Swamp
People
Just when you think the reality TV
genre has exhausted all it’s possibilities, they come out with something you
just have to see. Like
Swamp People ! I’m not sure exactly why it belongs on the
History channel but that’s where it airs.
It follows these “Swamp People” (guess that’s where they got the title)
as they hunt for alligators during the 30 day hunting season.
The History channel advertises it as a
“uniquely American story of a proud and skillful people fighting to maintain an
ancient way of life in a rapidly modernizing world…” I am not arguing. It is a way of life that I
didn’t know even existed and I am glad I didn’t grow up into. I’m soooo glad to not have to make or
supplement my living in the swamps of Louisiana!
Living in the Northeast, the bayou way
of life is so completely alien. I cannot
imagine getting onto a little metal boat equipped just with some hooks, lines
and guns. They are trying to find the big
alligators to get the bigger payoff. I’m
sure there are many terrifying jobs that I have never considered but this one
seems especially scary to me. If I were
on the show, I would constantly have a big wet spot on the back of my overalls
from pissing myself in terror. And, I would probably be so jumpy that I would
shoot a hole in my boat five minutes into the pilot.
However, the couple of times my family
has stumbled onto the show, I get sucked in.
How could you not? These guys are
American born and speaking English but they have to subtitle them!!! I find the whole “job” scary and fascinating
and it always makes my mind wander and wonder.
I have wondered up lots of questions! (I’ve tried to group them in some
related way…)
1. Who pitched this idea? Does one of these guys have some far-flung
family member in TV who knew what they were doing for a living? Was someone
doing research for something else and just stumbled onto these guys? I can’t imagine the alligator hunters having
lots of free time to write up pitches for a show… Was some exec shoe shopping and the decided to dig a little
deeper into the backstory of his groovy, new alligator shoes?
2. What History Channel
personnel had to go there for the contract signing? Were they excited to go or
did they draw straws? How did they dress
to go out into the wilds of Louisiana? Did the TV guys try to dress down and
what would be their idea of dressing down? (Did they wear Izod shirts?!?) What type of cars did they rent? Pickups
to try and fit in? Did they go to these
guys’ houses? What was the small talk
like before they got down to business? Was the contract signing at the kitchen
table with jelly jars of moonshine or just the whole brown jug passed
around? (Yeah, I know I’m stereotyping
but this is my mental wandering.)
3. How many guys did they look at before deciding
which guys to feature on the show? I’m
just wondering how many guys do this.
Did they have a lot to choose from and they just went with the most
colorful? Or are these the last guys
that do this?
4. They subtitle the all of the
Swamp People. Some of the guys have such
a thick accent that you’d never know what’s going on otherwise. BUT a few are easy to understand and, still,
they are subtitled. Is that so the other
guys don’t feel bad? OR because the
viewers from Louisiana won’t understand the guys who don’t talk like they have a
chaw of marbles in their mouths?
5. Now that we all know about
this job, is there going to be a new surge in the industry? Lot’s of city slicker, copycat alligator
hunters moving to the area and getting eaten?
AND my most burning question…
6. Is it written into the
contract: “No matter how big the show gets or how much we pay you, you may not
fix your teeth”?!?
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