While it would be easy to understand why fans might feel excited about the “Alaskan Bush People” returning to live off the land, many fans, instead, ripped into the Browns for the façade presented on reality television. The Browns actually never survived solely off the land, according to several fans mentioned in an In Touch Weekly article on March 28.
Fans called out Rain and Gabe Brown on Instagram. Rain posted a video of herself appearing to split wood with an ax on March 2 – not wearing safety glasses and not striking the wood in the same spot more than once or twice.
In Touch Weekly highlighted fans’ reactions, saying that it was “obvious” that the youngest member of the reality show family had never chopped wood previously.
Even though her older brother Gabe posted in defense of his younger sister, trying to deflect from viewers’ negative comments and observations, his reply only engendered more remarks. One person asked why members of the family have YouTube channels for promoting Billy’s (the family patriarch’s) book. The same person noted on Instagram that the family traveled the U.S. in an RV while also peddling Billy’s book.
‘Bush People’ fans, turned off by lack of authentic living and location, could turn off the show
The unkind comments seemed to outweigh supportive social media comments, now that many viewers believe the “fakeness” of the family was exposed, according to In Touch.
Some fans suspect that the Discovery Channel will not have as many viewers for the “Alaskan Bush People” since so many people are put off by the lack of authenticity.
When the program was initially broadcast in 2014, viewers held a very different impression. Many thought that the Browns were pretty much survivalists, who managed to build a life and rather rudimentary housing for themselves by sheer know-how, trial-and-error, skill, and ingenuity – coupled with sourcing or bartering materials.
After learning that the Browns have stayed in a lodge and had accommodation that facilitated having modern technology, such as cell phones and laptops, some fans felt misled or deceived. The viewers’ trust was broken.
Other fans stated that they will continue watching but would have preferred if the tapings had been more honest, as well as portraying the family living naturally and without the layer of pretense.
The Brown family’s “togetherness” is one facet that attracts that faction of viewers.
Additionally, it was pointed out by some astute photo viewers that the surroundings that the images depict are Washington state, not Alaska, and that the family is not returning to Alaska. That is something that is a distraction for fans.
Fans support Ami through cancer battle but not show fakeness
Regardless of viewers thoughts about the Browns and their actual location, is the reality that Brown matriarch, Ami, was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent intensive treatment. Again, reality rears its ugly head. Cancer is nothing to make light of, which fans recognize. Viewers have been supportive of the Browns during Ami’s valiant struggle against the disease that they want her to beat.
The problem that surfaces is where the family stayed during Ami’s treatment: A California mansion. Again, a reminder that the family’s survival is not strictly tied to their ingenuity or skillful, rustic lifestyle.
When episodes with the Browns return to Discovery, the numbers will reflect whether the creative license applied to their bush living will help sustain the show – if it does. Some fans think that the “Alaskan Bush People” reality show has a limited lifespan now that viewers know reality isn’t all that has been presented by Discovery.
Will you watch “Alaskan Bush People” living in Washington state? Do you care where the show is taped?
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