No someone who does not drink the koolaid who has no agenda and shoots from the hip
I really find it quite amusing that people have said for yrs that the MC should be a winner take all because you can't possibly get a max effort out of players if thier already getting paid
In the case of the hustlers not only are they getting paid if they lose if thier putting on a good show thier getting paid again if on long enough it will be clear who the stars are and they will be the ones making more money the producers don't care who can play or who can't all they care about is ratings
Iv already said I like the show and I take for what it is and that's reality TV , not real TV
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Not real TV? Huh? I'm not sure that even makes sense.
I'm not saying this to specifically argue with you but I think there's something that needs to be understood by all.
" Real TV " is 100% scripted, down to every noun, verb and adjective, and of course edited to produce a precise storyline and or product. The attraction of " reality" Tv is of course the unpredictable nature of human interaction and emotion, ie the things you cannot accurately predict or script.
Pool, like every game, is inherently dramatic and full of suspense at every turn. Just like, as an example, football. And in the case of football, using the super bowl as an example, large amounts of money and time are spent to " set up" this scenario, basically just to see what will happen, because, as we all know, something dramatic WILL happen.
Now is that to say that the super bowl is scripted? In a way, it is. But in reality, just like on The Hustlers, it's not, because nobody can know in advance what will ultimately happen.
It's a game, not a story being written in advance.
Like the superbowl, there has to be a premise for the game to take place at all, an artificial reason must be created to hold the contest in the first place. It's not like caveman days when a man needed to overpower other men for food and mates. We, as men, constantly create " artificial" premises to compete against each other, and The Hustlers is no different than any other contest.
As for getting paid " anyway"( regardless of the outcome), do we really expect all these people to spend all the time involved for taping the show, for nothing? Who can afford to spend time showing up for free? Who wants to be on TV and get paid nothing for it? I don't and I wouldn't.
As for motivation to win, what would you rather take home , 500 or 1500?
Who in their right mind would think..." screw it, it's only a grand" when all they have to do is play the game they love? Not me...I love free money and dont know anyone who doesn't.
Just because these people aren't dressed in rags, spitting on the floor and slapping their girlfriends around doesn't mean it's not real people playing a real game. If anything it's probably a little more polite than real gambling...but from what I've heard about the personal conflicts off camera, it's pretty damn real, trust me, some people are lucky to still be on the show at all.
End rant/
