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By Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent
For those of us who watched Netflix Sports SKYSCRAPER LIVE last week on Sunday, Jan. 25, that being the live climb of the Taipei 101 building by FREE SOLO phenom climber Alex Honnold, staring at the screen was an exercise in itself. Full disclosure, even with Netflix’s 10 second delay? For most, this may have been an impossible ‘ask’ to see in real time. Why?
Because a short 508 meter or 1667 ft trip to Croaksville was a very real possibility. That red shirt designed not to show blood?
So is Netflix out of their minds, or is Alex Honnold our American Houdini, the man known for his 1916 strait-jacket escapes while hanging upside own from a 13-story bank building in Dayton, Ohio. (Who, coincidentally, died exactly 100 years ago in 1926.)
Even Harry Houdini – a magician born in Budapest, Hungary as Eric Weisz – who loved illusions and had tricks up his sleeve, always had a physician on hand in case of emergency. Or maybe a handcuff key under his tongue? After all, Houdini named himself after the great French Illusionist Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin who created actual orange trees blooming to fruit on stage, a crowd fainter complete with scent of blossoms.(Houdin is called “The Father of Modern Magic.”)
Honnold maybe is more the real thing, ironically, magically doing actual human tricks that are also crowd fainting heart-stoppers, but no sleeves? California boy-climber turned star of El Capitan’s no-rope majestic ascent documentary FREE SOLO doesn’t even carry Band-aids, much less safety nets or sleight of hand devices. He is a natural wonder of our times, in a quiet way… you wonder with his name so close to describing his job, that Alex doesn’t just change from Honnold to Handhold… never mind.
Here’s a brief side-by-side on these two death-defying legends:
Meanwhile, back on the ground ensconced in couches – possibly with one foot on the floor – the rest of us desk-defying Netflix viewers literally had a second-hand Sunday adrenaline rush from world class climber Honnold’s spider-like vertical stroll up Taipei 101, narrated by a panel of three above a live Taiwan crowd of thousands. Should we feel guilty?
What if he fell, the unspoken ethical question, spoken here…
Ground broke on the Taipei skyscraper in 1999. Five years later on New Year’s Eve, 2004 the majestic bamboo-box and dragon theme building made its debut for public access. The tallest building in the world (wait for it, there’s a taller one now).
Honnold claims to have wanted to do his wall magnet act a decade ago, so you could argue this is “ten years of planning.”
But that’s a stretch, let’s face it, even for a guy with “30 years of climbing experience.” Imagine if the red-shirted 40-year-old pancaked in the contested region of China’s reach?
All for a reported mid six-figure salary, according to sources at The New York Times?
What would be our role as viewers; that is to say, are we complicit in this maniacal march up the glass stacks and steel I-beams of doom? Hey, never mind, he made it. Complete with adoring gorgeous wife, Sanni, who draws him in for a triple hug after Alex decamped from the knob of the world doing selfies. Days later? Honnold calls payment for this feat “embarrassingly low?” Then this weekend on Jimmy Kimmel, he hams it up like a media darling, not the serious climbing nerd we know and love?
If These Walls Could Talk
Ironically, the same month Taipei 101 officially opened, Burj Khalifa construction began in Dubai. Six years later, in 2010, that upstart spire-like gem topped Taipei’s masterpiece at 828 meters or 2,717 ft. Which begs the question: will Alex Honnold get a call from the UAE asking for a vertical stroll up their Dubai skyline stand-out? Just thinking out loud here, Netflix.
Cast includes Sportscaster Elle Duncan, who hosts Panelists Colby Lopez, rock climber Emily Harrington, and You Tuber Mark Rober, with pro climber Pete Woods and wife Sanni Honnold on deck literally for the elevator ride back down to earth.
See SKYSCRAPER Live now on Netflix: don’t worry, spoiler alert, he lives.
🙂
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