Survivor playing the Race card

[ray]

This is in no way an attempt to stir up controversy, but I'm sure by now most of you who watch television have heard that the upcoming season of Survivor on CBS will divide the teams up by Race, rather than gender or random teams. There are plenty of groups raising a hellstorm over this, and I'm actually shocked CBS is going to follow through with this plan with the potential for disaster once the season begins. I realize everything will be edited before shown to the public, but still, they are walking a fine line with this one.

While I understand the complaints about this approach to the reality series, I think they are just jumping the shark trying to revive ratings. Last season I believe the average number of viewers slipped by 20%, which in the TV world is a huge dropoff. Their ratings are still strong compared to most other shows, but seeing a decline like that is never a good sign.

What do you guys think about all this hoopla?

[ray]

and i'm a doofus who just found this original post by nickel:

http://www.gotapex.com/entertainment-music-and-sports/140900-cbs-plays-the-race-card-with-the-latest-survivor.html?highlight=survivor

[Mommypooh]

just another reason I don't like survivor. I am just glad my parents no longer watch.

[starkiis]

I was listening to the radio this morning and they were talking about it.. They said that they had lots of complaints that it was only white people on it so they came up with this.. Although I agree it will be a huge problem when they have to vote off there own race and then they will regroup them.. Survival is always coming up with something stupid. Thats why I watch I guess

[DarkFury]

I'll definitely be watchin'.... just because. (everything else on TV SUCKS it seems).


Kinda like the proverbial "car wreck". :heh:

[Maarchk]

This is in no way an attempt to stir up controversy, but I'm sure by now most of you who watch television have heard that the upcoming season of Survivor on CBS will divide the teams up by Race, rather than gender or random teams. There are plenty of groups raising a hellstorm over this, and I'm actually shocked CBS is going to follow through with this plan with the potential for disaster once the season begins. I realize everything will be edited before shown to the public, but still, they are walking a fine line with this one.

And yet no one complained about sexism that year or at least not nearly to the extent... Its rather odd to me that people are now fired up when before i didn't hear much.

If people dont like it, they shouldn't watch. And yet they will.. Just like how we all watch the car chase or something we know will probably be bad or stupid.
People love low intelligence tv that perpetuates what we like to think about other races/genders/ages... That they are stupid and one person acting like it justifies our biased beliefs about the whole group of people whom this one person is of course a perfect representation of.

Three weeks in, no one will care either way. It will lose its gimmick value and hopefully the show will fall off the face of the earth. Or maybe even better, one person will kill another person of a different race and people will realize that racism is alive and well even though we like to think its not.

[Jenny]

It's actually a lot cooler an idea than you would guess. Here's a column that I just wrote for a tv blog that explains a bit more. (I got to listen in to a conference call that featured Jeff Probst and a bunch of media people calling in and asking questions.)

------------------------------------

If you have never watched Survivor, this season may be a reason to start. Host Jeff Probst is more excited about this season than he has been since Season 1. He said it has re-energized them, that the show & contestants have a freshness like Season 1 had. He believes they have reinvented Survivor, that there is no going backwards now. The reason for this excitement? This season, there are 20 contestants. They will be split into 4 groups of 5 each. Now, that in and of itself isn't a big deal, right? The shock to everyone is that they will not be divided by age or sex, but by race: whites, blacks, Asians & Hispanics. Shocking, yes?

In a recent press conference, Jeff also said that most people flinch when they first hear the decision because it is such a sensitive topic, but that he thinks if they give it a chance, they will be surprised. "This show has completely changed my perspective about how I view other ethnicities," Jeff remarked. "Not in terms of judging them but in terms of understanding that it's ok to not know something, and it's ok to ask the questions [when you don't]." He said he came to that realization after spending 39 days with the castaways and seeing the ethnic pride in all the groups.

In fact, it's that ethnic pride that pushed CBS, Executive Producer Mark Burnett, Jeff Probst & the entire creative team into making the decision to split the tribes by race. The original idea was to have the most ethnically diverse group of people on TV. (Rather than just a few contestants in the larger group that were not Caucasian.) But during the casting process, they noticed a theme of ethnic pride shining through and as Jeff said on The Early Show, "Wow, if culture is still playing such a big part in these people's lives, that's our idea. Let's divide them based on ethnicity." And that's how the new season's division came to be.

