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The Philanthropist: US TV show

I thought this TV show could be really awesome when I started watching it. Then the guy just made so many bad decisions that he seemed like more of a force for evil in the world than good. That of course had it's own interesting implications, is it so hard to use your power and influence to do good in the modern world that it is barely worth trying?

I'm not sure if the general goal of the show's creators was to make me think that this philanthropist is really an idiot with more money than sense, but that's pretty much what I got out of it. Still, maybe worth watching. At least it's food for thought, unlike the majority of TV shows that I waste my time on which are just empty calories for thought.

I used to really enjoy the show 'Extreme Makeover: home edition' because I saw it as maybe a force for Good in the dismal sewage that is most TV... but 1. it makes reference to a show that was about plastic surgery - Extreme Makover (face edition) and 2. it was the exact same thing every week which got ridiculously boring after a few episodes.

Should TV try to promote good themes like philanthropy and generosity? Or should it just stick to what works: fame, fortune, boy meets girl, classic plotlines, sitcoms etc?

In the course of the show he gave a hundred thousand dollars to a drug dealer, greased the palm of several airport employees, spelt a tens of thousands on transportation costs, and all he managed to do was get a backpack full of cholera vaccine to a village. In the end he probably caused 10x as much hardship as good, and managed to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars doing it.
 

Aught3

Active Member
I rather like documentaries myself, extreme makeover was rubbish - but it was nice to see those struggling families get a house.
 

Salv

Member
When I was growing up there often used to watch loads those national geo shows with David Attenborough. They were blooming awesome. When I last watched Sky, I could never find anything interesting to watch. Disc Sci was always about how to build tall buildings and extreme machines, which is interesting the first couple of times you watch it. I can't stand most reality TV shows though, or movies, or soaps or anything about celebrity gossip.

It's likely that I'm just rubbish at finding good things to watch, because I never really know when something good is on. :p

I would think it's a good idea to get some more of those old national geo nature shows on TV. Or really any documentary related to biology / science / history / geography / art / music and less about my sweet 16 / pimp my fking shit car / my awesome fking house and I can't fking can't think of any other shitty programs.
 
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