MTV's 'True Life' casting fans for furry episode
MTV's True Life has issued a casting call for furries aged 16-25, and potential cast members are already posting about it. [tip: sohjin]
True Life is is billed as following "unique persons in their everyday situations, and [documenting] the problems and goals they face." Their most recent episodes were "I'm A Chubby Chaser", "I Can't Please My Parents", "I'm A Sex Offender" and "I Have Diabetes".
True Life previously covered the fandom in infamous "Sex2k" segment Plushies and Furries.
One casting survey assumes that all furries are fursuiters to some degree, and asks about "adverse effects" that being furry has had on the submitter's life, who they have told, whether they are dating (and if so, whether they know), and whether anyone has "told you to stop".
Mass-media coverage is often viewed poorly by fans, but has drawn many to the fandom and led to features like pop video Higher Than The Stars.
About the author
GreenReaper (Laurence Parry) — read stories — contact (login required)a developer, editor and Kai Norn from London, United Kingdom, interested in wikis and computers
Small fuzzy creature who likes cheese & carrots. Founder of WikiFur, lead admin of Inkbunny, and Editor-in-Chief of Flayrah.
Comments
"I Have Diabetes" sounds pretty boring, actually.
I mean, if you took the time to actually do it right, yeah, it could be interesting, but if you're looking for exclusively fursuiting furries for another show, uh ... I imagine a producer going, "Can you prick your finger again? Not enough blood the first time."
I don't meet the age or fursuit requirements. :( I can think of a few furs I would like to see get a bigger spotlight.
So here's what a mass majority of the commentary will say directed at this little tidbit of info concerning the programming featuring members of the furry fandom:
"Hopefully this one isn't as fail as most others, god(s)/mercy on our souls."
There, I saved that trouble from being posted. (Riiight...)
"MTV..."
That's where I stopped reading.
Past performance does not guarantee future results.
From what I can see, they're looking for nothing more than "I'm an Angsty Teen Fur[suiter]". Not great, but not terrible.
That may be so but... come on, at some point you have to look at the bulk of their history and understand there is a trend - anything less and you're just putting on blinders. What have they released that would make you hope for a decent or not half-bad final product?
I'm sure in their experience, angsty teens who want attention are easily moldable into whatever they think will get ratings or shock value. I doubt time has mellowed their outlook on their audience, hell back when they has Sex2k there was still some sort of musical programming on that network - what do they have now that's not essentially Jerry Springer tv?
Am I the only one who finds that quote of "whether anyone has told you to stop" particularly disturbing?
How is it "True Life" when they are looking for a specific type of fur? The casting call is poorly written, having a bunch of questions that don't seem to lead anywhere. It doesn't say you should answer "yes" or that answering "no" would make you ineligible.
In any case it's just going to be depressing watching people's inability to follow what's happening. i.e. The inability to distinguish between individuals and the groups they belong to, and that goes for both the furs and non-furs that will be watching.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
Of course it's not "true life". Have you been living under a rock or what? :) Just like the acts on "American Idol" aren't actually idols, "reality" shows aren't even remotely realistic, "Fitness Chocolate Ceral" does not actually increase your fitness, and anti-aging cream doesn't make you the slightest bit younger.
Those who are foolish enough to take part in these kinds of "lifestyle" shows have only one purpose: Provide the producers with a subject for the phrase: "We will be right back after this commercial break, showing you XXXXXXX". The actual content does not need any connection to reality at all. It just needs to be captivating enough to keep people watching through that break. That's what brings in the money. Everything else is meaningless.
The script for that show has been written before you've said your first word on camera. If portraying you as some creepy sexual deviant basement nerd by interleaving your interview with random porn from xtube is what they need to keep people from changing the channel during the break, that's what they will do.
Taking part in this kind of programme is like bending over, pulling down your pants, and yelling, "DEAR MEDIA PLEASE RAPE ME!!!!".
The last MTV "documentary" (which did not actually document anything) pretty much ruined the lives of the people who took part in it.
So, who will volunteer next?
Many of your words ring true, but golly gee you sounds like a tried and true cynic there mister.
