Finding Michael (Disney +) with spoilers

[AngeloMysterioso]

Anyone else watched this yet? Spencer Matthews (of Spencer & Vogue/Made in Chelsea fame) going to Mt Everest to try and retrieve the body of his older brother who passed away on his way back down from the summit in 1999.

On one hand I understood completely the desire for the family to bring Michael home, but parts of it made me feel uncomfortable… the way a clearly very wealthy family is just throwing money at the situation and sending people up into the death zone multiple times and paying them to risk their lives to bring back a body that is perfectly fine where it is.

The casual way all the climbers are referring to the people whose remains are on the mountains as “dead bodies” and nothing more… like they’re no longer people and they’re just fiddling around and disturbing their corpses until they confirm it isn’t the one they’re looking for.

I did think it was lovely that in the end they brought the Sherpa home to his family instead, but again felt uncomfortable with the way they were just filming that poor distraught little girl who has lost both her parents.

Side note- found it interesting there was no appearance by nor mention of the other Matthews sibling James, aka Mr Pippa Middleton…

All in all it didn’t really have the emotional impact for me that I thought it would.

I'm watching it now.

Off topic of the actual film, Spencer is good looking, his brother Michael looks like he was good looking too. His sister is pretty. But his other brother couldn't be more different! Very strange!

I watched this today, I don't follow him at all and had no idea he was Pippa Middleton's brother in law! I thought it was an interesting program but agree it was very sad to think of how many bodies there are of people up there that were just looked at and then left. I felt like Michael would have preferred to have been left where he was really, and the chances of finding him were pretty non existent to start with. I felt it was a bit cruel the way they told the sherpas family that they would only bring him back if they didn't find michael. Imagine being let down!
The home in Scotland is pretty incredible! I did think it was a touching journey for him though and I teared up at the end when he said he didn't find his body but he did find Michael.

I watched it last night. The whole ethics of Everest I find troubling generally. It felt a bit cynical to me, ie we have to bring someone down after spending all this money and making this film. But the family of the man they recovered wont care, as they’ve got him back and perhaps that’s all that matters. It felt a bit exploitative to me in terms of the film wanting some kind of resolution. But as I say, I find the whole ethics of Everest a bit distasteful in relation to wealthy people paying to climb it and nepalese people putting their lives at risk to facilitate this. Imagine if one of the Sherpas were killed during this operation? Having said that, I hope Spencer and his family feel like they have got some kind of peace now - Michael is clearly at rest somewhere covered up rather than being just on the mountainside which I think must be a comfort.

I’ve just had to stop watching it… it’s utterly macabre and the interactions with and involvement of the Nepalese man’s family (whose body they retrieved) is downright offensive. I can’t believe half of this even made it through editing. Completely unethical, exploitative and distasteful. And shame on all the gushing reviews that fail to acknowledge this. Not sure what else I expected given the fact that the Everest industry is neo-colonial at best.

I’m fascinated in Everest and the way the poor souls who lose their lives on it have to be left there, the mechanics of bringing them down etc but I had to stop watching this too.

it felt very shallow and I think it showed how out of touch the Matthews family are. That poor Sherpa’s family. It was distasteful, and I was really surprised that they were happy for it to be aired actually with the way they were casually talking about the bodies, and as a previous poster said, fiddling with them to see if it was the one they were looking for. How would he have liked it if Michael were one of those bodies another family was disturbing and casually casting aside
when it wasn’t their loved one?

the reason I’m so interested in it all is like a previous poster said - the ethics of it all to begin with - as well as the spell it seems to have over climbers who simply MUST reach the summit at all costs.

I agree with a fair bit of the above - especially the wealth divide and the risk to the team, which was quite jarring. That said, the scenery and the way it was shot was absolutely stunning. I've never seen footage of Everest, the camps and the summit. I think I'll watch those parts again as they were breathtaking.

Am I right in thinking that the reason the release was delayed was because the original versions showed the various bodies without the blurring? That would have been pretty shocking.

Yes @Crumbelina it does seem to appear that way

I find it so sad they didn’t find him. I was hooked. But after 23 years, it’s not surprising.
I’m glad they brought another person home to their family. I’m sure plan B was already in place ahead of expedition.

it was a worth while watch.

I always knew bodies were just left up there, untouched.
It’s a sad reality. I don’t understand why anyone would want to climb it. Very self indulgent if you have loved ones.

it is a worth while watch in my opinion. Eye opening to the realities of climbing it and how easy it is to never come home.

My husband did a bit of digging, and apparently Spencer and Michael's family tried to sue the guide who took Michael on the expedition. No wonder he wanted to bring a Sherpa back. Guilty conscience much?

