Point/Counterpoint is a recurring feature on BDCwire which explores the pros and cons of various parts of life in Boston. These arguments may, or may not, break any new ground, but are meant as a starting point for you too to make an argument. Today’s debate surrounds the popular annual television event, Shark Week. What do you think? Are you pro-Shark Week or anti-Shark Week? Here are our two sides, but be sure to cast your vote below.
Perry Eaton, arguing in favor of Shark Week
If Shark Week is so five years ago, then hating on Shark Week is so two years ago. Of course, if someone at the office came up to me and said, “live every week like it’s Shark Week,” I’d be rather disappointed in all things, but what Shark Week should really be celebrated for is not its inexplicable quality of moistening the panties of dudebros everywhere, but that it’s possibly the one week out of the entire year that educational television is glorified on a national level. When looked at that way, it’s hard to really argue, even if the fad is a bit passé, that Shark Week isn’t kind of a beautiful thing. For every “Big Brother 16,” and every “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” this is the one chance that Twitter and Facebook, and everything else we waste an embarrassing amount of time on, will exalt the wonders of nature, the beauty of wildlife, and the people unfortunate enough to fall victim to them. If the winning combination of education and entertainment is for nerds, then dammit, this country could use more nerds and fewer jaded curmudgeons. Will I be watching? Nah bro, I prefer “House Hunters” over “Shark Hunters.” But is the popularity of Shark Week really worth all of the concentrated snark and criticism? Nah bro, chill with that.
Jerard Fagerberg, arguing against Shark Week
Perry’s right. You’ve definitely been told to “live every week like it’s Shark Week.,” and the person who said this to you probably either had a “live, laugh, love” tattoo or can quote “Step Brothers” from end to beginning. That’s because Shark Week has – wait for it – utterly jumped the shark. Shark Week, which is 90% boring conservationist propaganda and 10% “Air Jaws” reruns, was, as Dan McCarthy so astutely put it, a “brand-saving” gimmick for Discovery, so it’s no wonder it’s been exploited every August to keep the channel on the air. But our culture is an indiscriminate whore. When Shark Week stopped being a Discovery thing and became a pervasive phenomenon, that’s when things got oversaturated. For fuck’s sake, look at all these crappy apps dedicated to Shark Week. That’s how far we’ve come since Discovery humbly dedicated one quarter of August to promoting shark awareness. Now, we’re probably only two years removed from Sharknado Week and “Jaws”-themed Spartan Races. Shark Week is a garbage fire I shouldn’t even bother pissing on.
