Taking the Long Way Round
January 7th, 2005
I guess with all these “reality” shows, and the shows that analyse them in turn, along with the numerous home make-over programmes; “Turn your living room into a medieval dungeon, complete with naked candles and black paint,” the box has a lot to answer for. I know the infamous “Big Brother” is compulsive viewing for many, and “I’m A Celebrity” has its odd gladiatorial charm; alas nowadays it’s the public pitting celebrities against testicle consumption, instead of lethal force. But the fact still remains that television is mostly uninspiring.
I could whine on, as many people do about this predicament, but that would be tiresome and probably end in some sort of elitist struggle against judgements on viewing habits. Hypocrisy reigns when going down that path, as the people who deem, for instance “Big Brother”, as moronic no doubt have spent many an hour conducting voyeuristic “research” on why it is so. However I can make safe comments that it is in fact rubbish because I have tried watching one of the now abundant series, and have found that it is not humanly possible to find someone sleeping even remotely interesting.
But now onto the real topic of this post. A few weeks ago on Sky One they broadcasted a brilliant series featuring Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman and their journey from Bulwer Street, London, around the world and back again.
“Chasing our shadows as we headed east. All the way the world to get home.”
Now the cynics among you would at first assume that this would be Obi-Wan Kenobi on a motorcycle, with his chum, going round the world with all the luxuries that such high profile film stars would be able to afford. But that couldn’t be further from the truth, there wasn’t originally going to be a series (or the book that came later). This was just supposed to be two good friends doing what they both felt passionate about; riding motorcycles.
It was nice seeing places like Kazakhstan and Mongolia; not exactly the usual tourist spots. They were very clear about wanting to see these countries through the eyes of a normal person, not some movie persona. It seems once people enter the media spot light, they realise what we all take for granted, the right to be surrounded by people who like you for who you are and not some expectation of who they think you are.
Oddly enough, even though most of people inhabiting the baron landscapes that they travelled through didn’t know that they were famous, they treated them as if they were. It seems that we hold a lot of prejudice against the eastern countries with the popular stereotypes of the kalashnikov toting mafia. But truth be told, the amount of help Ewan and Charley received from perfect strangers was striking. At least in most parts of the U.K., it puts our usual way of thinking that everyone could be threats to shame. Maybe this belief is what’s perpetuating the actual threats themselves?
One comment has to be made clear though; I still think Michael Palin could have walked around the world in half the time it took them to ride it! 
Until next time…
January 11th, 2005 at 6:39 pm
You’re making me wish I’d watched it now. I disregarded it because I’m not particularly fan of motorcycles or McGregor. I’m a huge fan of travelling and seeing other countries, so it would’ve been interesting to see.
Here’s to hoping they rerun it for me to SkyPlus it!
Great blog
January 17th, 2005 at 6:26 pm
I now have the Long Way Round book! Thanks Helen!