I think I should start by making tea for the kids, but then I’ll do the rest, right? That’s why I’m not the commissioner of a program like Into the Jungle with Ed Stafford.
The premise is simple. It’s up to you to decide how stupid that is. Explorer and survivalist Ed Stafford (who in 2010 became the first person to traverse the Amazon River, not only by foot, but by foot) takes six men and their children into the jungles of Belize. A few weeks of walking and enduring mosquitoes, hoverflies, snakes, and jaguars will bring them even closer together. Everyone feels cut off from their children, and vice versa, except for Jethro and his son Dexter. Jethro admits that he has a hard time thinking about the separation that is bound to occur as his 12-year-old son grows older.
This is our usual carefully selected collection. There’s also the gentle pairing of Jethro and Dexter, and 12-year-old Immy and her overprotective father, Christian. It was too early to help her with the difficulties posed by the fact that she has no left hand.
There are also loud people like Jeff and his 12-year-old son, Akai. And so am I! ” Akai, Chris and the others say cheerfully. Chris Sr. believes Chris Jr., 15, is part of the “snowy generation” who needs to learn “old-fashioned skills.” His son smiled quietly, a little sadly.
“He thinks he knows everything.” Akai and his father, Jeff. Photo: Quilz Tamay/Channel 4
They have a son, Efdal, and his 11-year-old daughter, Ezra, who often feels older than his LEGO-building father. “This is technological Lego!” he protests. There they find an elegant pair: Ben and his 14-year-old son Roca, who attends boarding school. Ben says they are ships passing by at night.
The first challenge separates generations. To reunite with their children, the fathers must hike for two hours across a river and then jump off a 7.6-meter (25-foot) cliff. Jeff and Christian quickly take control. In Jeff’s case, it’s probably a testament to his childhood in rural Jamaica. However, you should pay attention to Akai’s next comment. However, even if this is true, there are some exaggerations. He now uses Uber Eats. ”Sometimes I really, really love my kids. Ben and Jethro go to the rear, and Ben helps his prosthetic companion pass a difficult section of the trail.
Because the jump takes place in front of children, it becomes a test of shame, love, and pride rather than a healthy opportunity for personal growth. While it’s tempting to stake out every manipulative member of the production team under the scorching sun and let the snakes do their thing, you could be more serious.
Over time, the sense of manipulation becomes more and more eroded. In the first episode, you work primarily through Jethro. Stafford pulls him aside for a hart-to-hart after the jump. Jethro revealed that he had been in care since he was nine years old because his father “left school early” and his mother was unable to care for the child. Dexter, “the light of my life,” was born when Jethro was 20 years old. He wants to show Jethro the world. …I need him. ”
The source of this pain is terrifying to witness. The idea that Jethro and his son are most effectively trapped on a reality show rather than therapy and used to tug at the viewer’s heartstrings, well, I’m back to the body stakeout.
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Anyway. Let’s go. Next we’ll rappel together (followed by a night hike, sailing in a homemade dugout canoe, and wilderness self-defense). Supposedly designed to build bonds and reveal power relationships. Who will be supportive, who will reprimand the child, who will push the child, and who will make him give up? – but it actually exists to feed the traditional audience. Who will be our heroes and villains? Who will transform from one to the other? Who should be celebrated, who should have the guts of an oyster, and who should be hated? How much of that is edited by editors?
I don’t usually worry about it that much. But the children are on the brink of their father understanding not enough or too much, and are so vulnerable that the discomfort cannot be ignored. Stafford’s intentions are clearly good. I’m not sure what the people standing behind him perceive as they face the screen.
Ed Stafford’s Into the Jungle is on Channel 4
