It’s the most responsible thing I’ve seen on television. What is it? An MTV show called “Scarred.”
Ask my kids: For years, I’ve been yelling at the television set as it promotes all manner of dimwitted “extreme” activities that only show the glory – and none of the pain.
While the “Jackass” genre is huge among the highly coveted young male audience, programmers have never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Before “Scarred,” there was never a mention of the orthopedic hell most extreme athletes must endure to learn their twisted trade and render their few successes to videotape.
The story behind the story of extreme sports is the unending parade of the gullible into emergency rooms where they are pinned, screwed, taped, wired, grafted, transplanted and bolted back together like so many modern day Humpty Dumpty’s.
The long term pain associated with this orgy of orthopedic carnage can’t be quantified, but it suffices to say that hundreds of thousands of people can’t get out of bed, can’t walk, can’t golf, can’t think and can’t go a day without pain because of their short-lived careers as extreme athletes. Even the few who manage to build a brand and gain some sort of notoriety have broken every bone in their bodies climbing up fame’s ladder of anguish. Nobody tells aspiring kids anything about the falling off part.
“Scarred” tells great stories, and brings actual reality to reality television. The program shows the grievous injury, and lets the self-victimized stars of the show talk about the long term consequences of their hair-brained actions. These extreme sports nuts explain how they sleep in pain, can’t move their joints like they used to and have hit middle-age decades ahead of schedule.
I think “Scarred” ought to be mandatory viewing for any child who owns a bike, skateboard, trampoline, pair of skis, wakeboard, snowboard, hang glider or parachute.
I’ve always felt that there was a good argument to be made for showing uncensored video of war, murder, car crashes and violence. In this case, “Scarred” is doing good television and a valuable public service all at the same time.
I haven’t said that about many TV shows.
