“What are you watching?” asked my roommate yesterday, curled up across from me in an armchair as I lay on the couch with my earphones in, cackling cacophonously to myself. “It’s this show,” I wheezed out, between giggles. “An Idiot Abroad. Have you seen it?”
Upon recommendation from the wise algorithms behind Netflix who will one day determine all human preferences, I began watching this show, aptly named An Idiot Abroad, about a week ago. While I know I’m behind the curve in finding out about this gem, let me briefly introduce it to those who, like me, are unfamiliar with it. The series is a travel documentary produced by Ricky Gervais (of The Office fame) and Stephen Merchant that focuses on the (mis)adventures of the self-described “caveman” Karl Pilkington, your basic, normal bloke from England. Turning the travel documentary genre on its head, Karl seems to dislike most everything he encounters around the world, and he makes crudely insensitive yet hilarious comments about the people, places, and cultures he encounters.
The show is full of long-winded segments of Karl moaning and “whinging” (a word I am eagerly incorporating into my vernacular) about unfamiliar foods & customs. Particularly hilarious are his pointed comments about the varied food items he witnesses being eaten in a Chinese market (e.g. scorpions, chicken fetuses) and his persistent quest in Mexico to find “Mexican ‘jompin’ beans”. His deadpan, wide-eyed delivery and his general ignorance of everything going on around him makes him the perfect messenger of ridiculously inane comments.
Occasionally watching him, though, I find his reactions to be some of the most human and genuine reactions I have seen on TV. As ardent and avid travelers, we are expected to retain our cool in moments that are outside our comfort zones. We are supposed to watch and observe, not place judgement, not assert any kind of cultural superiority. We are guests in someone else’s culture, in someone else’s home. We do not get to pick and choose, and we get to go along for the ride.
That is part of what I love about travel: it forces me to accept and embrace that which is different and that which is uncomfortable. It is through those experiences that I have grown as a human being through my travels.
That being said…what I love about Karl is that he provides those internal narratives that we travel-lovers sometimes deny ourselves the space to voice. We push aside the feelings of disgust or discomfort because we know we shouldn’t be feeling that way. We push aside our own cultural preferences in order to be global ambassadors.
Karl gives voice to everything — often at inopportune moments and in inappropriate situations. Yet there is something so genuine about his responses that I wish more travelers would embrace. For all of our interest in immersing ourselves in other cultures, we cannot forget the cultures from which we are coming, complete with the ignorance and prejudices that may entail. Yet it is only through addressing and airing our discomforts that we can truly move past them at some point, or at least put ourselves on the path towards overcoming them.
Karl also gives us viewers small moments of brilliance and wisdom. One that particularly stood out to me was when Karl was visiting Palestine. He goes with a guide into the place where Jesus was said to have been born. He pokes his head into the little altar at that spot, and promptly announces how ridiculous it seems that pilgrims come all this way just to see this spot, which may or may not actually be the place where Jesus was born. Then the camera cuts to Karl standing in front of the looming West Bank wall, pointing and saying, “This is what people should be looking at.”
Moments like this make me have hope for the Karl Pilkingtons of the world, and they also make me remember that we all need to have a little Karl in us when we travel.
I definitely recommend you watch the show, and for more Karl Pilkington words of wisdom, check out this Buzzfeed compilation I just found…
Harem of One 