Recently I have been following this whale saving reality show called "Sea Shepherd". It is about an non-profit conservation group founded by the former green peace activist Paul Watson ,who has set out to protect the eco system by stopping whaling. Sea Shepherd's motto is "...the organization does not hold banners and shout protest slogans and we don't back down to whale killing bullies." They take action, so to speak, and do the right thing. The real deal. Kick some bad asses and save the darling whales.
But when it comes to the reality show, it is rather bland for such a hot blood subject. Imagine the possible casts: evil money thirst whalers, captain Ahab like commando, wet behind the ears rookies just come aboard, cunning restless chief mate, treacherous southern sea mined with icebergs...Nevertheless, nothing ever happens. There are neither whales to be seen nor any evil whalers to be stopped most of the time. What the crew does mostly is rambling about small insignificant matters, which reminds me very much of the familiar talks we've heard during the tea break. After all, everyone whines at work or about work, not even the good cause freedom fighters ,who patrol courageously in the Antarctic Ocean and are willing to stop the Japanese harpooners with their flesh if they have to, can escape this inevitable curse.
Despite my ranting, the show certainly does have some merits. Postcolonial study students will be pleased. The enemy, "the others" (a.k.a. the Japanese whalers) embodies the blood thirst ignorant savages, the incontrollable id unleashed by the super ego rampaging the "virgin land", or the greedy coveting orientalists backed by their equally bullied government. Then comes the white knight, the neo-colonialist, armed with conservationism to save the day. Crowned themselves as the savior or make the voyage as the martyrdom. The silent whale or the damaged nature awaits in the tall tower; it must be saved from being spoiled and raped. Since it can not save/speak for itself so the right to interpretation is now left to the powerful one to define.
