Tough as Nails has been a revelation after a patronizing start

reality blurred

Phil Keoghan's new CBS working class-themed reality show, which was renewed for Season 2 this week, smacked of a class divide in patronizing blue-collar workers when it premiered last month. But Tough as Nails has quickly evolved. "After the first two episodes of Tough as Nails, my major issue was with its patronizing, relentless focus on insisting that its blue-collar contestants were not just worthy of celebration, but better than other people," says Andy Dehnart. "It didn’t focus on how awfully our society treats essential workers, underpaying and undervaluing them while just calling them heroes and hoping that’s enough. Instead, it tried to elevate them by comparing them. The show’s theme song even had the lyrics 'People go to school / spend the money / on fancy degrees / but that ain’t me.' But the theme song’s lyrics, which were in preview episodes sent to the media, were dropped before Tough as Nails ever aired, and that message quickly fell away in subsequent episodes. That’s allowed the cast to emerge as people, not caricatures, and that’s the best way to celebrate someone and/or their profession: developing them into a round, complex character. When it shed that shell, Tough as Nails emerged as unconventional and exceptional competition."