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That new reality show 'Stars earn Stripes' receiving wretched reviews
I guess playing commercials for the show every break at the Olympics isn't going to save this stinking dog of a show.
From the Hollywood Reporter
The complaint that the show unfairly sanitizes the gruesomeness of war is valid. It does seem to belittle the soldiers' experience to turn what they do into a competition. Worse, after merely one exercise the celebrities already begin talking about how they "understand what the soldiers have been through." Doubtful. In an awkward moment in the pilot episode, Laila Ali cavalierly asks her partner if he's ever killed anybody. "We don't really talk about that," he replies, and she apologizes. But it sums up the feeling of the show -- it's a playground. The inclusion of the military is an insulting partnership, undermining the gravity of what the military is actually about. And despite claims of danger from every sector, there's never a feeling of truth to it. Yes the competitors and soldiers are using live ammunition, but most of the "dangers" are movie-like effects -- random explosions and helicopters circling low to create a militaristic atmosphere. Cynically, one knows an insurance company has already made sure that there's no real danger to be had, a point reinforced by producers and the repeated phrase "redundancy of safety."
Even given the hectic atmosphere enhanced by POV cams and dizzying jump cuts, the action itself is not very engaging, possibly because the stakes are so low. When Quince gets bogged down in his military gear and starts to sink into the choppy waters, he's immediately pulled out but a nearby rescue team, not his teammates. Though the contestants spend some time slogging through the mud and crawling under barbed wire, the jumpiness of the camera never let's the viewer soak in the grueling nature of the course. Additionally, the fact that the pairs not currently engaged in the mission watch and comment to host Samantha Harris ("look at that shot he just made!"
during the other team's trials further adds to an odd, video game feel
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/nbc-stars-earn-stripes-tv-review-361481
The complaint that the show unfairly sanitizes the gruesomeness of war is valid. It does seem to belittle the soldiers' experience to turn what they do into a competition. Worse, after merely one exercise the celebrities already begin talking about how they "understand what the soldiers have been through." Doubtful. In an awkward moment in the pilot episode, Laila Ali cavalierly asks her partner if he's ever killed anybody. "We don't really talk about that," he replies, and she apologizes. But it sums up the feeling of the show -- it's a playground. The inclusion of the military is an insulting partnership, undermining the gravity of what the military is actually about. And despite claims of danger from every sector, there's never a feeling of truth to it. Yes the competitors and soldiers are using live ammunition, but most of the "dangers" are movie-like effects -- random explosions and helicopters circling low to create a militaristic atmosphere. Cynically, one knows an insurance company has already made sure that there's no real danger to be had, a point reinforced by producers and the repeated phrase "redundancy of safety."
Even given the hectic atmosphere enhanced by POV cams and dizzying jump cuts, the action itself is not very engaging, possibly because the stakes are so low. When Quince gets bogged down in his military gear and starts to sink into the choppy waters, he's immediately pulled out but a nearby rescue team, not his teammates. Though the contestants spend some time slogging through the mud and crawling under barbed wire, the jumpiness of the camera never let's the viewer soak in the grueling nature of the course. Additionally, the fact that the pairs not currently engaged in the mission watch and comment to host Samantha Harris ("look at that shot he just made!"
during the other team's trials further adds to an odd, video game feel
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/nbc-stars-earn-stripes-tv-review-361481
3 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
