Posted on 08/23/2006 5:06:13 PM PDT by Momaw Nadon
Some may call it exploiting racial tensions. CBS calls it darn good television.
Jeff Probst popped in on The Early Show Wednesday morning, confirming the reports that the 20 castaways for Survivor: Cook Islands will be grouped by race, with competitors divided into four tribes consisting of whites, blacks, Asians and Hispanics.
Apparently, "separate but equal" holds only the warmest of connotations for Mark Burnett.
Like a good host, Probst had nothing but praise for the producers' controversial brainchild, calling the exercise in segregation a valuable social experiment, rather than a stunt to dig up some controversy--and raise ratings.
"The idea for this actually came from the criticism that Survivor was not ethnically diverse enough, because for whatever reason, we always have a low number of minority applicants apply for the show," Probst said.
"So we set out and said, 'Let's turn this criticism into creative for the show.' And I think it fits perfectly with what Survivor does, which is, it is a social experiment. And this is adding another layer to that experiment, which is taking the show to a completely different level."
Different level, yes. Good level, still to be determined.
"If I had been a producer of this show, it is not an idea I would have come up with or given approval to," Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, told E! Online. "It's like a return back to segregated leagues in sports. The unseemly interest this will invite certainly is not worth the dramatic elements it's going to bring."
"To the less-than-open minded person, it is very easy to trash us," Burnett explained to Entertainment Weekly. "But we're smart enough to not make it negative. We're smart enough to have gotten rid of every racist person in casting."
Though more to the point, the producers haven't and can't weed out every racially sensitive person in their audience who may take offense to the seemingly archaic, and potentially socially irresponsible, division.
While the 43-year-old host admitted that the players themselves had "mixed reactions" to the racial separation, he made clear that the division was not meant to incite any controversy, add to the tension during the competition or simply be viewed as a gimmick.
"Our original idea was simply to have the most ethnically diverse group of people on TV. It wasn't until we got to casting and started noticing this theme of ethnic pride that we started thinking, '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,' " he said.
Though not everyone is as excited about the idea as Probst and his Survivor crew.
"It sounds like a gimmick a lot of people are going to have real issues as to the taste of," Thompson said.
Referencing Burnett's previous experiments on Survivor and The Apprentice to divide teams by boys vs. girls and, more recently on the latter, by street smarts vs. book smarts, Thompson said that "these things don't often work so well in less dicey situations."
And any publicity is good publicity, right?
"As far as getting some attention, getting it talked about again, this'll do it," Thompson said. "Survivor is a great game. It's the gold standard of reality TV. But nobody seems to talk about it anymore."
Or watch it.
Survivor: Cook Islands will be the reality show's 13th installment and comes on the heels of the least watched season in the series' history. Despite garnering an Emmy nod for Best Reality Competition, Survivor: Panama--Exile Island, which split the tribes based on gender and age, averaged a franchise-low 16.8 million viewers. Hence the latest drastic measure.
CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler told EW that while she was hesitant to give the go-ahead on the "risky idea," she finally relented, saying it was the logical next step in "a show that explores social politics."
"It's not just 18 white people," Probst told the magazine. "Suddenly you have new slang, new rituals--people doing things like making fire in ways that haven't been done on Survivor. I think we have a season where people will say you can never go back to what you were before."
It's not the first time a primetime reality show has flirted with race, though it will be the first time one follows through.
Last year, Donald Trump hinted that The Apprentice was toying with the idea of dividing his two teams by race, only to backtrack on the notion when backlash started up, saying "I personally don't like it, so it will never happen."
Survivor: Cook Islands kicks off Sept. 14. Here's a list of the competitors:
* Rebecca Borman, 24, makeup artist, Laurelton, New York
* Anh-Tuan "Cao Boi" Bui, 42, nail salon manager, Christiansburg, Virginia
* Sekou Bunch, 45, jazz musician, Los Angeles
* J.P. Calderon, 30, pro volleyball player, Marina Del Rey, California
* Cristina Coria, 35, police officer, Los Angeles
* Stephannie Favor, 35, nursing student, Columbia, South Carolina
* Billy Garcia, 36, heavy metal guitarist, New York City
* Adam Gentry, 28, copier sales, San Diego
* Nathan Gonzalez, 26, retail sales, Los Angeles
* Jenny Guzon-Bae, 36, real estate agent, Lake Forest, Illinois
* Yul Kwon, 31, management consultant, San Mateo, California
* Becky Lee, 28, attorney, Washington, D.C.
* Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth, 25, waiter, Venice, California
* Cecilia Mansilla, 29, technology risk consultant, Oakland
* Sundra Oakley, 31, actress, Los Angeles
* Jonathan Penner, 44, writer/producer, Los Angeles
* Parvati Shallow, 23, boxer/waitress, Los Angeles
* Jessica Smith, 27, performance artist/rollergirl, Chico, California
* Brad Virata, 29, fashion director, Los Angeles
* Candice Woodcock, 23, premed student, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Just a consequence of the new multicuktural mix - it cut the "old white guys" numbers down to one.
Remember this is less about race, and more about carefully, handpicked by experts, people, that are expected by casting to deliver certain personalities to the show.
If you say so. but who knows what personalities will actually work on the island?
I thought I counted only four on one of the teams instead of five. Is that usual? I don't watch the show. But, if the groups stick together I'd hope the team with the most guys would win. Better scenery ;-)
"If you say so. but who knows what personalities will actually work on the island?"
As far as winning the contest no one knows, but many people will be tuning in like I did the first season thinking that these are substantive, outdoorsy types, like Rudy, or the fireman that won in recent years.
Many people will be looking for a little of a racial competition, but in reality these people will not represent the better class (the warrior class) of their races.
My prediction is it will be difficult to learn much of anything from this carefully influenced competition.
yitbos
If ANY of the contestants had a problem with this new twist, they could have gotten out of this version of Survivor. No one was holding a gun to their heads to stay. Looks like the lure of possibly winning a cool mil trumps all other concerns on installment 13. And while I'm at it, why did they wait till the 13th incarnation to do this? 13 is supposed to be an unlucky number. There are many instances to back that up, chief among them is Apollo 13's saga. seeBS could really be in trouble with this one. It'll be interesting to see how this one will play out.
My first thought was, there's no way the whites will be allowed to win. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
My bet is Moonves' wife suggested this atrocity. Watch and see who wins. Just to prove a point.
Team captains: David Duke, Louis Farrakhan, and whoever the grande queso at La Raza/MeCHA is.
Oh, almost forgot: Lots. Of. Guns. And. Ammunition.
With any luck, they'll kill each other off in the first episode...
Not in the graffiti challenge...
Now THAT, I would watch...
I was talkin' 'bout de Microwave Run, Plasma TV run, the ever-popular watermelon toss, etc. /sarc
I don't know of any militant Asian racialist organizations. Asian-American culture doesn't seem to support professional victimhood as any sort of virtue.
Sorry Doc. I disagree. This should be fascinating. It's also good to see a major network break out of all this PC garbage.
The fact is that different races exist. Each race has some unique characteristics other than skin color which makes them different from other races. And quite frankly I doubt if most people will root for their own race anyway. They will likely root for the team that has the same values as they do and and the team with whom they can identify with on a higher level.
I tend to avoid watching these survivor shows. I might tune into this one.
I cannot believe you watch that nonsense!
LOL!
You want to watch a real survivor show, watch the DVD on Navy Seal training.
Since when did surviving include 'voting' on something? (they do vote on those shows do they not?)
In a real survival situation, a social order would have to set up where the strong (men) would have to protect the weak (women).
Without that, the women are just prey, they will not be 'competing' with the men.
Would you watch a specifically-chosen-by-race black NFL team matched up against a specifically-chosen-by-race white NFL team?
Or would you think that's setting racial relations back about 200 years?
Would you watch a "Survivor" that pits Jews against Christians?
These aren't flippant questions. I'd like a real answer because I think this angle in entertainment programming is revolting.
And if you're a betting man (and I heard you were) then put your money on the Asian team. Leslie Moonves intends for them to win to further an agenda. Watch and see.
Probably not. But I'd bet on the black team.
Would you watch a "Survivor" that pits Jews against Christians?
That would be cool. I would hope they have moslem and hindu and buddhist teams as well. I suspect that when it came down to the end, it would be the jews against the Christians. Wheras I might not root for a white team against a black team, I suspect I would probably root for the Christians.
These aren't flippant questions. I'd like a real answer because I think this angle in entertainment programming is revolting.
I think it is real. We live in a world where race seems to matter too much and yet we all pretend as if it isn't relevant. It is the elephant in the living room. The fact of the matter is that the various races came into existence because people gathered in tribes and tended to be suspicious of people who did not look like them. Let us address the elephant in the living room, shall we? People tend to feel more comfortable around people who look like they do, be it the way they dress or the way they look or the way they talk or the color of their skin. That is reality. Survivor is a reality show. Separating the teams by race is a reflection of our society. It may not be a good reflection, but it is a reflection nevertheless.
I do not find the idea offensive. Liberals are having a knee jerk knibshen fit over this. Based on that fact alone, I think it is a good idea.
But the answer is not to play into the error and further the problem. Do you expect a black man to laugh at racist jokes?
It's lunacy. But sadly typical of Hollywood today.
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