Reality TV is a genre of television which has recently become a phenomenon in America and around the world, but what people tend to overlook is how it affects how certain people and groups of people are treated by those who believe everything they see on TV to be factual truth. Over the last 10 years, Alaska has become home to more reality television programs per capita than anywhere else in the country, a somewhat astounding fact considering the total population exceeds no more than 740,000 people. I was born in Anchorage, Alaska and lived there for 18 years before leaving home to attend the University of North Dakota, but I still return on long breaks from school to live at home. However, it was not until I left home that I realized just how poorly Alaska had and continues to be portrayed by reality television shows broadcasted by media outlets such as the Discovery Channel. What is most amusing to me is that the term "reality" is virtually anything but when it comes to many of these shows that have become so popular in the lower 48 states.
To begin with, I wish to clarify that I am not saying that all reality shows based in Alaska are poorly made, polished pieces of absolute garbage that portray the state and its residents negatively, but unfortunately most of the more recent shows (which I have no problem referring to by name later in this article) have done exactly that; because people see a TV program about Alaska, they automatically assume that everyone from there is exactly like the people they see on TV. There are still some shows about Alaska that even I will admit that I enjoy watching on occasion, such as The Deadliest Catch and Flying Wild Alaska simply because they are as close to "reality" as reality can get. However, there are other shows which I (and many Alaskans for that matter) loathe with a burning passion simply because they portray actors who believe that simply growing ridiculous, dumb looking facial hair, wearing The North Face jackets and snow boots, and growing their hair out to look like some horrible hippy woodsman automatically makes them "Alaskan residents." I am of course referring to shows such as Alaskan Bush People, which portrays a "real Alaskan family" living in what actual Alaskans refer to as "The Bush" (untamed areas of land in the vast open areas of the Alaskan wilderness where settlements, villages, and small homesteads thrive) and claiming to have lived there their entire lives. This show in particular has garnered so much burning hatred from myself and various other Alaskan residents that I have spoken to simply because it falsely portrays what living in the bush actually is like, and because every character on the show has openly lied about being an Alaskan resident. Yet the creators of the show allow these people to gallivant around in leather jackets and act like uneducated hicks in order to gain higher amounts of viewers outside Alaska who believe it is an accurate portrayal of what living in the bush is actually like. In fact, six of the actors on the show were recently indicted on multiple counts of fraud for their false claims of citizenship and for attempting to falsify documents which would allow them to receive the annual Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (an annual stipend given to Alaskan residents of a full calendar year and who intend to indefinitely live in Alaska as residents) without actually being residents of the state apart from the time spent when they are filming for the show. The show was subsequently cancelled after this became public news, but inexplicably the show has returned for another season. In other words, the "real citizens" on this horrible show who readily claim to have lived in Alaska for decades were never even residents in the first place prior to the decision to create the show. To many Alaskans, including myself, this came as no surprise; if people truly believe that "real Alaskans" who live in the bush walk around with hippy hair, handlebar mustaches/muttonchops, and wear leather jackets in the middle of winter, I can say they are severely mistaken and will undoubtedly freeze to death if they try and live through an Alaskan winter like the fools from "Alaskan Bush People" claim to do every year.
It is understandable that this article may come off as a rant (which, in all honesty, it partly is), but really I am writing this to explain to people that every Alaskan is different. I am still a full resident of the state, and my family has lived there since before Alaska even officially became a state. Does this mean that I worship Carhartt, camouflage clothing, and exclusively wear Xtratuf boots? Not at all. Do I and my family hunt and fish for our food because we live in a cabin out in the wilderness? No, we go to the grocery store like any other American. When winter comes (no, Alaska is not ALWAYS covered in snow), do I have to drive a snowmachine to get places I want to go? Matter of factly, no. I don't even own my own snowmachine. There are countless stereotypes which Alaskans face constantly from people who have either never been or never lived there, and I have been dealing with those stereotypes for my entire life. But the recent influx of horrible reality television shows filmed in Alaska have greatly exacerbated many existing stereotypes as well as created new negative images of Alaskan residents which portray us all as uneducated, unintelligent hillbillies of the North who thrive on the methods of hunting and gathering, must trade for our goods instead of paying regular money, and who can "see Russia from our backyards." While I can readily admit that I am not overly fond of tourists in Alaska (because I see thousands of them per year. Yes, we can tell who the tourists are), I would highly recommend people to travel there and see for themselves that other than the landscape, nearly everything they have seen on reality television regarding Alaska has been very untrue or exaggerated. Through seeing this beautiful, beautiful state, I hope people will then understand why I say that reality TV has ruined Alaska's image.
