Well, I finally saw Series 7: The Contenders on DVD this evening. Wow - what a disturbing film...

What I didn't quite realize is that the entire film is formatted as a reality show "marathon" encompassing the four episodes of series 7 of "The Contenders." I thought it was a fake documentary based on the filming of the TV show itself with its own backstory, a la The Running Man with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The way this was done was very true to the genre itself -- mostly in Real World style.

I explained the movie a few posts back, but I don't think I did it justice. Imagine a government-sanctioned reality show where a town is chosen, and six strangers are drawn at random to be in a survivor-type reality show. There's one objective: kill the other contestants in order to remain the last one alive. You're not allowed to refuse the game. And if you leave town, you pretty much get beaten until you can't move, thus making you a more vulnerable target.

And the winner gets to return to play in the next season. After you win three seasons, you get your freedom back.

Dawn is the main character, having won the past two seasons. She's also 8 months pregnant. Also playing this season are: Connie, a devout Catholic emergency room nurse; Lindsay, an 18 year-old virgin with overbearing parents; Franklin, a 72 year-old paranoid who lives in a trailer; Tony, an abusive husband and dad who dabbles in cocaine use; and Jeffrey, a sensitive artist who is suffering from third stage testicular cancer.

I watched the movie with the director's commentary immediately after, and he mentioned that he was trying to create a world where this extreme form of entertainment was so above the law that it allowed those "playing" the license to murder without repercussion. I definitely saw it in the movie. And I couldn't help but think of all that "The Real World" and "Fear Factor" have gotten away with throughout the years...

Anyhow, very disturbing movie, and I highly recommend it if you don't get squeamish easily.

Aside from that -- I'm still suffering from the same cold my wife and son have; decongestants are becoming my new best friends.

And since I've been seeing this more and more on the Mindsay blogs, I decided I might as well use this forum to post the same kind of announcement...