They are just acting.

There is a TV programme called 'Ice Road Trackers' which shows North American drivers driving trucks on icy roads in North America. Among folks close to me who like the programme are my uncle who is more than 70 years old and my eight year old grandson. There is even a spin-off of that program which shows a few of the same drivers used their skills to drive on so called 'deadliest roads' in India.

But how many of us realise that the truck drivers are actually actors? But they are not ordinary actors who can only just act and talk. They can drive too. But in this modern world where even heavy vehicles are fitted with power steering and servo brakes who can't drive them?

The trucks shown in this TV programmes were fitted with High Definition cameras to record the drivers' every move. There is one scene where one of the drivers who is a lady refused to continue driving along a dangerous stretch. It was left to her local co-driver who was mentioned as a spotter in the series to finish the job. Who can drive better on Indian roads if not Indians themselves as the spotter could negotiate the stretch easily. But since he is not an actor in the real sense his role in the series was limited.

Even the wrestling programmes shown on TV are acts. In other words the wrestlers are actors with muscles and wrestling skills. Like movie actors they also use catchy names instead of their sometimes tongue twisting real names. Even the wrestling federations keep their stables with equally numbered good and bad guys. Hence some good guys turn bad and vice versa just to keep the balancing act.

Television also have reality shows which our local stations copy blindly. One famous programme was Akademi Fantasia which ended recently. Except for the untalented Mawi I don't know what happened to the other past winners. In fact I stopped following the programme for the last three years.

Currently there is an American reality TV show about a large family. Now there is this lady family member who was married once and was involved in a sex tape with her boyfriend after her divorce. In between she had a few lovers. A few months ago she married a boy who was 4 years her junior. Yet her wedding was called a fairy tale wedding and was shown on TV. How she was compared to a fairy I never know. Never mind the wedding costed a few million dollars because the returns from the media coverage was much more than that.

But the marriage went bust after just 72 days and the couple are now facing divorce procedures. This made many to wonder whether the wedding was just an act to earn money.

This reminds me of another local TV reality show where a family was looking for a groom for their daughter. Eligible suitors including at least one divorcee were eliminated in earlier rounds. In other words they were deemed not good enough to marry. At last the programme found one winner but from what I learned the boy did not marry the girl. 

Had they got married I wonder if it turned out to be just another act.