Physical 100 season 1 review: deceptively brilliant reality TV

There is an interlude in Episode 4 Physical: 100, Netflix’s Korean-language fitness reality competition series, the remaining 25 contestants take a break from their official challenge to see who can jump the highest. A series of just nine episodes might seem like a waste of time. This is not his one of five major physical challenges. Iron Man, aka Olympic Skeleton He’s a racer Yoon He can’t jump as high as Sung Bin, no one will fall out. Yoon Sung-bin bounces from a stationary position onto a pile of mats nearly level with his body without stretching or sweating. All the winners get is the admiration of their fellow competitors. But once the show goes through the torso introduction hall (one bust of him for each contestant), for these athletes, the praise from their fellow contestants is much more than the 300 million won (about $235,000) prize money. I get the impression that there is value in

There is a joy that is seriously contagious Physical: 100 That sets it apart from a lot of the reality competition TV we get in the US The Great British Bake Off, but with fewer shirts and far more contestants. Creating a competition reality show starting with 100 participants is not easy. There are farmers, fencers, Olympic gold medalists and mountain rescue workers. There’s a bunch of gym rats making money as YouTube influencers, and a bunch of former UDT prospects who are also YouTubers now, and yes, one of his contestants is actually a cheerleader.

The show does a good job of appreciating the diversity of athletic backgrounds, even though everyone in the group may or may not seem to know each other. of each other. “Everyone who works out in Korea is here,” says a contestant in the torso in the show’s first episode.

But since most of us watching aren’t members of Seoul’s fitness circles or Koreans, listening to a subtitled series that starts with 100 contestants can be daunting. None TV relies on character arcs to keep viewers engaged and invested. Physical: 100 Voice of God narration is used to communicate the challenge rules to on-screen competitors, but the series lacks a host to provide commentary or quick discussion. singles inferno, Netflix’s other K-reality show hits, featuring sofa hosts.of Physical: 100the competitors themselves perform the function.

Image: Netflix

Image: Netflix

When they’re not competing directly, they admire, speculate, and cheer on the other contestants, much like spectators. Whisper to another competitor in anticipation of a likely match. “I have a torn bicep,” someone else comments at another point during the series’ run, praising another contestant’s bulging thighs. “What a gentleman!” Akiyama Yoshihiro aka Sexyyama) during head-to-head competitions. When Joo inevitably beats his challenger, young MMA fighter Shin Dong Guk, Shin is simply honored to have had the chance to face off against one of his role models. He leaves the show with a grin.

As competitive reality TV viewers, we love to see our favorites win, and feel a certain satisfaction when someone we decide isn’t worthy doesn’t make it to the end. That is why there is the word It’s a reality TV term used to describe an editorial choice made to make someone the enemy of a series.of Physical: 100, no villain edits. There is only the Cheerleader compilation, which works admirably to cheer on this group of Korean athletes and a small number of non-Korean competitors (including 6-foot-8 American baseball player Dustin Nippert, who is fluent I don’t speak Korean well, and seems happy to be included). In Episode 5, when rugby player Jang Sungmin was knocked out of the competition, he took time out in his exit interview to send messages of support to the remaining players, including the one who literally beat him. , congratulation. I hope you can complete the rest of your mission without injury. I will support you from afar. ”

go to Physical: 100, I didn’t know what to expect. Korean Pop Like others paying attention to his culture, BTS member Jungkook eats chicken live and sees it on his stream, boosting the show’s global presence. I knew that for the first time when When I examined the premise of 100 athletes competing in a series of his five physical challenges to determine who had the best “physics,” I was alarmed. At least in America, this kind of TV competition can easily turn into macho chaos.

but the players in Physical: 100 Even if you roll up your shorts to compare thigh sizes, don’t enter a dick-measuring contest. Even when asked to come up with a dominance declaration, such as “I saw prey and felt like a predator” – it doesn’t feel like their mind is really there. recognizes the possible limits of mental will or physical power as potential real adversaries lie in wait.

Athletes share a joy and commitment to sportsmanship. Physical: 100 This keeps the series from falling into potential competitive ugliness.of squid game — A series that barely covered up modern life under capitalism and was used by many Western audiences as an inappropriate comparison to this reality TV show — The fictional character is the artificial lack of the game and our world is constantly faced with. The anthropogenic scarcity of resources is often true in our own world as well, and it hits because systemic inequality functions as a status quo . of Physical: 100, there are clear and strict limits on who can win money, but there is a glorious limit to the joy and belonging these athletes seem to find in fitness. This is a gathering of geeks, but what can be a fitness geek.

It’s unexpectedly sound, especially since the stakes are relatively low for a lot of people who would be okay with not winning money. He is the only remaining contestant in the end, but these contestants are still rooting for each other. Often an official assignment, always hanging around the diner or jumping on a pile of mats.