In XviD. English language, no subs. DVDrip
1hr 27min
From IMDB's description-
`Reality TV' is founded on P T Barnum's famous
dictum `Nobody went broke underestimating public
taste.' `Series 7 ? The Contenders' simply takes
the idea to its extreme ? a program where
contestants hunt each other down, not in the wild,
but in suburbia, the survivor being declared the
winner (oddly, the only prize seems to be
survival).
Obviously this is satire, and there are some
genuinely funny moments, such as the parents of a
teenage contestant urging their daughter on, as,
armed with a rifle, she attempts to take care of
an elderly opponent on a golf course. When the
same girl, taking the gun into a shopping mall, is
challenged by a security man, she says `its all
right, I'm from The Contenders' and he lets her
pass. The two main characters, Dawn (Brooke Smith)
the champion from the last series and Jeffery
(Glenn Fitzgerald), an opponent and former
boyfriend, are sympathetically drawn. Dawn is
pretty aggressive, but also eight months pregnant,
and filled with emotion on returning to her home
town. Jeffery, an artist, is suffering from
testicular cancer, and though cared for by his
devoted wife, wants to die. Needless to say, it
becomes pretty hard for Dawn to pull the trigger
on Jeffery when she gets the chance. The other
contestants are not so sympathetically drawn, but
they are by no means monsters, even if Connie the
ER nurse with the deadly needle, goes to
confession before stepping out to kill someone.
I formed the distinct impression that the
contestants were not actually volunteers, being
selected at random from something like the list of
social security numbers. If that were the case,
and I was selected, my first priority would be to
wipe out the producers, not my fellow contestants.
The Gladiators of ancient Rome were not volunteers
of course, and perhaps that's the parallel the
producers of the film seek to draw, or perhaps
with the military draft for Vietnam.
Occasionally, reality TV makes good television, as
in the case of the Australian `RPA' about the day
to day workings of a large Sydney hospital. But
the contrived ones, like `Survivor', `Boot Camp'
and even the quiz show `The Weakest Link' depend
on (vicarious) fear and humilation, not to mention
voyeurism for their entertainment value. Freak
shows such as `Springer' add loathing to the
mix.
The director here (Daniel Minehan) does a good job
of demonstrating just how nasty the premises are
behind these sorts of shows but don't really sheet
home the blame. I don't mind seeing a few of the
high and mighty humiliated in public but I do
object to ordinary mostly decent people being
chewed up for entertainment purposes. Dawn and
Jeffery deserve our sympathy, not our revulsion, a
point the film makes reasonably well. It also
illustrates that P T Barnum's dictum has lost none
of its force.
freakyflicks
(Good idea this, whoever thought
it up)
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