People consistently ask me if living in North Dakota has made me realize how different living in Alaska is, and honestly, I often don't think about it. Growing up in a place with so much natural beauty, as well as being one of the more unique locations on the planet, has made me realize long ago that nothing would ever compare to living in Alaska, so there wouldn't be much point trying to compare. That being said,reality TV has more or less warped the image of Alaska and its residents, not strictly because of shows like Alaskan Bush People (as I ranted about last week) but also because of shows which profile actual Alaskan residents, who then use the time on television to make themselves seem more dramatic, cool, interesting, etc. For example; one of the most popular shows related to Alaska is the show Alaska State Troopers which is nothing short of an Alaskan version of Cops, and it follows actual State Troopers as they perform their daily duties.
On the surface, the show is lively, dramatic, and seems to be for the most part real. Living in Alaska and knowing about what kinds of crimes occur there tells you otherwise. Many of the "regular crimes" and actions performed on the show are greatly exaggerated in order to increase show ratings. Of course, I do want to clarify that I am not so naive as to expect that every show hinges on positive morality, and does not falsify actions in order to increase ratings, since they absolutely do and it is what makes television programming interesting to most viewers. I also want to clarify before going further that the State of Alaska recently cancelled the filming of State Troopers simply so that the show's creators would not begin falsifying the actions on the show for higher ratings as many shows recently have.
However, to make something seem real and tell eager viewers that it is real, simply begins a downward spiraling conglomeration of negative imaging which again portrays Alaskans as eccentric and mostly uneducated hicks. While I must clarify that I have nothing but respect for the Troopers in Alaska and what they do, I do find issues in how they portray themselves and, more specifically how they portray other Alaskans on the show. For example; Alaskans have very minimal lingo that only someone from Alaska would understand. Quite frankly, that's just how it is. So when an Alaska State Trooper on the show begins referring to bears as "Brownies" or some other screwball word, it is not made very clear that Alaskan people don't actually say that. The guy who did say it, despite his respectable and formal position, most likely had never referred to bears as anything else until the cameras came on. This alone is a stemming problem with reality TV in Alaska in that it is more interested in drama, goofy lingo that nobody uses (apart from by those who live outside AK), and greatly exaggerated "common issues" which in reality happen maybe once every couple of months, instead of simply focusing on the actual "reality" of Alaska and the people that live there. For those of you reading who actually really enjoy Alaska State Troopers, I don't want to lie and say that everything that happens on the show is exaggerated and untrue because quite a good amount of the show is still very real.
However, the attitudes, mannerisms, and even some of the actions performed are absolutely exaggerated and shouldn't be replicated or referenced as fact. Believe it or not, many Alaskans do not like hearing about what "absolutely happens" in Alaska...especially when it's being told by people that watch TV about Alaska and don't actually live there. One somewhat funny example of an instance on the show which should not be replicated came from a Trooper saying "We're gonna grab the old 12 gauge and go hunt some brownies" in reference to a grizzly bear terrorizing local property; Going out into the wilderness to hunt an aggravated fully grown Grizzly bear with a 12 gauge shotgun may sound nice on TV, but doing so in real life might not play out so well. Yet it was made pretty clear that this person in a position of authority was expressing that it was a perfectly normal thing and would be okay to do.
Either way, many of the issues I have with reality TV in Alaska stem from the fact that I consistently hear news stories about tourists who come to Alaska, do something stupid that they saw on an episode of their favorite Alaskan TV show, and end up seriously injured or killed simply because they believed what they saw on TV. Now, many people at this point would say how small of a demographic this must be, but in reality, I could name many instances where at least twice a month a tourist ended up in the newspaper for trying to pet a bear in the wild. Certainly, most of these accidents are due to lack of common sense, but I believe that reality TV can hold at least part of the blame.
