the first issue (still in
progress)
A
Short Informal Essay on “Greed”
TRAVIS
CHRISTENSEN
First of all, this show is completely fake. And let me just say that I
pity Chuck Woolory. How
could he get involved in
such a sleazy, downright evil show?
OK, so I don’t have proof it’s fake. But it certainly looks fake. Most
daytime talk shows,
including "Springer",
are fake. “Greed” seems so obviously fake to me. First of all, the people
all
seem to have major idiosyncrasies.
They’re either easily related to or disliked. Very loud personalities,
whether they seem truly
“greedy” or quiet and reserved. It’s like bad fiction, everything is predictable.
The questions are all extremely easy. You have to be a total idiot not
to know the answers. I
would have had so much cash
it’s not even funny. The questions are all very basic, such as “what
is the major color on a
box of Cheerios?” and “Which of the following died under age 30”.
The most obvious thing to say about this show is that it’s a rip-off of
“Who Wants to be a
Millionaire?”, and I am
certainly not arguing that it isn’t. That show seems to be real because
the
questions are harder and
the people are more down to earth. The payoffs are reasonable, as I don’t
recall anyone actually winning
a million dollars yet. But on “Greed”, the jackpot is $2,200,000. Yeah,
right. Like anyone would
really give away $100,000 for knowing that Joan of Arc died at age 19.
The
questions on “Millionaire”
are harder and worth a lot less money. I have this feeling that every contestant
on “Greed” is an actor and
that no one really “wins” anything: all answers are by the script. Both
shows
have a ridiculous delay
between the spoken answer and the announcement of the actual answer,
complete with bad lighting
and pathetic suspense music made on a $80 keyboard. On “Greed” they
really plug the suspense
though: delays before the announcement of the answer are up to 20 seconds.
Also, before any major decision
is said they always cut to a commercial break. I feel so dirty and
wretched watching this garbage.
“Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” is fun to watch and it has some kind of
value to it as well.
Sure, both shows preach
greed and selfishness but “Millionaire” at least pretends that it’s OK
to love
money. The show has self-respect,
just enough so that it doesn’t become a mockery of itself. It makes
winning the money seem educational,
and you have to admit, you learned some stuff watching this show.
“Greed” is just shameless,
though. It preaches greed like everyone should have a natural lust for
money.
Sure, everyone wants to
be successful, but have we really reached this terribly self-centered zombie
state
already? I thought there
was still some hope left in America, but “Greed” makes me doubt that. Sure,
the
“greedy contestants” are
fake, but the writers and actors are real. The message is broadcast to
millions
and I think there will be
serious consequences because of these two shows.
This has certainly been a very greedy, self- centered decade, and by the
looks of it, it’s only getting
worse. Unlike “Millionaire”,
“Greed” has a team of contestants working towards the big jackpot, not
just one
person. This is a poor disguise
for even more greed and backstabbing. Although the teammates rely on
each other to go forward
in the game there is much animosity between them. Sure, they seem happy
when
they get the answer right,
but notice how they act before the answer is announced. There is much disdain
between them. Everyone doubts
the convictions of their teammates. You can see the contestants shake
their head vehemently when
they think their teammate has made a false move. You can hear their
venomous whispers of “no,
no, no!”. Then it’s all roses once the answer is proved right. But they
backstab
each other at any chance
in this game. In “Greed” there is something called the “Terminator function”.
A
contestant is “randomly”
selected by some kind of divine lightning and they are asked to choose
if they
want to double their score
by eliminating another teammate or leave their score and teammates how
they
are. I saw one contestant
who actually decided he wanted to eliminate a player. He picked someone
who
looked like a non-threatening
40-something housewife to challenge in a match of wits, where a simple
question is asked and the
person who answers first is not terminated from the game. When he picked
this woman and went up to
the plate for the challenge, the host, Chuck Woolory formerly of "Love
Connection",
asked the woman if she had
anything to say beforehand. She asked this in a very frightened and miserable
voice: “I just have one
question: Why me?”. His cold monotonous response hit me like a ton of bricks,
truly
the most wicked and evil
thing I have ever heard on television: “I just felt the need.” God
save us all.