My Hero Behind the Lens

I watched Summit on the Summit last night. The show was about some actors and musicians who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise awareness of the clean water crisis, and the fact that there are so many people that are drinking and dying from contaminated water, and don't have access to clean water.

Honestly, the only people I knew from the expedition was Jessica Biel and Emil Hirsch. It showed the grueling trek, and how difficult the terrain was, the air quality and the cold. And while I don't want to demean their feat, 'cause I can't even imagine how difficult it was, but why are we applauding Jessica Biel? The real hero is the camera man, 'cause he didn't just climb Kilimanjaro, but he did it with a camera on his shoulder and looking through the lens. While everyone relied on walking poles and heavy breathing to get as much oxygen as possible, this guy (and/or girl) had to walk steady and keep his breathing quiet.

That's the person I think should get all the credit.

On Man Vs. Wild Bear Grylls is a crazy awesome man; scaling cliffs, jumping into rapids, trekking across swamps. However, his camera man is the one that is doing all the same stuff, but with the camera, and all of his focus and attention on Bear, and not where his own feet are stepping. That's pretty impressive stuff. That's the guy that should have the show.

You're my hero, extreme camera man.

And as a side note, according to the Summit on the Summit project, 1 cent donated can buy 1 liter of clean water for a child. So I'm wondering how much their expedition cost; for plane tickets, hotels, crew, equipment, guides, food & water, etc. If they're trying to help the clean water crises, they could have done a whole lot of good to just take the money they would have used on the climb and buy the water, and then write a really tender song about it and make a commercial requesting donations to raise awareness. Or I bet they could have just bought a water filtration system for a lucky village in Africa.

But, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro was a good idea, too.