Apparently this was the single biggest job for Survivor ever. Normally they just find the contestants from the thousands of applications. But this season, they went to places they had never been to before to find the ethnic diversity they wanted, such as calling the Miss Korea Town Pageant in Seattle, Washington. A result is the best group of contestants since Season 1 and of course, the most diverse.

One major thing about race, not just in Survivor, but in life, is stereotyping. On this season of the show, we will see people defying stereotypes but the show won't be avoiding anything that happens (we'll see if they handle it well or if they play up the backlash, any racism showing, etc for the ratings!). During the conference call, Jeff gave a hint about episode 1, saying, "The notion of stereotypes and perpetuating those stereotypes comes up in the 2nd episode within 1 tribe about whether they are helping to perpetuate their own stereotype by acting in a certain way, and it becomes an argument." So the racial division apparently becomes an issue from the very beginning.

The castaways will start off like last season on a boat and will have 30 seconds to get out what they can carry, so each tribe will have to work together from the start. He gave no hint about when the groups will come together but did say that having 20 contestants allows them to keep the castaways on their toes. They can no longer assume that every 3 days, 1 person is going home. One day, they can get to a challenge or meeting and find out suddenly that 1 member of every tribe is going home. In my opinion, that should definitely make things more interesting!

I have a few tidbits about this season, so if you really don't want to know more spoilers, don't read! There were 3 love connections of varying degrees during the 39 days on the island, 1 of which is the strangest we'll have ever seen on Survivor & possibly any reality show period. This season will also have the most heroes & the most underdogs in a long time, plus the most fish ever caught, an octopus is caught and there are a record number of blindsides during Tribal Council. It's definitely an indication of the level of game play this season.

I plan on watching this show every week, and am going to actually make a chart of my predictions and opinions every week to see how it changes as the show goes on. Jeff Probst said that something so big happens mid-season that will turn everyone's opinions around, so I'm looking forward to seeing what that big something is! Survivor premieres this Thursday, September 14th, at 8/7c!

[nickel]

My Name is Earl and The Office are on at the same time. Not sure if I'm getting into Survivor this time.

[kgsilvas]

Hmmmm. Haven't watched it since that "fat naked guy" started strutting around naked in the first Survivor. Don't plan on starting now with their ratings stunt.

Thanks for the blog info Jenny.

[PlayBoyWorld]

The funny thing is that there has never been so much buzz about a new Survivor season since the first one, if even then. I'd be surprised if it loves up to all the hype. I'm a big Survivor fan, so I'm just hoping for an entertaining season.

[AlwayzMarel]

I'm kind offended by the poll, is it suppose to be funny?
What do you all think?

http://www.tmz.com/2006/09/14/survivor-race-war-you-pick-the-winners/

[PlayBoyWorld]

I'm kind offended by the poll, is it suppose to be funny?
What do you all think?

http://www.tmz.com/2006/09/14/survivor-race-war-you-pick-the-winners/

WOW, that's pretty bad. What's chaw?

[Freelance Superhero]

WOW, that's pretty bad. What's chaw?
chaw is chewing tobacco.

[nickel]

I'm kind offended by the poll, is it suppose to be funny?
What do you all think?

http://www.tmz.com/2006/09/14/survivor-race-war-you-pick-the-winners/
you're offended? comedians like Chappelle (he's not the only one by a long shot) make their living perpetuating such stereotypes.

[zippyjuan]

I caught the first episode. The black group had troubles working together and lost the first challenge. They then proceded to vote out the guy who tried to be their leader and got their fire started. There is a very interestig guy from Vietnam on the Asian team. Forget what they called him- Fisherman? One guy on the team said he had a bad headache and he rubs and pulls on the guy's forehead, leaving a big red mark saying that is where he pulled the headache out. The guy said his headache was gone. Cao Boi (pronounced Cowboy). http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor13/survivors/bio_cao_boi.shtml Interesting background. Refugee from the Vietnam war. US Army Airborne, fisherman, farm hand, plays classical guitar (lists Metalica and Mozart among his favorite music) and now runs a nail salon! Should have good survival skills.

