1000 ways to die

The show 1000 Ways toDie investigate and using Hollywood special effects, reveal the unique way people have ‘chosen’ to kill themselves. Most result out of sheer stupidity, outrageous carelessness, or an extraordinary lack of judgment. The mission is designed to educate, and to entertain the audience, and in a way, to mock the lower intellect of the human species. However, it is not just cheap entertainment because of the way it is presented. Even though some of the deaths are graphic, it is no more so than portrayed in most action movies or books.

There are several claims that 1000 Ways to Die investigates and many approaches they utilize. Each episode is broke into a series of deaths, and they use dramatizations of portrayed deaths, and include many expert opinions, from surgeons to ER assistants, or as evident in the clip above, someone who shared the same interest. Many of the claims they investigate include exposing unusual deaths and the show exposes some urban legends. It is highly educational, and I feel can be used as a valuable teaching aid. They investigate different deaths, and present it in a logical, precise manger. The death is shown from multiple angles and repeated in order to give the viewer plenty of time to digest the information. In order to stay the audience’s ire, most of the characters are shone in an extremely negative light, or blatantly stupid, and none are children. 

A 1000 ways to Die promotes critical thinking by forcing the audience to stop and think about their actions. It also educates the different ways someone can die, and exposes dangerous situations, so the viewer can try to avoid them. One is an example of a grown man who dies by way of a drop side crib, so the viewer will know why the government banned them. Another shows the danger of severing the hydraulicline of a scissor lift. It can make an impact on those who take risks or like to partake in dangerous endeavors, in order to keep them from engaging in dangerous activities. A few of the deaths include Harry Houdini and Typhoid Mary, and are not just confined to the present. The show delves into tortures of the Middle Ages, Greeks and Vikings, and also delves into the glamour of the seventies, with deaths in disco and lawn darts. They also expose lesser known cultures, and do not discriminate between race, religion or cultures. Different nations are shown, from China, to the Middle East and even the drug plagued regions of Columbia. While many have a stereotypical feel to them, I feel that many aspects are accurate. 

I do think that the information being presented by a popular culture medium does affect how it is presented, and how the investigation is carried out. All of the accounts are fictionalized and are more unrealistic then the deaths that are portrayed. Many of the characters are given serious character flaws so the audience does not turn against the show, and each account is fictionalized. And so, the deaths come across with a more reality show aspect, then a purely scientific show. This influences how the producers chose want to include in the show.

But that does not mean it is all negative. Scientific terms are used, but they are presented in such a way that allows the viewer to easily understand them and the deaths are explained in a precise manner. In order to appeal to a larger audiences, many more cultures and situations are shone rather than the typical American one. This can be used to illuminate the different cultures and to give the viewer a broader perspective of the world. And so, the portrayal of 1000 ways to die in a popular culture has both negative and positive aspects.

Many people have died in movies, and many more are shone to be senseless deaths with just enough explanation to satisfy the audience. How many times has someone seen a car explode or a person shot to ribbons? 1000 ways to die shows a certain manner, and it is a valuable learning tool. The inclusion of the use of Hollywood special effects is an excellent visual aid to emphasize what is being shown. It is much more effective than simply telling about them. Of all the things 1000 ways to die is, it is not simply cheap entertainment.