TVScope: I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here, Weeknights, UTV and TV3
In the past few weeks, viewers of ITV and TV3 may have happened upon the celebrity reality television programme, I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here, which ended last Friday. It had the usual array of "C"-list celebrities, those whose stars are either in slow ascent or rapid decline, who believe their careers may be furthered by the television exposure the programme will inevitably bring.
The programme showed the inevitable clash of egos that basic, stressful communal living uncovers, particularly when all the trappings of image, power and illusion are removed from those who are often pampered and presented as invulnerable and indestructible.
The celebrities were left to suffer the stings, bites and indignities of outdoor living, sleeping in hammocks, cooking and keeping the campfire burning, and sharing life with snakes, rats, spiders and teeming unfamiliar jungle insect life. Practical clothing was provided, food had to be earned by individuals undertaking nauseating or terrifying "bush-tucker trials" through which meals were won for everyone. Failure was more than personal defeat. It inflicted hunger upon others.
But what, if anything, does this programme say about mental strength and health? Well, the participants were pushed to physical and psychological extremes, made to face their fears and discover what inner resources they truly possess.
Reality TV is much criticised and certainly many of its offerings are inane and offensive. But in a curious twist this series produced a number of important images, particularly in the courage of 64-year-old former BBC television presenter Jan Leeming.
In an era of extreme ageism, the image of this woman parachuting from planes, climbing impossible heights, descending into animal- filled caverns, facing snakes and standing knee deep in water counting eels were welcome images to counterbalance those that suggest that life ends at 40.
The fact that she retained her rather genteel, etiquette-conscious feminine ways, yet said what she had to say unequivocally, revealed the many dimensions to a generation that is all too quickly dismissed.
Leeming, who became known as "Super-Gran-Jan", coped magnificently and in so doing once more defied ageist assumptions.