I watched this yesterday. I found the seeming lack of value placed on Sherpas lives by the excursion companies disturbing and unethical. And the fact they have inadequate insurance whilst acting as guides for wealthy individuals who clearly haven’t checked the pay or working conditions of the people accompanying them. After paying around £80k in todays money. Having worked in a male dominated industry, I can say that the competitive atmosphere in the workplace becomes quite toxic. Starts off with running at lunchtime, moves onto marathons, then Triathlons, then Ironmans, sometimes the Sahara sable run, then climbing Kilamanjaro etc etc. Each man thinking they are invincible. I can totally see how Mike Mathews was thrown a brochure by the colleague on the film and without really the internet to help qualify the decision/safety just said, yep I’m In. Thank God for Bear Grylls talking sense into Spencer about not going any further than base camp or his poor mother I think could have faced more tragedy. Either that, or the production team couldn’t get insurance for him. One thing I couldn’t understand though was whether or not they took pictures of the other climbers they found to try and assist repatriation for those people?

The turning of Everest into a pay per play adventure park is at the root of all this. The bodies, the trash, the casual discarding of Sherpa welfare.

These days it seem people pay tens of thousands of pounds to queue at a high altitude rubbish dump.

It seems like it was a private prosecution for manslaughter they tried which the judge threw out.

I thought this was awful. I was looking forward to it as well. Agree with all the above points. I know the show is 'Finding Michael' but just the absolute disregard for anyone else found but Michael was horrible. Even finding that Sherpa seemed explotative just for 'good' footage of his daughter breaking down. Awful to watch - she should not have been filmed.
Recommend to anyone to watch Sherpa on Netflix which really highlights the dangers they have to go through but it will make you angry about the wealthy people paying these Sherpas

If anyone would like to see a based on real events film, Everest is actually excellent. Shows the 'desperation' to get to the top, the characters are all real people who climbed and their loved ones - I found it fascinating and horrifying in equal measure.

I haven't seen this yet but deliberately wanted spoilers to decide if I wanted to. I'm horrified to read they found bodies and apparently made no effort to identify or 'catalogue' them for their own families to make the choice to repatriate them. I don't think I'll be watching but interesting reading the reviews

Him calling that elderly Nepalese mum 'darling'....🤬

I’ve just watched it
its an ill divided world out there and that’s all I’m going to say on the matter

@USaYwHatNow there is a documentary on YouTube called Everest. Dying in the death zone I think. Details why the father sued. I'm in two minds about the disney documentary. I found it deeply moving and was in tears but also found it highly exploitative of the sherpas.

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole.
Was horrified that there are at least a couple of hundred people up there. One, known as Green Boots, has even become a distance to the summit sign post.
Lots online about mountaineers walking past others who were in distress or dying.
It would seem that in the death zone area your faculties become quite impaired and you are oblivious to thoughts other than reaching the summit.

I can't believe the way you said my partner went digging.... Firstly get your facts straight, Michael climbed with a Climbing company called OTT, who are professionals in taking climbers up various mountains, they are paid anything up to 50,000 pounds, in Michaels case they were paid £25,000 as it was in 1999.
They are paid to train, and take the client up safely and down safely.
They were accused of negligence to do with training, faulty equipment & a manner of other Health & Safety things that it was there job to do.
The company settled out of court with the Matthews Family. Why?
Michael's parents were so distraught they later filed a criminal law suit against three men, as in his father's words. " They never wanted a family to go through what they did, losing their young boy on a mountain, where he was left alone to die.
The manslaughter charge was dismissed but the Judge allegedly agreed that there was serious justifiable questions about the supplier of the oxygen on the day, this was also said by other climbers who were on the mountain the same day but that was outside the realm of those charges.

The first law suit was a result of a family feeling that their son died due to negligence. If your child died because of a companies negligence, would you just say ok...
No you wld fight for justice.

As you would know the Matthews family must have felt way as they went on to file criminal charges!!
Why would a parents do this?
The answer is they genuinely felt there sons death could behave been prevented. There was no money to make, nor did they need it I imagine.
Also Michaels Dad allegedly said, if it had of been an accident, like a fall for instance. They would never have went this route.
If all was above board, they would have had to move on.

It was that along with trying to get justice for their son, so that all climbing companies should be made to implement the highest standards of Health and Safety protocols across the board, before they ever take any person up a mountain. That all companies should be held to the same high standard.
So that no parent would ever have to live with the thought of there child dying alone on a mountain, never to be found.
Yous are all critical of the Matthews as they are easy targets but hundreds of other families have done the excat same thing to find there missing family member and more, they looked at bodies, they move them, they have photographed them because they are all desperately lookingfor their loved one, everyone on that mountain is someone's child.
The Matthews family have dealt with this privately for 23 years, they supported there son Spencer in trying to find James because they were sent a picture of a body by a climbers who thought it might be James.
Are you going to shame the climbers or get hubby to dig on them too for taking the photo,?
No....
What actually disgusts me the most about this thread, is you talk about "money" and "wealth" like its a crime but you never mention the endless heart break those parents must have felt after being told that their child died and is frozen some where on that mountain.

