There’s no denying that someone passing away is a sad occasion and Billy Brown, the patriarch of the Brown family that has been seen on Alaskan Bush People so often, is bound to be missed by a lot of people. The reality TV star, don’t get mad, that is what he was, passed away recently following a seizure, and was reported deceased by his family. His family members are no doubt distraught and torn apart by this loss since the age of 68 isn’t young but is still an age when people expect that they have some living yet to do. Fans of the show are no doubt going to give their respects and their condolences to the family, but one still has to wonder how many are going to nod their heads in respect for the fallen but maintain that the show was little more than a chance for a family to get famous by pretending to be something they weren’t. This is to be expected unfortunately since the show was seen to be inspirational by many but was also called out by just as many when it was made apparent that the Brown family didn’t exactly rough it as much as the show would indicate. Billy’s own condemnation of those that were attempting to besmirch the show only came as more fuel for those that have continued to state that the show is little more than entertainment dressed up in layers of falsehoods that were made to look realistic for those that were impressed by those that managed to live in the wilds of Alaska.
The sorrow that will be felt over Billy’s passing deserves a reprieve from the continued doubts and shade that has been thrown at the show for so long, but one can imagine that such a thing won’t be happening as the family might like, as many of those that have watched the show thinking that it’s real might have plenty to say in the wake of his passing. This is the unfortunate drawback of being famous and becoming this way off of a falsehood since shows that are devised as pure fiction and aren’t said to be true to life or in any way based on real-life events are tolerated since they’re fictional works and therefore still subject to opinion but won’t be treated as factual. Shows such as Alaskan Bush People however tend to be marketed as true to life shows that depict the lives of their stars as something that they usually aren’t, and that’s what tends to irk people. The reports that the Brown family were being kept up in lodges and hotels, and that their home in the wilds was built by locals and not by their own hands are all tales that tend to irritate viewers that might have believed that the Browns were doing all this on their own and were in fact truly living off the land.
Billy was often heard to state that their way of living was quite real, and while there might have been moments in which the Brown family did take the time to live in the wild, it still feels far more accurate to state that the many reports of people seeing the family, who became quite recognizable thanks to the show, were in fact not content to live in the Alaskan wilderness at all times. How much of the story is real and how much is fabricated is hard to say since knowing just how much reality there is in reality TV is often up for debate. But many have called the show scripted and not at all factual or believable, and many have gone out of their way to make it known that things are not what they appear to be in the show. Why anyone would debunk such a show is a good question, but while it might sound rather petty and even useless as a gesture, there are reasons for exposing people that might be showing a false image on TV. Whatever those reasons might be are usually up to the accusers to provide, but it would appear that Alaskan Bush People is a show that many agree is just ‘another reality TV show’, meaning that it’s been scripted and more or less faked for a good portion to make people believe that the Brown’s are a lot tougher and more resilient than people realize.
With Billy’s passing though, their resolve and strength are likely going to be tested even further as the family will need to continue forward and figure out what to do with themselves now that their patriarch is gone. With their mother still around it is possible to pick up and keep moving forward, as the whole idea is that the Browns are a strong family. But all the same, rest in peace Billy.
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