Is it just me, or does the show How It’s Made give you the impression that manufacturing is done by middle-aged white people with very high tech machinery and a very clean, very safe working environment, even cheap stuff?
ISTM that this show is not at all representative of how many, if not most of consumer goods are made. Why don’t they show the noxious, low-paying child labor sweat shops cranking out Nikes or something? Yeah, I know; it’s a Manufacturers’ kiss-ass puff piece and everything, but do they really think we’re supposed to believe that all our stuff comes from clean, high-tech, good-paying marvels of the future or something? Sheesh! :rolleyes:
OK, maybe they’re showing low-paid Eastern European middle-aged white people or something. And I don’t intend to imply that being middle-aged and white makes one highly paid, just that I’m always seeing how manufacturing in the US is getting shipped overseas because it’s cheaper labor and perhaps looser regulations and everything, and what I see on that show doesn’t square with that.
I think mostly it’s to give you the impression that stuff is made in Quebec. It’s a Canadian show, made with a ton of Canadian tax credits. It’s not like they had the budget or the incentive to go to China or Indonesia.
Also, as the narrator said in the intro to the Plate Glass segment, the focus is on common, inconspicuous, mundane items (read: stuff from manufacturers that are not easily identifiable).
Because the shows are probably pretty accurate portrayals. I’m guessing, though. I don’t have the firsthand knowledge of worldwide production methods that you appear to have.
The shows are probably made, produced, and filmed in the US. There haven’t been shops like that in America since, what, the 20s? Why would the producers fly all the way to China or Guatamala to film a soap box show that only a few thousand people would tune in to see?
I come away from that show every time with the overwhelming feeling that working in any sort of manufacturing sucks major ass. Watching the machines go is pretty cool but then the human workers show up for their part. The idea that someone’s job is to stand at a conveyer belt eight hours a day to make sure there are eight crayons in a box depresses me.
I try not to hold it against Marc Summers; he was such a good kids’ show host back in the day. Plus, I can see the quiet desperation in his eyes and the tiniest tremor in his voice that I heard in Bob Saget’s voice on AFHV. With every poor pun and dopey word that comes out of his mouth, he is screaming within his mind for someone to kill him, to end the pain. But the screaming is silent, and there is no rescue from the script. No rescue.
I kinda like the How It’s Made narrator, myself. Relatively inoffensive, if not terribly informative.
I have no idea how that notion even entered your mind, and so I’m gonna say “just you”. I’m thankful that I don’t have that mindset. There’s plenty enough actual offense going around without sifting it from obscure sources.
I know it’s not completely filmed in Quebec. I saw an episode where they were making crystal (bowls, stemware, that sort of thing). It looked familiar, and the closing credits said it was filmed at a shop I visited once in Halifax .
You might find it interesting to know that Marc Summers suffers from OCD, characterized by extreme neatness. It’s a wonder that his stint as host of the uber-messy Double Dare didn’t put him in the mental ward.
I mean seriously, what’s the point of making someone type in the names of the things from the title? More importantly, when the description runs to a second page, why do I knowing that it’ll be a word-for-word duplicate scroll to the next screen every single time?
I really like to have this show playing in the background. I especially like it now that it is being shown in high definition. I am impressed by the large factories that are devoted to creating tiny objects like springs or thread. I would not want to stuff straws into boxes all day long.
It’s interesting as hell to find out how things are made, but to me, they don’t seem very specific. F’rinstance, the announcer (could they get someone more bland?) says, “The worker takes the material from the machine, and puts it on another machine. Then it’s finished.” Okay…
Is the show actually aimed at schoolchildren? I ask that because since it doesn’t go into much detail (IMO), it seems perfect for a school presentation (although in my day, we had film strips with a record turntable…oy…).
I’m thankful that I don’t have that mindset. There’s plenty enough actual offense going around without sifting it from obscure sources.