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I've had the opportunity to watch several of Marc Watts' videos of late, and have to agree on several points already made: He makes impressive, long range shots, to be sure. But he also spends an inordinate amount of each video playing and replaying, and replaying again, laudatory comments from the PH to the trackers. There is little economy applied to the self-congratulation or the exaltation of ego throughout the movies. That said, the impressive production quality of the videos, coupled with their play length (well over two hours) makes them standouts, particularly among those offerings that appear to be little more than home movies cobbled together and sold, it would seem, as vehicles to defray the safari costs.

A more troubling issue with Watts' videos, however, has come to light -- for me, at least. Is he being honest with his viewers? One of his most recent videos, 'Fire and Ice', gives the account of a hunt with Chifuti Safaris, made famous in part by Craig Boddington. Boddington's co-star, if you will, in several of his videos is well known African PH Andrew Dawson, who enjoys a well-deserved reputation in the safari industry. As Watts' video plays out, there is a less-than subtle angle that Dawson is maybe not-quite racist, but certainly uncomfortable with his black client (Watts). Dawson unfortunately opens the door for this by saying to the camera that he isn't quite sure what to expect from a black client, seeing as he's never had one before. An innocent if not particularly sage comment to make -- at least on camera. Watts exploits it to the full, and Dawson's remark is replayed several times to somehow underscore what becomes an underlying theme of 'Fire and Ice': The two simply don't get along early in the hunt. Watts is shown to feel both uncomfortable and rebellious (the latter manifesting itself in his boasting of taking shots that Dawson advises against).

As the video concludes, there seems to be some 'rapprochement', and before the end, bonhomie has broken out and all appears well between the two. But, unsettling is the fact that the viewer is left wondering what Dawson did to so alienate his client in the first place. Was he really just more accustomed to ordering blacks around, like his staff, rather than serve them, as he was obliged to with Watts? Did Watts suffer some unrevealed indignities at the hands of this white hunter?

Also, throughout the movie, with few exceptions, Watts goes out of his way to drum into the viewers head that his shots are exceptional (some of which are, to be sure), and his hunting judgment sometimes superior to those of his PH -- Dawson. For example, Watts revels in telling how he made a neck shot on a sable bull, despite Dawson explicitly recommending against that particular shot placement. More significant was a defining moment early on that arises when Watts implies that Dawson has pressured him to take a shot on a buffalo that Watts believes is simply not well situated for a solid shot. Watts says that he refused to shoot, and as they walk away, the voice-over of Watts has him recount Dawson's displeasure; he goes on to counsel the viewer never to take a shot you are not comfortable with, no matter what the PH may say.

Okay, that's all well and good but herein lies the rub: In reading Boddington's latest tome 'Tracks Across Africa - Another Ten Years' (and I must say another fine piece of work from someone who is arguably the literary heir - in content and quantity, if not style - of Roosevelt, Hemingway, Ruark, and Capstick), he mentions the very safari that Watts was on with Dawson. In fact, he was there (and the video shows the two meeting and briefly hunting together) and bore witness to much of what took place. He doesn't say anything untoward about Watts, but he does reveal that on that safari, Watts shot and lost a buffalo!

Now, while Watts will very occasionally admit to the odd bad shot, he makes his bread and butter in these movies extolling his 'perfect shot' approach to hunting. In terms of candor, and particularly given Watts' background as a journalist (he was a reporter for CNN some years past), you would think that that piece of information would have found its way into the video, which it doesn't. Okay, maybe if I'm doing a video I might want to edit out the embarrassing bits, but not at the expense of perhaps giving an insight as to why my PH and I may have had a rough patch early on -- especially if I go out of my way to play up that particular element as a 'device' in the movie. At best, that's simply not being forthright; at worst, it's not being honest.

My point is not to sully Watts reputation, nor imply anything apart from this: Based on Boddington's report that Watts wounded and lost a buffalo in his hunt with Dawson, just maybe that was a contributing factor to the two of them not being all chummy early on -- particularly if the shot was not made in accordance with Dawson's recommendations. The latter, of course, is speculation, but Watts invites this upon himself for failing to even mention that 'Bwana Moja', as he likes to be called (which roughly translates into 'one-shot hunter'), not only made a poor shot, but lost a wounded trophy.

If I'm wrong here, and maybe I've missed something, please let me know. Maybe Boddington got it wrong in his book (though I doubt it, given his extraordinary candor about his own missed shots in both videos, lectures, and writing). But if Boddington is correct, and Watts lost a buffalo, it does cast a different light on Dawson -- a light that is a little more sympathetic than the one Watts chose to apply in his video.

Edited by KPete (04/02/08 07:33 PM)