We've just concluded re-watching The Civil War documentary by Ken Burns which made such an impression on television audiences years ago. It was such a successful treatment of the subject that it left us wishing that Ken Burns would take an interest in nudist history. (He has documented such recreation interests as baseball.)
In our past we have participated in a number of news segments and "documentaries" about nudism, but they have usually left us disappointed. High budget or low budget, and even those from media groups with a solid reputation inevitably get to a gotcha moment.
They may, for example, refuse to show nudity and handle the pixallation badly as if to say, "yeah we always knew there was somethingvwrong with this." Or they may refuse to address nudism as a family appropriate activity.
Ultimately it comes down to that they want something controversial or "out there" rather than simply telling the story of what we do, what got us started ( including nudist history ), and why we do this. Usually they try to find, or manufacture, tension. Wouldn't the nudist story be interesting enough on its own?
We think so. But then again, in today's state, msybe we're just too normal.... with or without our clothes. So for now we'll sigh as yet another "the truth about nudism" story takes to the air.
Too normal is right. An accurate portrayal of social nudism would be about as exciting as one about family camping, an almost identical pastime other than the nudity part, which they couldn't show!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed watching Naked and Afraid. Too bad they blur out body parts, but I still think it helped steer the public in the right direction. We claim to want acceptance, but yet the show only has 50 reviews on Amazon!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of surviving, I know how to even get Christian fundamentalists to try being comfortable. Set up a food bank with TONS of food. Wait for the dollar to collapse. After several days of hunger riots, tell people they can come get food but only if they come in naked. Of course we would need security big time!