Don't forget sometimes, -sometimes- there is a shred of a sliver, of a fraction, of a miniature, of a molecule, of the tiniest, nigh insignificant chance that sometimes, sometimes... Stereotypes don't ring true to their definitions, and just because history shows a repetitive process, doesn't mean there isn't an occasional kink in the wheel. So ultimately, there's some shred of hope; not much hope to be found here, but there is some. I can't come up with any evidence to support this, but, but, but... I'm sure someone out there has something that suggests the 'reality star' in question actually turned it around and either took a proverbial crap on the production itself, or made use of the chance to perturb ugly opinions of a subculture or something in some way. I challenge someone to find this. :P I won't, cause reality television is ugly, and I've failed to be perturbed by it's terrible, mindless, yet somehow captivating and mind-numbing programming style.
Oh wait, that makes me a hypocrite...
Not really, I was sort of being a smartass creatively to express an idea. I watch reality television from time to time, and really... It's not always that bad, granted it's like dumpster diving for a good full course meal with no kitty litter or banana peels on it, but hey, don't completely dis it based on a majority performance.
TL;DR: GreenReaper: "Past performance does not guarantee future results."
I think very few people will claim there is absolutely no chance of it working out to be a net positive. Just most think the chances are so small, that it is not worth the gamble to even the most risk seeking person.
"Golly gee" is a registered crossaffliction trademark.
I thought that was Palin's.
Well, I admit that a very cynical posting, but when dealing with the media you have to keep a close look at what the business model of the network is, and what the person or cpmpany has published before. Given MTV's track record I think the chance of getting any kind of treatment that even remotely let's is get away with a good name is pretty slim.
Taking part in this kind of programme is like bending over, pulling down your pants, and yelling, "DEAR MEDIA PLEASE RAPE ME!!!!"
Well I'm confused now. I was previously told by KinkyCoyote that taking part in this kind of programme was "like a Jew collaborating with the Nazis".
Any furry got any more hysterically stupid, insensitive and overheated metaphors?
It's like being a black man at a KKK rally with your own rope and list of nearby sturdy trees ready to go!
I do have diabetes, and yes, I'm boring.
I'm also 71 and not a Fursuiter. I would be willing to volunteer to show that all Furry fans aren't in the 16-25 age range and are not Fursuiters. But they don't want me, do they? Actually, I have been told by a Fursuiter, "If you don't have a Fursuit, you're not a genuine Furry fan!"
Fred Patten
Maybe you can get named "World's oldest furry?" :p
Curiosity though, older people are usually quite different to the youth and well you're in the grandparent generational range for a lot of furs. Do you find yourself fitting in easily and being part of everything?
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
I have already been named the world's oldest Furry, on WikiFur. And no, I did not find myself fitting in easily at Furry social events, even before I had a stroke and became bedridden. But even when I was in my 20s and 30s in s-f fandom, I had a social reputation as pretty much a boring wallflower.
Fred Patten
Heh. It would be awkward. At the South African meet we had one guy that was in his late 30's and it was kinda weird. I guess it's just not something you expect, especially with a lot of society being very age-segregated. It's actually refreshing to mix with other age groups.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
Boring wallflower? I'd take that as a compliment.
I'm pretty sure they'd take you for an interview. The "dirty old man" clichee has been underrepresented on screen lately :)
"If you don't have a Fursuit, you're not a genuine Furry fan!"
Well that writes off 80+% of the fandom, including a large portion of the artists, writers, con-chairs...
Well, the difference between diabetes and furry is you can have diabetes and it really doesn't have much affect on whether you're interesting or not, but furry is about the only interesting thing about a lot of us.
Fred, do you ever hit the furrymedia lj community? Because in a recent post I pretty much said I'd like to see a documentary about you. Admittedly, MTV is probably too youth oriented to do it, but, seriously, if you actually sent in a reply, I'd send in a letter saying "do this, it would be awesome" except with more words. If you somehow got picked and decided maybe not, you could always just say some young punk on a furry website dared me, and I actually didn't think it would work.
No, I have never hit the Furrymedia LJ community. Thanks for the link, and I'm flattered that you have asked for a documentary on me particularly. I am willing, but I've been semi-paralyzed in a convalescent hospital bed since 2005, so even in my wheelchair I would probably be even more off-putting to the average young Furry fan than if I were just an average greymuzzle. It would probably work best if I were just a part in a documentary with other greymuzzles, comparing Furry fandom today with what it was like when it started in the 1980s.
Fred Patten
I'm too old, and even if I wasn't I'd be too wise.
