Quote:
Originally Posted by komitsuki
Here's the summarization:
Japan:
Game Shows are meant to exploit contestants with unfathomable challenges meant simply to cause them the most discomfort. Winners are forgotten about and brushed aside so that the losers can be subjected to the highest of all ridicule, which was the purpose of the competition to begin with.
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You would almost be right if you had remembered WHO is competing. With game shows in the US, and likely in other places, the people competing are normal people given the opportunity to win something. In Japan, those on the shows are famous entertainers (95% of the time comedians) - who use the show as another venue to entertain. As they already are famous, the motivation of trying NOT to be the loser is higher than the motivation some generic prize would offer. (Plus, the loser having something funny to "suffer" through is a lot more in line with comedic entertainment).
I think way too many people make the mistake of assuming those people on Japanese "game" shows with clips all over the web are normal people participating. They`re not.
The shows that DO use regular people don`t show up on Youtube because they`re pretty much normal. There also aren`t that many as the normal thing here is to give random gifts to viewers who call in or write in.