Over the past couple of days I have been binge watching a new show on Netflix called Dark Tourist which is an 8 episode documentary series which follows New Zealand journalist David Farrier travelling to various parts of the world. Only his journey is searching for the macabre and possibly the tad creepy parts of society or you know parts of the world that we aren't quite as familiar with. As someone who enjoys the likes of An Idiot Abroad and Louis Theroux documentaries this felt like a darker version of the two put together.
First of all, I did enjoy the show a great deal. I have an interest in the dark side of humanity, disasters and other cultures. Sometimes I think the host David is a tad stupid running off into dangerous, radioactive zones or speaking to the likes of Pablo Escobar's right hand man who killed hundreds of people. One minute you are shouting at him "what are you bloody doing? Stop!" and then you are also slightly wishing he would push it further. Sometimes when you are watching it from his perspective you do get a sense of his privilege and how he steps into the different worlds and cultures with this perspective. It could be regarded as problematic but it's a way for us to see different parts of the world that we wouldn't otherwise. I think it's interesting to see these other cultures and be willing to be open to understand their ways of life.
My other issue with the show is how it glosses over some information of the places or groups of people he speaks to but for entertainment it does all the right things. So, I definitely had my favourite episodes over this binging journey and I thought I would share them with you without giving too much away hopefully. Maybe you are interested in watching the show but maybe would like to decide what episodes to watch or you've watched it and share or disagree with some of my thoughts.
Japan
This was my ultimate favourite episode of the series. I enjoyed it so much. In this episode David first travels to Fukushima which is an area in Japan that was badly impacted by the earthquake and tsunami of 2011. This caused a nuclear disaster in one of the plants in the area. So David and a group of dark tourists all travel to the radioactive area and at first it seems ok. They all have their own scales to measure the radioactivity. However the further they go to the no go zone the higher their readings became. David also runs off behind the barriers and runs into an abandoned arcade and got the tour group into a lot of trouble which was a bit stupid. He also visits a couple of other well known areas of Japan which is very interesting.
Europe
In this episode he visited an unusual museum in England and spoke on the phone to a very infamous British prisoner, went to a reenactment of the different wars and then Cyprus which is what I found most interesting in this episode. Cyprus is an island which is separated by Greece and Turkey. There is a part of the island which is completely shut off from everyone. I didn't know much about what happened in Cyprus and I'm still not entirely sure I know much more but it definitely was interesting to get a glance at this area. I feel like Europe should have had more than one episode as Europe is a large area with many countries. Perhaps we will get more in another series.
The Stans
The Stans
More radioactive areas in this episode. I guess that's one of my weird interests as I am intrigued by the likes of Chernobyl and the previous episode of Japan. Here David visits the part of the world known as the Stans. He visits The Polygon in Kazakhstan which is a location that the Soviet Union during the Cold War tested their nuclear weapons.They also go take a little dip in a radioactive lake created by a nuclear blast. Not exactly on my bucketlist to be honest. Later on they visit children who have been impacted by the testing and use of nuclear weapons which really puts it into perspective for them and the audience. It is rather horrific how weapons used years ago are still having such an impact on those living there.
Here are some of David's favourite spots that he visited on his Dark Tourist series.
Here are some of David's favourite spots that he visited on his Dark Tourist series.
Have you seen the show? What did you think? Or do you plan on watching it at some point?
Within our society it's not exactly unusual for us ladies to be pitted against each other that makes us see each other as competition and that is what I want to have a wee chat about today. It might be a bit of a ramble of a post. I apologise in advance.
Of course this can't be generalised across the whole world and we all don't see each other as competition and behave negatively on the matter but it sure does still happen. I think it's normal to compare ourselves to each other and it's understandable if someone's success, looks or life can make you question your worth or value. It's how you respond to that which matters though. You can still be happy for the other person (unless that person has done questionable things) because bitterness honestly doesn't get you anywhere. I definitely have felt that before but I will never tear down another person just because they are succeeding or happy in life. If someone is doing well I always find it better to be happy for them and use it as motivation. It can spark something inside you in a good way. Sometimes that's easier said that done though when your brain makes you think otherwise.
My Experiences
When it comes to other females or people in general I will support you to the moon and back. Got an exam coming up? I want you to pass and will celebrate with you when you do. Got a new job? Fantastic. New boyfriend? I hope he treats you like a queen. Support and happiness is not always something I have received from friends. I'm not asking to have the champagne brought out but a little comment of support goes a long way. Recently I received more support and love from people on social media who I've never met over someone who banged on being such a good friend. That is hurtful. People who are quite happy to watch you fail are not your friends. People who can't wait for things to go tits up for you are not your friends. I honestly don't understand people who have this perspective. I remember winning an amazing competition and all my "friend" could do was complain how certain people win and don't win this monthly competition and how it's not fair however did not take an interest in it beforehand. It made me feel like "how dare I win something" and somewhat guilty when there was no need to be. Nor did I get a comment of support from getting my BA in Society, Politics and Policy. Again that was a bit hurtful. Anything that was going good in my life she would either dismiss it or turn it into a negative. Am I being harsh? Was there more going on there? Maybe. But no one should be made to feel bad for succeeding. Communication in a healthy way is always key though. If something isn't going well for myself I'll talk about it without placing blame or bitterness on the other person.
Honestly though, I'm not a threat to anyone nor anyone's competition. Life is hard enough without adding extra stress and competition between groups of people unnecessarily. I've never been interested in saying horrible things about other people whether they are doing better than me or not. When a women succeeds she's done a lot of work or very lucky and we should champion that. Women of ethnic minorities also find it 100x harder than us and we should be championing all women of all backgrounds.
The blogging world or community can also have a competitive streak and again I'm not anyone's competition when it comes to blogging. When you see other bloggers doing amazingly you do sometimes compare yourself to others. It's only natural but remember that they are doing them, they've worked hard. Blogging is not easy and takes up a lot of time and sometimes we should be a little less harsh on ourselves. We can push ourselves and sometimes it can be stressful but it can also be worth it. Healthy competition is great and healthy when someone's success can spur you on and even with yourself when you want to improve on yourself but to be nasty or negative towards others in the name of competition is unnecessary.
So yeah, a wee thought piece here. What do you think? Have you ever experienced this?
Thanks for reading.
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