'Survivor' or Amazing Race Game? [Excellent Pinkerton Read on Segregated Reality Show]

Newsday.com ^ | Jim Pinkerton

[governsleastgovernsbest]

James P. Pinkerton

August 31, 2006

If Uncle Sam has been dividing us up by race for decades now, why should we surprised that the reality TV show "Survivor" is doing the same thing? And could there be a double standard - that is, it's good when the government apportions by race, but bad when the private sector does so?

Reality TV, like all popular culture, reflects the larger society. So, if we want a color-blind society, the government should stop being so litigiously color-conscious.

Once upon a time, the goal was to climb out of the muck of racial hatred, to a new and higher place, where old hostilities would be put aside. The Declaration of Independence, asserting that "all men are created equal," left out blacks and women, but it was a good beginning toward a great new idea: equality of opportunity.

[USNA74]

bump

[Dilbert San Diego]

They edit the tapes they film of these reality shows. So they will show the minorities in a good light, and I'm sure they will see that race wasn't a factor in this version of Survivor. So maybe they just want to hype the ratings. Ratings have really fallen for Survivor. How many times can you watch people eating bugs and slugs?

[TexasCajun]

I read something where the show's creator says this show is just the opposite of racist.

Saying since each tribe has to vote off their own, race will not be a deciding factor.

Suggesting to me the creator things race may have been a factor in past shows?

[Chena]

Excellent article. BTTT!

[KarlInOhio]

I want a native Polynesian team on Survivor.

Your first stunt is to make and sail a catamaran ... the winner is the Polynesian tribe.

Your next stunt is to catch fish ... the winner is the Polynesian tribe.

Your next stunt is to eat odd native foods ... the winner is the Polynesian tribe.

Your final stunt is to carve, move and stand upright a moai statue ... and the winner is once again the Polynesian tribe.

:-)

[Jedidah]

This whole thing is just so silly. Survivor has always divided into tribes, and it's always had a diverse cast of strong personalities. Last season it was older men, younger men, older women, younger women, and nobody cried about sex or age discrimination. Then, second episode, they mixed the tribes up. Big deal.

Since the tribes get to kick off one of their own at each losing council, we're most likely to first see same-race squabbles.

All the yapping is coming from people who don't watch the stupid show. It's good, brainless entertainment, a relief from the reality of our scary world.

Give Burnett props for choosing a cast this season that's 3/4 minority.

[My2Cents]

The two finalists on "Who Wants to be a Superhero?"

[Xenalyte]

Xena's Guy and I just discovered this show, and this week I found out that all the episodes are online at SciFi.com.

I told him we need to watch some more this weekend, and his answer was, "I got my hands full dealing with my own reality much less watching someone trying to be a superhero. Not one of them has heat vision. NOT ONE!!"

[KarlInOhio]

The two finalists on "Who Wants to be a Superhero?"

Set TV Corniness rating to 11.

And I quit watching or caring about the show when Lemuria was eliminated.

[Jedidah]

"How many times can you watch people eating bugs and slugs?"

Frankly, I prefer bugs and slugs to beheadings and Muslim threats and pedophilia and politicians hollering at each other!

Can't we just sit back and watch something dumb and unthreatening once in a while without a bunch of ninnyhammers trying to make it controversial?

[cpanter]

I like this part the best:


But government officials have protested - protesting, ironically, what they themselves do. A press release from the New York City Council said that members of the council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus held a press conference denouncing the segregated "Survivor." But we must ask: If politicians naturally organize themselves in racial terms - as demonstrated in this caucus-heavy press release - why shouldn't entertainers?

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

"Yes, by all means, let's denounce the new "Survivor" as antithetical to our basic American principles. But, if we do that, we have to denounce what the government has been doing, too. And we have to repeal all those pro-quota rules and red tape."

Survivor is the ONLY reality show that we watch. I like it becasue of the person to person interplay. Over past Survivor shows, you can see how people from different parts of the country from different levels of society and different races interact. At times, there are conflicts that may go back to a person's perception of another's slight, but there has been little racial animus among the participants.

Most of the conflicts are between the slackers and hard workers. I have noticed that frequently the people over 40 are harder workers than some of the twenty somethings.
Could there be a cultural difference there (race was not an issue there).

Occasionally, some of the Women seem to think the Men aren't giving them their respect.

All, in all, I hate it when the biggest liars win. Occasionally, that is what happens. More frequently, the winner is someone that stays under the radar, is in good physical condition, tries to maintain some level of integrity and doesn't tick off many people.

[My2Cents]

Her superhero name should have been "Babeolonia."

[BadAndy]

"Occasionally, some of the Women seem to think the Men aren't giving them their respect."

Have you noticed that in most instances the women openly discuss banding together to eliminate the men. The men (universally assumed to be evil, discriminating, anti-women) almost never do that.

[Tzimisce]

So are they going to give the black/latino team extra food/water and shelter a la Affirmative Action?

[Jedidah]

"I bought into the hype and watched the very first episode of the very first survivor - I've never been back. . ."

Sorry, because you missed some good entertainment.