Aleatoric Television

Moodle Post

For those people who read this who are not Matt or Kat, In school we often have to make posts to online forums as homework assignments. I am challenging myself to make my comments more and more outlandish each week. This assignment was to write an letter to a famous person, criticizing them in the tone of Mary Wallstonecraft. I chose Mike Rowe, host of the popular TV show, Dirty Jobs.

Mr. Rowe you have worked hard to maintain your tough guy attitude and rugged persona. You are well liked by everyone including cherubic babes, and American housewives dissatisfied and bored by their husband’s white collar jobs. It is no secret that you have to work really hard to look like you just got out of your Ford Truck back from baseball practice/ the construction site/ the game over at Bill’s place/ the fishing trip/ the bar for a few brews/ the gas station, but for you to exploit your expertly crafted Hollywood self for the purpose of selling things?? This is simply low. It contradicts your down-home personality. I expect good old mike to maybe give me some tips on fixing up my rusty truck, to converse about the latest sporting event, but instead Mike Rowe, you have sold your soul to the flashing light bulbs and glittery lies of corporate advertising. How is one expected to trust a universal Mike Rowe who speaks to all Americans like they live in one small town? When one thinks of Mike Rowe, they think, “Wow he’s got a lot of dirty jobs. He’s an honest good guy that I can trust. A real dude,” but now that you have plastered your face all over the pornographic billboards of America Mr. Rowe, who can trust you? You’ve sold your self out and become far too large scale for the small town personality television really needs. Who is the real Mike Rowe anyway, is he a fabricated character who really goes home to his fancy LA mansion and dates one of the Olsen twins? Or does he live in a Trailer park in North Dakota, and work and dirty job all day, and come home to his average wife like the rest of us Americans? This question of one of our biggest heros, has led many Americans to wonder about American culture and the concept of Identity at large. Who are we to sift through the smut of media to find the real truth? In these times of uncertainty, the least a middle class American can ask for is the comfort of a like truly relatable television host.