Despite living in a country that is perhaps more connected than ever before, there are still gross misconceptions about Montana and the rural Mountain West in general. And part of the difficulty in overcoming them is that mainstream pop culture continues to present absurd stereotypes to an impressionable audience of consumers.
Last week, a producer with the television station VH1, called our office and asked: “I know this is a weird question, but I’m looking for someone who might own a baby bear in your area. Do you know of anyone?”
Apparently there is a perception out East that we keep cuddly baby bears as household pets. The conversation then continued, maintaining its insanity.
You see, VH1 has unveiled its new fall lineup and one of the shows it will begin airing is called “Real & Chance: Legend Hunters,” which sounds like a winner. The premise is a little convoluted, but a description on VH1’s official blog reads as follows:
“Man has always been fascinated with Nature’s Animal Tales. Some are real: the man-eating Catfish of the Kali River, the Mega Shark, Hogzilla, Super Crocs, and the Giant Squid. Some may be only myth: Bigfoot, the chupacabra, the Loch Ness Monster and the Yeti. But two men believe in the stories and they intend to find them all.”
Those two men, of course, are Real and Chance, who first gained notoriety on the reality television series “I Love New York,” and expanded on it with their own spinoff “Real Chance of Love,” which has now been spun off into this bizarre outdoors show (if you’re curious, it premieres on Sept. 19). It suffices to say these two are not exactly wildlife biologists.
Since we were unable to come up with any baby bear owners, the producer then asked if we knew of anyone who had been attacked or approached by a bear. Each summer locals encounter bears in Montana, we explained, and with a simple online search even VH1 should be able to find one of them. But I doubt any of those Montanans would be eager to spill their guts to Real and Chance.
Finally, the producer asked if we knew of any “attractive” photographers to accompany Real and Chance into the backcountry. This is, after all, a reality show where even those behind the lens must be pretty.
We weren’t about to recommend any local photographers who would be asked to wander into the backcountry with two men that have no business being there. The conversation ended. And apparently we weren’t much help.
The phone call reminded me of a terrible movie I watched recently, in which actors Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker, who played two successful New York businesspeople, are sent to a Wyoming ranch as part of a witness-protection program.
“Did You Here About the Morgans?” was actually filmed in New Mexico, but that’s not the only reason it’s a total sham. The screenwriter assumes all rural inhabitants are simple-minded, shoot tin cans, hate outsiders and their politics, square dance, milk cows and consider bingo the most fun someone has all week.
I tend to agree with film critic A.O. Scott, who said: “There’s a scene where Hugh Grant confronts a grizzly bear and I’ve never rooted so hard for a predatory animal.”
Before moving to Montana, I attended a small junior college in rural Wyoming. That was 13 years ago, but the town of just more than 5,000 people had book stores and coffee shops and even – I know, it’s crazy – Internet access.
The Flathead, like elsewhere in the Mountain West, is home to artists, engineers, loggers, entrepreneurs, investors, farmers, retirees, students and even actors. And none of them, that I know of, own a baby bear. All of them know better than to wander into the backcountry looking for one. And for someone to assume otherwise better explains their culture than they could ever explain ours.