Geocaching in the media becoming "mainstream"?
I was just sent this tip from one of our listeners (Borten):
GPS The Movie
Several months ago, geocaching was apparently part of a story in the TV show "Law and Order". I didn't actually see the episode, but I have heard that the show did a poor job of representing our "sport" by having the cache container actually buried. (Caching veterans know that this is a no-no and goes against the rules).
I realize that Geocaching is a growing sport and may not have yet reached the kind of critical-mass-awareness to consider it mainstream just yet. I often wonder what "outsiders" (or muggles as we cachers sometimes call them) think of this arguably odd hobby?
I'm sure many of you have had the same experience: At some point you are talking to someone and the topic (Geocaching) comes up. They are curious (or you just want to share) and you try and figure out a way to explain it. At first they give you a polite smile and nod their head: you realize they still don't get it. So you try to use metaphors and examples. Some of them may become intrigued enough to try it, and ONLY then do they really "get it". Has this happened to you?
I took a peek at the movie trailer and it seems as though they are trying to sell it as a suspense thriller. From what I gather from the clip, there is some kind of crime committed and people are going to get hurt. ... Great, just what our hobby needs ... bad press about "weirdos" going through the woods on a hunt with the threat of danger, death and scary music ever present. I realize they are in the business of selling movie tickets and that a movie about a wholesome family with kids going out to interact with each other, excercise and enjoy the outdoors may not be a big seller, but ... come on!
What do you think about this? Is this the kind of image we want to present about our community?
There was a film made about Geocaching to show non geocachers what the sport/hobby was about from 3 different types of cachers. The Event was this one. GCNB0Y
-Mike
They seem to be being very careful not to actually say the word “geocache”, and always say “GPS Hunt” instead, so hopefully any negative press will not fall on regular caching!
There’s an interesting thread about the movie over on the Groundspeak forums:
http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=73794&hl=gps+the+movie
Towards the bottom of the first page, there’s an interesting post from Jeremy Irish (the founder of geocaching’s parent company, Groundspeak). Seems he was approached by the producers about the movie–I’ll let you read the rest for yourself.