[PlayBoyWorld]

I caught the first episode too. Did they ever really establish that Seko (sp?) made fire?? I don't think he did. Didn't you see the look of relief on the tribe members' faces when they got flint after kicking him off?

And Cao Boi running a nail salon...somewhere, Dat Phan is laughing his ass off.

[Freelance Superhero]

I caught the first episode. The black group had troubles working together and lost the first challenge. They then proceded to vote out the guy who tried to be their leader and got their fire started. There is a very interestig guy from Vietnam on the Asian team. Forget what they called him- Fisherman? One guy on the team said he had a bad headache and he rubs and pulls on the guy's forehead, leaving a big red mark saying that is where he pulled the headache out. The guy said his headache was gone. Cao Boi (pronounced Cowboy). http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor13/survivors/bio_cao_boi.shtml Interesting background. Refugee from the Vietnam war. US Army Airborne, fisherman, farm hand, plays classical guitar (lists Metalica and Mozart among his favorite music) and now runs a nail salon! Should have good survival skills.ooh yeah... i remember watching a news segment on this show when i caught a quick glimpse of him in one of the stock footage clips. he looked pretty crazy. but damn, he is lookin OLD for 42...

[nickel]

ooh yeah... i remember watching a news segment on this show when i caught a quick glimpse of him in one of the stock footage clips. he looked pretty crazy. but damn, he is lookin OLD for 42...
maybe he should use some of his voodoo on working out his wrinkles. :P

[DarkFury]

I caught the first episode. The black group had troubles working together and lost the first challenge. They then proceded to vote out the guy who tried to be their leader and got their fire started. There is a very interestig guy from Vietnam on the Asian team. Forget what they called him- Fisherman? One guy on the team said he had a bad headache and he rubs and pulls on the guy's forehead, leaving a big red mark saying that is where he pulled the headache out. The guy said his headache was gone. Cao Boi (pronounced Cowboy). http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor13/survivors/bio_cao_boi.shtml Interesting background. Refugee from the Vietnam war. US Army Airborne, fisherman, farm hand, plays classical guitar (lists Metalica and Mozart among his favorite music) and now runs a nail salon! Should have good survival skills.

Yeah, that group really didn't "gel" too well... but then again, even though the teams were equally separated by race, I guess by having 5 members instead of 6, there is still a gender bias there.

Of course both the Black and the White teams had 3 female and 2 males with the Latino and Asian teams having 3 males and 2 females... which possibly could have an effect on the "physicality" of the teams lacking testosterone (notice that they both came in "last" in the immunity challenge.. not that their "puzzle solving" skills were all that great either). Honestly, I think that Survivor should have made it 4 teams of 6 (3m/3f) just to make it a bit more "fair" and strategic.

Also on a side note, Sekou (and that one larger guy from the Latino team) don't seem to be as "physically fit" for these challenges as the opposing male members on the other 2 groups... Too bad that the "matchups" aren't just a little more even across the groups.

Oh well... we'll keep watching, but honestly, I think that Black group has kinda shot themselves in the foot sorta.... and they sure are gonna be hurtin' if the next immunity challenge is pure physical.

[PlayBoyWorld]

Oh well... we'll keep watching, but honestly, I think that Black group has kinda shot themselves in the foot sorta.... and they sure are gonna be hurtin' if the next immunity challenge is pure physical.

And from the previews for the next episode, it looks as if the Latinos are going to try to "throw" the next challenge so they can boot that one guy off. Now when has that EVER worked in a team's favor?? Especially when their numbers are already so low??

[AlwayzMarel]

you're offended? comedians like Chappelle (he's not the only one by a long shot) make their living perpetuating such stereotypes.

Yes I am offended, I never said I was a fan of Chappelle. It might be your taste but not mine.

[Maarchk]

That guy was working hard. And he is a refugee out of vietnam... Soudns like hes had a bit of a rough going, so i'd say he was doing pretty well for any age.
I have a feeling hes gonna be part of the "odd" love we heard about on the news.

