After weeks of teasing it, the Discovery Channel has finally aired its special about a man being “eaten alive” by an anaconda.
Unfortunately, it was a total let-down.
After donning a “snake-proof suit” smeared in pig’s blood, serpent-loving filmmaker Paul Rosolie went head-to-head with one of the largest snakes in the world—and by that we mean that the snake ate his head.
The Discovery special, ostensibly produced to “raise awareness about the plight of the rapidly declining wildlife in the Amazon,” was ultimately just that: A stunt, and not a very good one.
After the anaconda trapped Rosolie in its vice-like grip, it began to devour him whole, but it had barely gotten past his ears when the pain of the constriction forced him to call the whole thing off. His team sprinted in to take him to safety.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHfaz7z2z-U
The reception to the stunt has been one of disappointment. The Independent called it “kind of underwhelming,” while the Guardian’s verdict was that the stunt “bit off more than it could chew.”
On Twitter, reactions included disappointment, scorn, boredom, and even betrayal.
https://twitter.com/whotheF_i_is/status/541942558092709888
Next week on #EatenAlive. Paul Rosolie will be swallowed by a REAL Tyrannosaurus Rex. Tune in folks. You've got nothing better to do.
— 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘 𝙴𝚡𝚎𝚌 (@studioexec1) December 8, 2014
Next time I watch something called #EatenAlive, somebody better get eaten alive.
— Casey Pratt (@CaseyPrattABC7) December 8, 2014
Just to clarify, I've been eaten by anacondas just as many times as the dude on #EatenAlive.
— Troy Osinoff 🕺 (@yo) December 8, 2014
#EatenAlive is some of the dumbest stuff I've ever seen and I've seen Home Alone 3 AND 4
— Sean Doolittle (@whatwouldDOOdo) December 8, 2014
#EatenAlive should have been called #SqueezedAlive instead … False marketing LOL @Discovery
— Zak Bagans 🧛🏻♂️ (@Zak_Bagans) December 8, 2014
What the hell! That snake didn't eat him alive. All they did was cuddle. #EatenAlive
— That Junkman (@ThatJunkman) December 8, 2014
Despite criticism from animal rights activists, the anaconda was reportedly uninjured by the ordeal. “We didn’t force the snake to do anything, we didn’t ask from the snake anything out of the ordinary,” Rosolie said. “Snakes very often regurgitate if they’re eating something and a predator comes by, they have to give up their meal so they can escape.”
Photo via Jeff Kubina/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)