Aug 2015, pp. 12.
Oldenburg, Ann. "Naked TV." USA Today, June 20,2014. InfoTrac Junior Edition, www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/06/19/naked-tv/10744823/.
Tal-Or, Nurit; Hershaman-Shitrit, Michael. "Self-Disclosure and the Liking of Participants in Reality Tv. " Human Communication Research, vol. 41, issue 2, April 1, 2015, pp. 245-267. Communication Source.
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