It was a decent episode. I agree with DF that it was strange that they went 2 girls 3 boys for some and 3 girls two boys for others. They could have either set all tribes up with the same gender balace or gone to 6 and done an even split.

The other interesting fact was how the asian group said we are all different cause we are korean, phillipino, and vietanese. And i thought that was interesting. They didn't grab a brit, and frenchie, and italian, and a scandanavian. Or a mexican, a coasta rican, a cuban, and an argentinian. wow, that wasn't spelled well. So i thought that was interesting and i think it may create divides in that group.

I still am at a loss for why people are troubled by this division over previous years. Wasn't one of the years a division of age and gender? Or are we only offended by racial or as the game would say "ethnic" differences... and then again, as Nickel pointed out, there are people who make there living off of perpetuating and exploiting sterotypes... and since no one seems to be bothered enough to complain about chapelle and he is one of the top sellers on dvd's, clearly as a society, racism doesn't bother us that much.

I like to think as a society we are moving forward, but all of this just shows me we haven't really gone anywhere.

P>S> On a much lighter note, what is up with these people's job descriptions... i'm a boxer? I'm a roller girl? wha? it was very colorful.. and oh my gosh i wanted to smack roller girl.. "i'm an alternative style person". who apparently doesn't know that LETTING CHICKENS OUT OF THEIR BOX IS NOT SMART!!! That just killed me. If they had lost the challenge, i can gurantee she would have been tossed.

[PlayBoyWorld]

The other interesting fact was how the asian group said we are all different cause we are korean, phillipino, and vietanese. And i thought that was interesting. They didn't grab a brit, and frenchie, and italian, and a scandanavian. Or a mexican, a coasta rican, a cuban, and an argentinian. wow, that wasn't spelled well. So i thought that was interesting and i think it may create divides in that group.


I don't know about the makeup of the other tribes, but the Latino tribe is as diverse as the Asian tribe, at least it seems so. The heavy metal dude admitted to being from the Dominican Republic, there's one girl there who I'm sure is Central American, the tree climber looks Mexican. There's diversity there too.

[MrGreg]

I thought this was one of the best opening episodes of Survivor, at least in terms of unintentional comedy.

[PlayBoyWorld]

I thought this was one of the best opening episodes of Survivor, at least in terms of unintentional comedy.

My husband and I thought so too, although all of the reviews I've read from reality websites say it was no different from other season openers. I was pleasantly entertained.

[DarkFury]

I don't know about the makeup of the other tribes, but the Latino tribe is as diverse as the Asian tribe, at least it seems so. The heavy metal dude admitted to being from the Dominican Republic, there's one girl there who I'm sure is Central American, the tree climber looks Mexican. There's diversity there too.
Yes that is true, however that just goes to show that other than "American Whites and Blacks" other racial groups in this country generally have kept much their origin heritage/culture intact and haven't totally melded into the "melting pot" theory that America appears to stand for...

Yes, you can put a 3rd or 4th generation White person of (from the time their GreatGrand/Grandparents came to America) Irish decent, French decent, German decent, British , Italian, or any other "Eastern European" and they seem to gel moreso into a single amalgamous group. Although, I have noticed that folks of Russian/Scandinavian decent do seem a wee bit on the outside of that gelling... (most of them are probably not 3rd and 4th generation yet here in this country). They are probably the one Caucasian people who still seem to maintain their regional heritage distinctly.

As far as Blacks in this country... well honestly, most of us have been totally stripped of our "original African" heritage. We can identify with true Africans in skin color alone, however if you really put us up next to a person from the Congo, or Zimbabwe, or the Gold Coast, or Kenya, etc... you'd see that the variations amongst those regional peoples just doesn't carry over to most of us 3rd and 4th generation African Americans.

Pretty much, most of us here are "Americanized Blacks" who were brought up under the teachings that America's forefathers presented to us (HIS story :D ). Therefore you don't see much of the "traditional African differences" in origin like you have on the other 2 minority teams who's parents may or may not have been born in this country. If they wanted to show a "intraracial cultural difference" on the Black team, all they would have had to do was to put a few African immigrants on the team... and then watch the group dynamic change amongst the Blacks.

