Sunday, June 03, 2007

Punk'd

Once again, I'm gullible.

A huge thank you to Mike for letting me know that the "Say The Magic Word And You Win One Of My Kidneys" reality show from the Netherlands is actually a big hoax. Apparently, it was created to help reform the laws surrounding organ donations and to hopefully encourage more people to become organ donors.

Yeah, I fell for it. But doesn't it say something about the world we live in that I didn't even doubt the validity of the show for a second?

All of the people who were competing for the kidney are actual patients in need of a transplant, but the woman with the brain tumor who was going to give away her kidney is just an actress who was pretending to have a brain tumor. What a gig, huh? How is she going to list this on her resume? I imagine she'll write...

Woman Who Lied To The World About Being Terminally Ill And Had No Intention Of Actually Giving A Dying Person One Of Her Kidney's Like She Promised To Do On National Television

I'm sure that role is wedged in her credits somewhere between "Drunken Girl on Barstool" in the movie ROADHOUSE and "Drowning Woman in Unflattering Bikini" from episode 14 of the 3rd season of BAYWATCH.

I don't know if I would have taken the "Pretend You're Dying" gig. I mean, karma is a bitch. Doesn't she know the story of "The Boy Who Cried 'Wolf!'?"

7 comments:

the blogger formerly known as yinyang said...

That's okay. Pretty much everyone else fell for it, too. I think that might have been part of the point... or something.

Aaron said...

It's hard not to fall for something like that these days...seems to be the next logical progression. And outrage is the mother of reality-TV invention. What seems despicable now is just their warm-up for the real thing...

Stephen R. said...

"Outrage is the mother of reality-TV invention"

You, Sir, are my favorite. Smart and witty and classy

Aaron said...

"Classy" is one thing I could never claim. I love you for the compliment, anyway, however! :-)

Stephen R. said...

Aaron - Trust me, you're classy. Only a brilliant man with class could break down reality television with such wit and perfection.

whimsical brainpan said...

Hell, I believed it.

You really do have to wonder about that woman who pretended to have the brain tumor though. How could anybody who has an ounce of compassion do something like that?

While I am never surprised by what another human being does I am frequently shocked.

Stephen R. said...

Whim - I know. Karma ain't just a river in Egypt.

Wait... that's not right, is it? :)