Would be interested if not for the past Sex2k episode. From what I gather, those who participated in that show were not exactly applauded for it, and having watched the episode I can see why (knowing quotes were taken out of context I feel the same). Also I probably won't meet the fursuit requirements until later this year. Unless a couple of tails count. :3
MTV says to describe my fursona in 5 words.
Let's try this.
Kangaroo liked MTV when musical.
Best thing I've read all day... And I have read a lot today.
Not sure why they've not renamed it (to like RTV or something, if that's not taken), other than it's name being such a trademark now.
I guess that would make MTV make more sense ultimately, causing it's popularity and favor to plummet. If anyone's noticed something about TV lately, it's that a lot of shows, programming segments, and whatnot are just flat out crap that only a completely blitzed out man on LSD, cannabis (which is perfectly fine), and/or some variety of pills could understand. Adult swim screams this anymore.
OR I'm just getting old... o.O Is 22 old?
Oh well, don't really care. I've given my props where due. ?? ???????? ???????~
Here we go again with the whole reality show discussion.
Now I will admit in the past there have been tv segments which have been decent. Most recently Taboo, with the sole exception of the errounious fact in the previews, which was thankfully fixed in the segment itself.
That and I do agree with GreenReaper that "Past performance does not guarantee future results."
However, for me it's really hard to give MTV the benefit of doubt considering it's "quality" of programming.
We'll just have to wait and see, however if it turns out to be a case of Tyra/My Strange Addiction where I just can't feel bad for those on the show...I won't be surprised.
I'm 41, I fap to furryporn, never attend conventions or wear fursuits, and both my parents have diabetes.
It's MTV. I really don't know what to think about that. True life is an interesting show though, but I don't watch it much.
Maybe it'll be one of those ok episodes.
I can't wait to see which gullible teenager who's only been in the fandom for 6 months, try to "do a better job at explaining the fandom" (their reasoning for doing it), and thereby make an ass of themselves THIS time.
I dread these shows, like so many others do. But at the same time, I kind of sadistically enjoy knowing some young, self-centered twat winds up appearing on one of these things, thinking that it'll be great for them, or good for the fandom, but wind up getting way more than they bargained for. All thanks to their hubris that comes with being young.
I would disagree because that puts up the thought that only the young do stupid things like this, Chewfox didn't look all that young to me and neither did the one on my strange addiction.
The "My Strange Addiction" girl was 19 if I recall. I don't know about your definition, but that's "young" in my book. She might have been 21; but even then, that's still young. I don't think Chewfox was that much older, if she actually was older.
Perusing various forums and furry websites, it seems the ones who are aware of this and openly proclaim that they wouldn't mind appearing on the show are all fairly young; just based on my unscientific observation. The sense I get is that these people let their short-sightedness overcome their common sense in this situation. Or they haven't been around the fandom long enough to know that media events like these don't usually turn out good in the end.
Also, the "My Strange Addiction" one did it for the money. You can say some mean things about her, but not "that was stupid."
Did you miss the entire exchange she/her sister had with me in the comments for that particular article? Trust me it was either stupidity or at best naivety.
I missed that. Sounds entertaining though. I think I'll unmiss it.
The age thing made me facepalm though,there are many older furries like Kage and such who are being left out by the "to 25 rule"
It's a youth-oriented channel, guys.
Let's not do the ageism thing again.
This is MTV remember; in their world, old people don't exist.
Or, okay, whatever.
I'm easy.
This.
Like the fact in about 1995,they got rid of Headbangers ball. MTV was awesome in the 80's,that's when they had 22 hrs of music,1 min of news and 1 min of interviews.
i submitted my info about a month ago and did the interview and the recording,i was a little nervous,but thats with anything XD,i thought that it would be an interesting opportunity,i saw true life im a fanboy,it was ok it wasnt over exaggerated and the fanboys/girls they had picked werent the "nerd" stereotype. if i dont get picked oh well,if i do,im just going to be me,i have nothing to hide except that i do swear a bit much when i talk to certain friends,i do look at the "darkside" of the fandom, but it doesnt consume my life,i mean i look at yaoi too,even drew it,but only people who i talk about it too really is my girlfriend or my closest friends. i think that everyone represents themself,not everyone may have the same interest or see being the same as everyone else, i see it just about the same as my love for anime,though a little bit more,so i hope i get a chance ^^,last year of high school then on my own
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