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A New Hero Comes to MTV

Summit on the Summit is an event, a movement, and an MTV documentary all at once.  In January 2010, a group of scientists, activists, and celebrities—including Jessica Alba and Emile Hirsch—trekked up Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise awareness for the world clean-water crisis.  They were followed by a camera crew, which quickly produced a 90-minute program that aired on MTV this past Sunday.  You can watch the trailer above.

This is a really interesting project.  The team has done a nice job of taking an event and getting people involved via broadcast and social media, creating the feeling of a real movement that could take off in the coming years.  That said, I wasn’t thrilled with the documentary.  While I’m clearly not the target demographic, I just wasn’t moved or inspired in the way I had hoped.

OK, but I can’t give up on this.  I’ve written before about bringing social entrepreneurship to TV, and I’m still committed to the idea of making the work of social entrepreneurs go mainstream.

I think the key is to create a story-centric show, not a competition-centric show like Shark Tank or this TV concept proposed by Bamyan Media for the Unreasonable Institute (though I’m excited to see their project make some traction).  Summit on the Summit was a bit of a hybrid in that regard, combining the emotionality of the back story  (which I’ll get to in a minute) with the drama of the climb.

I just wasn’t drawn to the climb.  Not that climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro isn’t a feat, but there were just way too many medics and support staff on the mountain for anything truly shocking to happen.  I myself climbed Mt. Fuji many years ago, and all I can say is it wouldn’t make for very good TV.

However, I was drawn to the story of Kenna, the Ethiopian-born American musician who conceived of the journey.

Five years ago, Kenna had attempted to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, making it 16,000 feet above sea level still—3,000 feet from the summit—before having to turn back.  According to MTV, “Both the trip and the cause were personal to Kenna, because when his father was a child in Ethiopia, he lost his brother and friends to water-borne diseases and, as he put it, ‘I could have been one of those kids.’”

It’s that background that adds authenticity to the story, and ultimately the main way we feel sympathy for the cause and those trying to make a difference.  I can’t say as much for other celebrities, who, committed as they are, don’t have much of a reason to be there.  (We rarely hear from any of the others who may have more personal reasons for participating).

I can’t help but think of another new MTV show, The Buried Life, which I admit I haven’t seen, but which I’ve heard has been well received.  It’s a reality show about 4 young guys who make a list of 100 things they want to do before they die, and then go out and do them.  And here’s the catch: in some way, when they do each of those things, they have to help others.  It’s a brilliant concept, and nobody gets kicked off or rejected or has to prove themselves.  It’s all about the search for meaning, connecting with strangers, and doing your best to create fun and goodness.

I think there’s power in these stories.  It’s powerful to think of the circumstances life could have put us in.  It’s powerful to create a movement out of a personal history.  And it’s powerful to show that to young people on TV, casting a new type of hero in the world.