Revision of the working class with the Deadliest Catch

            The article that I found and decided to write about was an article that discusses the Deadliest Catch reality television show and how it is having a long lasting impression with its audience.  The author of the article, Lisa Kirby goes into great detail about how and why this show has captured the fascination of the American public of today and why this is a good thing.  She first begins to describe the demographic of the audience that watches the Deadliest Catch being males above 25 of the upper class.  This is because there has been a fascination of the lower class and blue collar jobs by the upper class older males, even though most fishermen make a very good living.

Lisa describes the men of the Deadliest Catch as the last true cowboys and demand wonder from their audience at the way that they are truly free in the ocean.  Also the danger is never fleeting and is always present and the Discovery channel seems to focus on that as well because it creates suspense with the audience and keeps them watching.  The author constantly references how before 9-11 people only idolized those who had amassed a great wealth such as Donald Trump and the show Top Model, but after 9-11 blue collar workers such as fireman and police officers were placed on a high pedestal. 

This made it possible for the deadliest catch to take place because there was interest expressed into these jobs and how they work and the goings on within them.  Lisa then describes how our fascination has grown in these jobs and even our television viewing has grown as well with the Deadliest Catch and Dirty Jobs being the most popular shows on the discovery channel.  Furthermore near the end of the article, Kirby describes how the obsession with the failure of males by today’s society, there are few ways that males can be shown in a positive light and the Deadliest Catch does this perfectly. “In a media-saturated society that so often seems obsessed with what is wrong with American males, Deadliest Catch offers a refreshing alternative perspective: working-class men who are hard-working, adventurous, and striving for the American Dream.” (Kirby, 2013)

            This article was one that was very well written and was very easy for the reader to follow for the most part.  In the middle it did seem a bit repetitive, but I think this is because the author is trying to drive the point home and make the reader not only consider their own biases but also take a deeper look into the show Deadliest Catch.  I think that not only does the author make the reader dig deeper into the meaning behind the shows that they watch, but also look into their own at times prejudices.  I think that Lisa Kirby brings up some great ideas with this article and sparks some deep thinking.  I am not saying that males in American have it the hardest, but I do have to agree that there is a fascination with seeing the successful male fail.  Also I agree with the way that Kirby depicts the Deadliest Catch men as cowboys and perfect examples of masculinity in the workplace and of current jobs.  This is because you are adding in the factor of hard hours along with the extreme danger and damage done that is done to their bodies.

            This article is very important because in the recent years our country has been going through a great deal of change in many different lights.  There has been a great economic struggle and people have to work harder than ever before and the Deadliest Catch depicts this in a way that has not been possible before.  This show and article describe how common men are able to rise out of the blue collar population and have a great deal of freedom in life and have a great amount of success, but this does come with a price.  Their lives are fraught with danger, injuries and problems at home because of the nature of their work.  The old saying is that sailors are always first married to the sea and their boats before anything else, which takes a toll on their lives.

            The article that was chosen for this project was a fantastic read and gives some great insight into the working population of today and how our views are changing.  I think that after reading this article a person should go watch a few episodes of the Deadliest Catch, because until they do this they do not fully understand what the author is attempting to depict and the reader will not fully ever understand the depth of this television show.

Reference

Kirby, L. (2013). Cowboys of the high seas: Representations of working-class masculinity on deadliest

catch. The Journal of Popular Culture,46(1), 109-118.