When I hear all the criticism swirling around this season’s Survivor series, all I can do is laugh.
All over the Internet folks are steamed of the fact that this year’s Survivor series will be divided along racial lines. This means that these groups will be competing against each other.
Gasp! Clutch the pearls (as Cobb would say)!
“Doesn’t this network realize that what they are doing is promoting racism?” “This show works against all the gains made during the civil rights era.” “Why, this show should be canceled!”
(If you have noticed, the NAACP has strangely taken a “wait and see” approach on the show. As this article points out, maybe that is because the group’s president, Bruce Gordon is “…a longtime member of the network’s board.” [insert chuckle here])
Okay, to the point. I think the thing that really strikes me with this whole issue is the blatant hypocrisy of those that are voicing against it. Tell me what person does not pull for “their guy” based on race from time to time. I can’t tell you the amount of times I have seen this while looking at something competitive such as boxing. A person may not know a thing about the sport, but they do know who they want to win–the person that reflects their own race. The same goes for any other competitive event. How about beauty pageants? Please tell me with a straight face that race is not a factor amongst the viewing audience. Although I live in California, if I was watching a beauty contest with mostly white contestants and the only Black contestant was from Maine–I am pulling for her–not my state (and I know that I am not alone). The problem here is that people don’t want to admit that in many cases they themselves have used race in their personal biases because they think that they are maintaining a level of superiority over this issue of race.
Bias is not racism. Check the definitions of both.
What CBS has done with this series is to take the way folks really think about competitions when it involves folks of different races and placed it on the screen. Naturally folks would react negatively to this because it unearths some of our deepest feelings (enter the success of reality television).
Probably the funniest thing here is that even if the teams were not separated by race, many folks would STILL use race as a factor. Another funny point is that if the team of the race that is doing the most complaining “wins”, we will see headlines like “First All- African-American team on Survivor wins BIG!!” all over OUR media.
What is not funny is that I have just given this show free advertisment by mentioning it.
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September 14th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
So are you for or against the concept? I am for the concept. Like you said. how many times have you been watching and hoping. “Oh I hope that black girl wins” It is what we think and hate him or note mark Burnett knows it.
September 14th, 2006 at 5:14 pm
So are you for or against the concept?
I definitely not agaist it and do not see any problem with it. So I guess that means I’m for it?. Then again, I never watch the show.
…Mark Burnett knows it
and is getting p-a-i-d especially with all this free publicity on the show.
September 15th, 2006 at 9:07 am
Yes he is making plenty of money. I actually watched the show on a semi regular basis. Black folks lost last night. Asians won.
September 15th, 2006 at 9:35 am
my only fear is that the there may be bias in the choosing of the black competitors. Call me paranoid. I think that there are certain STEREOTYPES (the fat black chick with attitude, the angry black guy) that may make for good drama, but might not have the physical fortitude to compete with the young fit white competitors normally on the show. There was even an astronaut and a jet fighter for gods sake.
I am looking forward to watching though,I sheepishly admit.
September 16th, 2006 at 11:14 pm
Cheering for a favorite player and setting up groups based on ethnicity are two different things. In the instance of Survivor, it seems as though the teams weren’t chosen evenly, but hey it’s only a game. Am I against this? Yeah, but I’m against it because it’s a sensless stunt. Many people will look at the 5 characitures they choose per team as “representatives” of the “race”. And in a notoriously nasty show like Survivor, nothing particularly positive can come from this stunt. But to me, it’s only a show. And can anyone tell me why was it so difficult to find 5 black players who were in good shape?