Desire Avenue

Maybe you've heard about the latest dutch innovation in tv programming (after big brother and such): the Great Donor Show. In this program a terminal cancer patient wants to give a kidney to a kidney patient, but she has to choose from three participants. Especially the 'game' aspect of the show was criticized and led to parlamentiary questions and worldwide media attention.

Tonight it turned out that the show was fake at the very end when the terminal patient was going to announce her choice (which she could base on the votes people at home could give through sms). The host stopped the show to announce it was fake and that even BNN (known for some controversy) wouldn't even go this far! But to show how bad the situation is, with 1400 people in desperate need of a new kidney.

I think this was a great concept and gave a lot of attention to the problem of donor shortage. And to make people aware that we've gone too far in our self-centered lifes.
I wonder what the 100 journalists (CNN and Al-Jazeera being present) thought of this

anyone else see or hear about it?

I heard about this show for the first time today on the radio at work (before it was revealed to be a hoax, information which still doesn't appear to have filtered through to the UK media yet). The terrible thing is - and this is probably a good indication of how desensitised our modern culture is to the grossest behaviour of the media - I simply thought 'Jesus, what next.' And got on with my work.

I heard about it the other day-on a kid's TV show! would you believe.
My son was watching 'Newsround' which aims to give kids a small slice of the real world in news.
Like Beth,I thought 'whatever next' and got on with what I was doing (cooking as it happens).But then,I stopped listening to news,reading newspapers etc a couple of years back-it's just all too depressing.
I hope,as a clever hoax,it has raised some awareness...

I don't get all the commotion around this fake program. I knew it was a hoax a week before it was on tv, I saw an interview with the sister of the BNN founder. And honestly, after watching one minute of the supposed terminal cancer patient on tv, it was impossible not to see that the woman was acting. I wondered what was going on, nobody reads or gets informed in this country??? My partner was just as puzzled.
True is that there should be more donors. Once I'm dead, they can use everything of my body for what I'm concerned, why people mind so much about a body they can't use anymore is a mistery to me.

witchy wrote:And honestly, after watching one minute of the supposed terminal cancer patient on tv, it was impossible not to see that the woman was acting.

I missed that interview with the sister of the founder of BNN. But did she actually reveal that the program was a hoax? Because I simply can't believe that other media would have picked that story up.

I found the woman who was giving away her kidney very believable.
A friend of mine has a similar braintumor as the actress was said to have. And he has the same calmness and resoluteness in his behaviour. Because, like he said, he can't be bothered if people dislike his decisions. They won't dislike him as the time with him is short and precious.

That's why I bought it, the actress nailed the feeling down that she had nothing left to lose.

witchy wrote:True is that there should be more donors. Once I'm dead, they can use everything of my body for what I'm concerned, why people mind so much about a body they can't use anymore is a mistery to me.

This is true. Although I am not the target audience. I've been a registered donor for a long time and still am today.

But to those here, doesn't matter where you live, hush to register yourself as a donor please.

I don't think there's anything of me that'll be worth using by the time I'm finished with it.

In the interview nothing was said clearly, for me it was more deduction from the kind of questions and answers during the interview. And other people suspected it was a hoax, so I never really believed it was a real show.
About the actress, for us it was an immediate gut feeling and some nuances of her voice, the way she looked, we didn't stick around to hear her reasons. We watched for less than 5 minutes and said almost at the same time " she's acting", then zapped.
I'm not registered yet, but my partner knows about my wishes, that's the first step I guess. I hope there will be something still of use in me!
Weren't they gonna try to pass a law for which everyone's automatically a donor unless they express a no?

witchy wrote:Weren't they gonna try to pass a law for which everyone's automatically a donor unless they express a no?

I guess that this was one of the main reasons to do the televisionshow. A law like that got voted off in the parliament a few years back. Maybe this time it'll succeed.

I think it would be best anyway. Most people who don't want to give their organs after their death, have very specific reasons for that. So they'll register if that is necessary.