No closure, just the most awful fear of how afraid he was and how much they wanted to bring him home even 23 years on.
As a mum, there's nothing in the world that would stop me trying over and over again to do the same thing, if it were my children.
Your talking about a young boy with his whole life ahead of him, with one vile comment saying, why can they just leave him there....
Honestly it unbelievable the cruelty words can bring.
Compassion, empathy, being a decent human just seems to fall away when people don't think what damage their words can do.

I can't believe the way you said my partner went digging.... Firstly get your facts straight, Michael climbed with a Climbing company called OTT, who are professionals in taking climbers up various mountains, they are paid anything up to 50,000 pounds, in Michaels case they were paid £25,000 as it was in 1999.

They are paid to train, and take the client up safely and down safely.

They were accused of negligence to do with training, faulty equipment & a manner of other Health & Safety things that it was there job to do.

The company settled out of court with the Matthews Family. Why?

Michael's parents were so distraught they later filed a criminal law suit against three men, as in his father's words. " They never wanted a family to go through what they did, losing their young boy on a mountain, where he was left alone to die.

The manslaughter charge was dismissed but the Judge allegedly agreed that there was serious justifiable questions about the supplier of the oxygen on the day, this was also said by other climbers who were on the mountain the same day but that was outside the realm of those charges.

The first law suit was a result of a family feeling that their son died due to negligence. If your child died because of a companies negligence, would you just say ok...

No you wld fight for justice.

As you would know the Matthews family must have felt way as they went on to file criminal charges!!

Why would a parents do this?

The answer is they genuinely felt there sons death could behave been prevented. There was no money to make, nor did they need it I imagine.

Also Michaels Dad allegedly said, if it had of been an accident, like a fall for instance. They would never have went this route.

If all was above board, they would have had to move on.

It was that along with trying to get justice for their son, so that all climbing companies should be made to implement the highest standards of Health and Safety protocols across the board, before they ever take any person up a mountain. That all companies should be held to the same high standard.

So that no parent would ever have to live with the thought of there child dying alone on a mountain, never to be found.

Yous are all critical of the Matthews as they are easy targets but hundreds of other families have done the excat same thing to find there missing family member and more, they looked at bodies, they move them,
they have photographed them because they are all desperately lookingfor their loved one, everyone on that mountain is someone's child.

The Matthews family have dealt with this privately for 23 years, they supported there son Spencer in trying to find James because they were sent a picture of a body by a climbers who thought it might be James.

Are you going to shame the climbers or get hubby to dig on them too for taking the photo,?

No....

What actually disgusts me the most about this thread, is you talk about "money" and "wealth" like its a crime but you never mention the endless heart break those parents must have felt after being told that their child died and is frozen some where on that mountain.

No closure, just the most awful fear of how afraid he was and how much they wanted to bring him home even 23 years on.

As a mum, there's nothing in the world that would stop me trying over and over again to do the same thing, if it were my children.

Your talking about a young boy with his whole life ahead of him, with one vile comment saying, why can they just leave him there....

Honestly it unbelievable the cruelty words can bring.

Compassion, empathy, being a decent human just seems to fall away when people don't think what damage their words can do.

I thought it was awful the way they basically said to the Sherpas family, we're only going to bring your body down if we can't find my more important one first. I also thought it was gross how he sat safely in a tent getting frustrated about a radio when people were up their risking their lives, I'd of had more respect for him if he went up himself.

@Mummy4thewin I think you are conflating a number of different things. Of course it's tragic what happened to Micheal it doesn't mean that there aren't other discussions around climbing mountains. You seem to be taking it very personally.

I think you have quoted the wrong person - I said nothing of the above!!

Also - it is a very dangerous mountain where there is a real risk of death. There are many many bodies up there of people 'left to die alone'. That is the risk - at the most dangerous points especially 'the death zone' which has the name for a reason.
Having oxygen issues of course is awful, but that doesn't separate from the fact that he struggled with the descent and became very slow, the rest of the group were down 2 hours before him, and he then became separated from his guide during a blizzard and 100mph winds.
It's nature - don't climb the mountain if you don't accept there is a very real risk of never returning.
It's only the Sherpas I feel for as they have no choice but to do this.

I watched it, I found it moving.
The complete absence of James was a bit weird, not even a shot with his mother and sister!?
I know they distance themselves from any reality tv but this was different. I was so rooting for Spencer to find what he set out to find. And as he said, in some ways, he did.

I agree - people tend to lose all empathy when the victim or their family have money, as if being rich is any consolation when you’ve lost a child. Also someone mentioned spencer being frustrated with the radio not working, he was in limbo waiting to find out if they had found his brother after 23 years? Don’t you think he’d be anxious? People just like to complain about everything. I agree they should have only told the Sherpas family once they had ended the mission to find Michael, as the idea that they’d find Michael and abandon that family was awful but it worked out and I’m glad that family got their son home. Unfortunately the options would have been limited in the death zone so it’s not reasonable for anyone to say they should have done anything else for the bodies up there. That would have been irresponsible and risked their lives even further.