This Is This

I was watching that Planet Earth series on the BBC on Sunday and the programme opened with some people base jumping into a very deep cave in the jungle. It looked amazing.

“Now that,” I said to Wife, “is extreme.”

“I bet Tony Hawk would do that,” she said. She’s always bringing up Tony Hawk. Sure, the most extreme I get these days is dark chocolate ginger snaps, but what’s he got that I haven’t?

The background music was new age-y dance stuff. Kind of middle class dinner party. Warm them up with a little KT Tunstall, then bring out the generic ethnic trance music. Anyway, it coulld have been arabic or something. I’m no expert, although in reality it was probably made in some studio in North London somewhere by some chancers wanting to sound cool and make some money.

But just because I’m ignorant, it doesn’t make me a cynic. “I’ll go with this,” I thought. Judging from the foliage, I’m guessing this is India. The singing continues in the back ground. Loads of reverb and slo-mo shots of people freefalling into darkness. Then David Attenborough’s breathy poshness starts the voiceover:

“The Yucatan peninsula, Mexico…”

Dickheads.

Some producer has put random ethnic music over the scene to demonstrate to the audience that this has been shot in … somewhere foreign.

I wonder if there’s a similar programme being made by India’s biggest broadcaster which contains footage of Trafalgar Square with backing music of jaunty accordian waltzes. I somehow doubt they are that stupid.

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