I do agree with Maarchk in that even as we move forward, there is still a great divide amongst the races and we really haven't (or never will) made much progress into uniting as one amalgamous people. But then again, that is the "uniqueness" of America as well... and probably what makes us stand out amongst other nations.

[zippyjuan]

I think that has to do with how many generations have been in the United States. The Asians and Latinos are often only a couple of generations so they still feel some of the ties from their parents or grandparents have for where they came from . Most blacks (or African Americans or whatever term you want to use- I get confused) have been here for many generations and have little to no direct contact to the origin of their family. Same is true for most whites.

I think that as a team, the Asians performed the best on the first show.

[DarkFury]

Most blacks (or African Americans or whatever term you want to use- I get confused) have been here for many generations and have little to no direct contact to the origin of their family. Same is true for most whites.


Both terms are acceptable... don't be too confused. :D

[PlayBoyWorld]

I think that as a team, the Asians performed the best on the first show.

I think the main reason why they did so well is because their team is perhaps the most physically fit. They have two guys who are pretty muscular, and even Cao Boi is in good shape. So are the women. The Hispanics have two strong guys, but the overweight guy will hold them back. The African Americans are now down a member--and a guy at that--so that's gonna hurt them. And the white team is definitely in good shape, don't know why they didn't do better at the challenge.

[Freelance Superhero]

after reading through some of these comments, i have to confess i'm more intrigued than i was before, and now i kinda want to catch an episode...

[PlayBoyWorld]

after reading through some of these comments, i have to confess i'm more intrigued than i was before, and now i kinda want to catch an episode...

What I liked about this season (well, yesterday's episode anyway) is that the dynamic within the tribes is completely different. The members are making jokes among themselves that you'd NEVER hear made if it was a "mixed" tribe. There's a certain comfort level that I never quite saw before. I'm definitely tuning in to see how it all plays out.

I don't, however, believe Jeff Probst's claim that several of the new cast has never watched Survivor before. It's also disheartening to know that several of them are aspiring actors from California.

[Maarchk]

What I liked about this season (well, yesterday's episode anyway) is that the dynamic within the tribes is completely different. The members are making jokes among themselves that you'd NEVER hear made if it was a "mixed" tribe. There's a certain comfort level that I never quite saw before. I'm definitely tuning in to see how it all plays out.

I don't, however, believe Jeff Probst's claim that several of the new cast has never watched Survivor before. It's also disheartening to know that several of them are aspiring actors from California.

Why else would you go on? Its people who couldn't act their way to fame, trying to bs their way to glory...

Its like the apprentice. my friend interviewed and it was just a round table of disccussions looking for the most argumentative and angry people out there. My friend got tired of it about 20 minutes in and just left cause he knew he wouldn't get picked.

[PlayBoyWorld]

Why else would you go on? Its people who couldn't act their way to fame, trying to bs their way to glory...

Its like the apprentice. my friend interviewed and it was just a round table of disccussions looking for the most argumentative and angry people out there. My friend got tired of it about 20 minutes in and just left cause he knew he wouldn't get picked.

That has got to be the most annoying aspect of reality TV, as far as I'm concerned. Instead of seeking out contestants who actually merit being on the show, they look for the wackos, the drama queens, the loud, obnoxious ones. But then again, it's those people who keep most of us tuned in. It's like not being able to put a bad book down once you've started reading it. You keep reading even as you say to yourself, "This is crap!"

[Tweety7]

My favorite character ever on Survivor was Rupert. He grabbed my heart on the first episode when he stole the other teams shoes to use them for bartering.
I don't think it really matters who they get or how they break into tribes as long as it is entertaining. I also believe that they will mix up the tribes after only a few episodes like they did last time.
I really like Survivor, Big Brother and the Amazing Race. The first two for their entertainment value, and Amazing Race because I will probably never be able to travel the world and this way I get to see places I might not otherwise get to see. I realize it is only glimpses but it has been very interesting to me. Survivor and Big Brother are entertaining just watching how all of the people interact with each other.