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Michael Palin's 'Mail-Order Brides Of Eastern Europe'?

posted 16 years ago by V.I.D.I.O.T.
3 replies | jump to latest

I'm historically a fan of all these Palinventures, "Pole To Pole" being my favorite, yet though I enjoyed sitting back, relaxing and letting this latest journey wash over me, a few irksome criticisms did come to mind. And where does one turn when one wants to criticize (or "criticise", even) - why, The Internet of course!

The first thing that I noticed was how rushed Palin seemed to be at the beginning. Granted, perhaps there really wasn't much to do in the fairly recently bombed-out remains of Yugoslavia, and the show does slow down a bit as it goes on, spending a wonderfully extended time in Capadocea, for instance. But yeah, at first it seems like there's less to do in Serbia than there was in the middle of the Sahara.

The second repetitive stress disorder that kept cropping up was Palin's forceful, "ask the question AND answer it" style of interview. It got really tiresome to hear him NOT ask, "how do you feel about your country's recent freedom" and rather spout off stuff like, "is it hard adjusting to the new way of things, where once you were under the iron fist of communism and you weren't free but all your needs were seen to, whereas now you're free but have to find a job or make a living... blah blah blah". I mean it's not really a question, more an opinion he (or the producers) have already formed and have now just corraled some poor unsuspecting English-as-a-third-language civilian, who they merely want to corroborate their story. Interviewees are often left just nodding in agreement, "exactly exactly". That's not a lot of fun to watch.

What IS fun to watch is the last interesting "new" direction of this series as opposed to the older ones. Did anyone else notice that no matter where Palin goes, this 63-year-old married Brit just happens to find a young buxom slavic female beauty to "guide" him around wherever he happens to be? I mean okay, kudos to the producers for roping in some eye candy, but it starts to become awkward and obvious, culminating in the outrageous "coincidence" where Palin finds himself quite by chance lying in a mud bath next to a naked current Miss World. I mean I just threw up my hands - not really out of any complaint, but more like a "come on, this is getting a bit too Benny Hill, isn't it?"

All these minute and unimportant irks aside, I definitely enjoyed it, the second half especially, not as much as "Around The World" or "Full Circle", but definitely more than "Sahara"s Guide To Sand, Sand And More Sand.

Thanks for your time!

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[–] artisticengineer 16 years ago

Concerning the "young buxom slavic beauty" that guides him around wherever he happens to be....I would say something like "Well, what is the problem with that??" but it does deserve a serious explanation. First of all, not all of his guides were young women. Mr. Zwack of Hungary was a great guide of Palin's and that man is close to 80 years of age, and is hardly "eye candy" (not to insult Mr. Zwack- he was one of the best guides in that series). Yet, Mr. Zwack got more air time than most of the young beauties. Next, for some reason Mother Nature gave women a decided advantage in the learning of language(s) and the art of socializing. I have noticed in my own considerable travels that most tour guides are women; so it would be strange if Michael Palin did NOT have some beautiful women guiding him around the place. Some of these women, such as the guide in Kaliningrad, were very attractive but not that young (i.e. Olga whatever-her-last-name-is looked to be in her 40s). So, I think that Palin is still acting professionally.

Concerning the naked current Miss World; well I think she was from that area (in the Czech Republic) anyway so why not show off one of their gals who made good? The mud bath scene was interesting; I am not certain she and Palin were actually naked. They were in separate bathtubs and covered with mud. So, even if they were naked one could not see anything that was particularly erotic. And, as far as them going to the aristocrats ball together; well, somebody had to escort Miss World!!! And, actually I think it was more to HER advantage to be seen with Michael Palin than vice versa. In other words, I think these women want to be seen with him.

I liked this series; probably because I have been to a number of those places already. Yet, he always finds something that the average traveler will miss (even if we do have a "young buxom slavic beauty" guiding us around)

[–] otter 16 years ago

"The mud bath scene was interesting"

I thought so too, because I've never seen anyone take a mud bath or any other spa treatment wearing THAT much makeup! Imagine what her pores were like at the end of her day at the spa!

Seriously though, I didn't get any pervy vibes from Palin, during that episode or any other. Mainly I got the impression that Miss World wanted very much to be on international TV, and wanted the exposure badly enough to risk her complexion.

[–] linda303 14 years ago

omg, ha ha, I was completely thinking the same things as the original poster. I mean, come on, almost "every woman" who was a guide was beautiful, and but that is not "everywoman." I kept thinking, where are the real-looking guides? I also could have used some more male eye candy; the 63-year old Palin does not fit the bill. The Bulgarian guy at the Pagan festival and the philosophical Romanian guy on the train were cute enough, though in in no way "beauties." I guess Palin did not want to be out-shined!