Faking it
(BBC America)
Review by Joshua Taj
Bozeman
Written on: August 17, 2003 at 11:00 P.M. CT.
Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. One word-repeat till you run out of breath. That's how you could explain the hit 'reality' series Faking It, an hour long program where a group of 'trainer's take one person who does one thing for a living, and completely transform them into someone else who becomes an 'expert' of sorts in another, entirely different field. Taking a somewhat shy guy and turning him into a tough door man at a posh British club. Transforming Ed, the burger van vendor into a successful chef, fooling experts in each field as they become their new personas. This show is a pure delight, more than a reality series...a program that shows us all that anything IS possible. Ordinary people working with extraordinary people to prove they can do anything they want.
Unlike the so called reality series in the U.S., which all seem to be contest based- like big game shows that are supposed to be real, but are just as fake as anything else on the tube- Faking It is about one person and their 4 week adventure. It's amazing- the look into the human spirit you get with this series. After a mere 4 weeks, you can become fast friends with a number of people you might have never thought you could become close to. The participants find themselves in warm embraces with people they had never met 4 weeks ago. A month of job training- it's now clear that's all it takes for people to come to care about each other. Simply amazing to me.
The best episode I have seen so far (I've only seen about 4 of them) is definitely Ed, who becomes a chef. I won't ruin any of this episode for you, but I will say that within the period of an hour, we come to care about Ed as a person...cheering him on the entire time. I found myself in tears at the end of the episode, so happy that he was a success. All his hard work in the month he trained paid off, and you can't help but have a huge smile on your face. Ed's joy quickly translates through your television set, and it's so easy to feel the same happiness yourself. It made me think of various goals in my life, and after watching this- they feel much more attainable.
This is what good television is about. It's able to entertain, pulling you into a simple story for an hour each week- all while touching the soul, pulling strings within your heart like pushing a button. This is television at its best.