I Was Impaled

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In one episode of I Was Impaled, a woman riding in a truck on a dirt road was impaled by a two-inch thick branch of an evergreen tree similar to this one which broke through the passenger's side window; the branch penetrated her neck and shoulder, but she was saved by medical personnel.

I Was Impaled is an hour-long reality television docuseries show which depicts incidents in which real people were impaled on nonhuman objects and yet survived.[1] Each hour-long show consists of four separate episodes.[1] It is produced by a British production company entitled Twofour, and shown in the United States on the Discovery Fit & Health channel.[1] and the show will air in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America under the name Body Invaders.[2] Foreign objects which punctured human bodies include fence posts, garden shears, bicycle pole.[3] The show chronicles the medical rescue involving first responders such as emergency medical technicians as well as doctors who saved the person's life.[3]

Reception[edit]

Chicago Tribune critic A. J. Marechal described the show as "bizarre tales of objects being ingested or impaling people's bodies."[2] Critics for National Public Radio, when they first learned of the title of the show, wondered whether it was "some kind of rogue intern prank".[4] New York Times critic Neil Genzlinger found the title, itself, to be "jolting".[5] The Oregonian critic Kristi Turnquist thought the show sounded like an "April Fool's joke", but noted how with "cutting edge animation", the show shows "everything", including the horrifying moment of entry to elation at removal of the object.[6] She wrote:

What could this be about? Oh, gee, I dunno, maybe it's stories of people who were IMPALED? And really, who wouldn't want to watch that while sharing quality time with the whole family? Maybe after having grilled a couple of skewers of chicken and veggies out in the backyard. Yum.

— Kristi Turnquist of The Oregonian, 2012[6]

Feminist critic Gwendolyn Audrey Foster described the show as "almost entirely shorn of narrative and any sense of morality."[7][8] She elaborated:

Bodily harm and gruesome depravity is still presented with lip-smacking relish, as if the entire affair was some sort of ghastly freak show for our depraved amusement. Impalements, horrifying moments, and ghoulish bodily dismemberments are edited together for shock value, though they become almost boring and numbing as a result of their generic display. We become completely numb and pain becomes dull.

— Gwendolyn Audrey Foster in Film International, 2012[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Mike Hale, September 7, 2012, The New York Times, The Crazy Things That Get in People’s Heads. And Throats. And Eye Sockets., Retrieved November 13, 2014, "...After all, the hourlong premiere episode of “I Was Impaled” on Saturday squeezes in four complete stories of nonhuman objects taking up residence inside humans...."
  2. ^ a b August 23, 2012, AJ Marechal, Variety, Chicago Tribune, Discovery gets 'Impaled' with new docuseries: Six episodes to air on Fit & Health channel, Retrieved November 13, 2014, "...Six hourlong episodes bowing on Discovery Fit & Health ... Discovery Channel across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America and other territories under the name "Body Invaders."..."
  3. ^ a b September 07, 2012, Fox News, New Discovery series 'I Was Impaled' highlights horrifying, extraordinary medical rescues, Retrieved November 13, 2014, "...features unbelievable stories of people who ingested or pierced their bodies with foreign objects....
  4. ^ August 24, 2012, Linda Holmes, NPR, Morning Shots: Tyra Explains The Revamped 'Top Model' To The Inexplicably Curious, Retrieved November 13, 2014, "...Discovery has reportedly ordered six episodes of a show called I Was Impaled for its Discovery Fit & Health Channel. I'm still waiting to see whether this is some kind of rogue intern prank...."
  5. ^ Genzlinger, Neil (December 28, 2012). "TV Where Too Far Is Never Far Enough". New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2014. ...There were shows and one-shot specials whose mere titles were jolting: "I Was Impaled," on Discovery Fit & Health...
  6. ^ a b Kristi Turnquist, August 23, 2012, The Oregonian, Who'd watch a show called 'I Was Impaled'? : TV Talk, Retrieved November 13, 2014, "... Though it sounds like an April Fool's joke, ... horrifying moment of when the injury occurs, to the euphoria of removing the object...
  7. ^ a b Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, April 14th, 2013, Film International, Family Friendly Torture Porn, Retrieved November 13, 2014, "...similar voyeuristic pleasures as the horror film, but they are almost entirely shorn of narrative and any sense of morality..."
  8. ^ Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, 2014, Palgrave Macmillan Publishers, Hoarders, Doomsday Preppers, and the Culture of Apocalypse, (see chapter entitled Disposable Bodies), ISBN 978-1-137-46940-3
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