I’m sure this is well seen by now… July 11, 2009
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Culture, History.trackback
No doubt this has achieved critical mass on the web, but it missed me until this week. Deadliest Warriors, a US TV show which appeals to the ten year old child in far far too many people and pitches ‘warriors’ against… er… ‘warriors’. The season finale decided to see how the Taliban vs. the IRA would pan out.
That this contest was conducted in used car park and made no sense whatsoever is a minor issue. That the eventual victors won through a process which made also no sense at all is equally so. I could wonder about the outcome and what it tells us, but perhaps that is to over-analyse something that deserves almost no analysis at all.
Astounding stuff. Seriously. No less astounding was the discussion on Charlie Brookers “You Have Been Watching” about it.
What really struck me though was the way the response on the show seemed to hint at just how distanced from everyday life in the UK, for most people – there were exceptions, obviously, the situation in Northern Ireland actually was. Or alternatively how normalised it has become and how the potency of the conflict has receded in the past decade and a half, particularly in the wake of 9/11. Hard to believe that in 2020 we’d see the reverse dynamic working itself out in a UK imported show with, say, a contest betweeen Al-Queda and the Symbionese Liberation Army being discussed on US television with the same degree of levity.
Which is not to say the participants weren’t uncomfortable, but it was clear they weren’t sure exactly how they should calibrate that discomfort or what precisely they were uncomfortable with.
It’s absolutely ridiculous. The IRA guy wins by utilizing his hand-to-hand combat skills? When was that ever a tactic of the IRA? Secondly, this was a straight battle, not an ambush or assassination or bombing. And straight battles are something of which the Taliban have vast experience, while the IRA, at best, have limited experience of that type of combat. The victory of the IRA in this scenario was purely political. The producers simply couldn’t have the Taliban winning against the IRA on American TV. It seems to me that if you wanted the IRA to win based on its skill base, then they would have won by planting a bomb inside the caravan where the Taliban were having their meeting BEFORE the fight, and certainly not winning in a straight fight afterwards. Absolutely ridiculous.
What really struck me though was the way the response on the show seemed to hint at just how distanced from everyday life in the UK, for most people – there were exceptions, obviously, the situation in Northern Ireland actually was.
Not much more than can be said for most people in the Republic – given that the vast majority of southeners only managed to find their way north of the border long after the troubles were done and dusted.
Anyway – the whole thing is sooo bogus. It was the INLA that were masters of the flamethower and catapult. The ‘ra were all about the trebuchet and bouncing bombs.
Fair point alastair re the South, and something that coincidentally feeds into Garibaldy’s piece on SF.
Yeah, it is political, isn’t it Conor? Sort of ‘let’s figure out who we think could take on the Taliban and who’re sort of scary’.
Anyhow, where does this end? Tamil Tigers against the UVF? The PLO against Castro…
Re the bomb in the caravan, perhaps they’d have used alastair’s trebuchet and bouncing bomb… just to be sure…
Tamil Tigers would knock the bollicks off the UVF, who NEVER got into a straight fight with anyone who could fight back.
The PLO against Castro, I reckon Castro would have that simply from a leadership point of view, but how about Hezbollah against the Taliban? now THAT I would watch.
That would indeed be interesting and unless I’m much mistaken, wouldn’t it also make geo-political sense since the Taliban are Sunni and Hezbollah are Shi’a.
Still, can’t help feeling that on that programme above somehow the UVF would win.
This just makes no sense.
On that programme above a bunch of fat kids from Utah armed with flatulence would win against the Taliban.
What does ste? What does?
Conor…
Actually Brooker showed the contest between an Apache and a Gladiator… Bloody hell.
did you noitce how the last IRA guys finishes off THREE of the Taliban all my himself? The last Taliban dies because he STANDS AT THE BLOCKED DOOR AND BANGS AT THE WINDOW instead of running out the OPEN DOOR HE CAME IN THROUGH. when you see how far the IRA guy gets before the bombs goes off, the Taliban guy could easily have run back out the driver’s side door. Simply ridiculous.
Who won?
I was amazed when I saw the clip-I assumed it was some kind
of Chris Morris-style spoof. Isn’t rather disturbing to see real-world
terrorists transformed into the TV equivalent of a
“Warhammer 40,000″ game?
The whole premise of the “Deadliest Warrior” show is historical
warriors from different time periods get to fight to prove
who is the best. Wasn’t there a “Doctor Who” story with
the same plot?
My understanding is that they rate the 5 weapons used by the groups into a computer, then a programme does some sort of calculation and comes up with a winner. The above clip is just something to make the show a little more entertaining. The programme doesn’t act like an old championship manager game coming up with messages like “IRA terrorist #5 smiles as he detonates nailbomb” followed by “Tablin #3 is blasted to chunky kibbles”.
The choice of weapons is limited and the ratings are subjective. No real account is take of terrain etc. Then again, what would you expect from a show designed to answer questions like “Would a ninja beat a pirate in a fight?”
It’s gloriously ridiculous.
Sorry Conor was away for a sec… tWas the Gladiator but I didn’t think it a fair fight!
“The programme doesn’t act like an old championship manager game coming up with messages like “IRA terrorist #5 smiles as he detonates nailbomb” followed by “Tablin #3 is blasted to chunky kibbles”.
Yeah, but it would be f**king great if it did, though, wouldn’t it?
I dunno. The Wolf Tones have been rewriting IRA battles for years, and with as much subtlety as the above clip.
“Would a ninja beat a pirate in a fight?”
That’s a tough one. what did the computer say?
Well, they haven’t done that one yet. There’s always next season. Personally, I’m looking forward to the “Caveman V Spacemen” episode.
Wiki has a list of results for the show:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadliest_Warrior
WBS, the apache won! According to Wikipedia:
“The Apache strikes the Gladiator in his hamstrings, causing him to lose balance and slashes his lower torso and finally cuts his throat, killing him. The Apache stabs the Gladiator a few more times to make sure he’s dead. After licking the blood off the blade of his knife, the Apache gives his infamous cry, then runs off.”
Interestingly, I just noticed the show had a Spetsnaz squad beat a group of Green Berets.
I’m going to have to watch this show.
They had William Wallace beat Shaka Zulu, who fought more like Jah Shaka
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEikFjOcklI
Ther used to be a show where puppets of celebrities would battle it out in a boxing ring but I can’t recall the title.
CELEBRITY DEATH MATCH!!!!
‘Mad’ Frankie Curry’s elite Red Hand Commando squad vs. a troop of child soliders from the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army, can you get that match up? I reckon Frank would win by introducing the children to ‘E’ getting them loved up then leaving the boys set about them with their own machettes.
They have to be weapons, Pete. By the same token the Taliban could have showed up with six trays of Dutch Gold and five bottles of Jameson. They would have won hands down.
My bad, I forgot that (the programme was on late, I was tired… etc)… good news for Apache’s everywhere.
Does Apache own an “everywhere”?[Communique from apostrophewatch]
Argghhh… obviously still tired
The new History Ireland (lauded elsewhere in the CL) has a nice sidebar pitching the B Specials against the Irish Army in a 1969 invasion scenario. There’s a Belgian vibe goin’ on: the army’s Belgian assault rifles are way better than single-shot bolt action Lee Enfields used by the B-Men while Free State combat experience in the Congo would naturally be a bit more hard core than kicking Taigs’ arses along the lanes of south Derry or wherever…