Alone
My latest obsession.
What, you may ask, is “Alone”? According to Wikipedia:
Alone is an adventure reality show. It follows the self-documented daily struggles of 10 individuals as they survive alone in the wilderness for as long as possible using a limited amount of survival equipment. The participants are isolated from each other and all other humans. They may "tap out" at any time, or be removed due to failing a medical check-in. The contestant who remains the longest wins a grand prize of $500,000.
The locations are rugged and the weather extreme. Contestants forage and hunt for food, build shelters, and, while all are skilled survivalist types, the environment is daunting. On the current season, the ten contestants are on the shores of Chilko Lake in British Columbia, which is big on roaming grizzly bears and short on catchable fish.
Each contestant has a video camera and shoots their own footage. No film crew, no director, just them and what they choose to document.
Two human qualities I admire most are resourcefulness and endurance. If I somehow found myself alone on Chilko Lake, I would be pressing my emergency tap-out button within seconds. Not these folks. They are too busy fashioning a fishing rod from a tree branch, or building a pit house shelters by digging five feet into hard-packed clay using a sharpened rock.
In case you’re not convinced, here are three more reasons this show is worth watching.
1. The dialogue (technically monologue) is absolutely authentic, like listening to someone’s thoughts.
2. It is devoid of retail consumerism. No one’s trying to product-place or make a buck on a hand-woven fish trap.
3. Staying positive in the face of hunger and cold and discomfort is beyond me, but when these adventurers are tested, optimism is almost invariably their default.
It’s odd that I, a person has gone camping a couple of times and only pretended to like it, would be enthralled by “Alone”. But I do. Each participant reveals both their core and their limit. Each faces the brutality and beauty of nature and utter solitude. Even as they tap out, they exit the experience enlightened, humbled, and grateful, weary studies in grit and grace. Every time I watch it, I feel second-hand uplifted.