Social Experiment or Cheap Gimmick?
I decided to watch the season premiere of Survivor last night for the second season in a row. Last season I tuned in to watch a classmate from grad school. Unfortunately he didn’t last very long and I stopped watching as soon as he left. This season I decided to watch after learning that the show’s producers had decided to group the contestants by their ethnicity.
When I first heard about the idea I was somewhat alarmed. There’s enough segregation, voluntary and involuntary, in our society. I didn’t think devoting a show to it would be beneficial. But I was intrigued and figured I should at least check it out.
There are 20 contestants divided into 4 groups: African American, Asian, Caucasian, and Latino. They will be “stranded” for 39 days on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. One by one they will be voted off each week until there is a winner who will be rewarded with a million dollars.
Yesterday’s show was more entertaining than I expected. The contestants were apparently not aware that they would be separated by ethnicity until the game started. While they seemed to be surprised by it, none of them really seemed to have a problem with the notion and they all seemed to embrace it as a social experiment.
But if it’s really supposed to be an experiment, what exactly are they trying to find out? Which ethnic group is superior? Whether people get along better with members of their own ethnicity? Or are the show’s producers really only concerned with how they can get the highest television ratings possible.
After watching last night’s show, I would probably go with the latter. The show seemed to be focused on trying to make distinctions between the groups. It also couldn’t resist throwing in some stereotypes here and there. One of the African Americans was portrayed as being lazy while one of the Asians was using mystical healing techniques.
That’s not to say I’m condemning the show. I just think that CBS and the show’s producers should be honest about what they’re doing. As I mentioned before, I did find the show entertaining. I enjoyed meeting “Cao Boi,” a colorful Vietnamese nail salon manager. I couldn’t help rooting for the Latino clan in the immunity challenge. I also got a kick out of seeing the African American group send Jonathan, a member of the Caucasian band, to exile island for stealing a chicken from the Asian group.
So while I’m not proud to admit it, I have to say that CBS’ gimmick worked. I plan to tune at least for another week to see what happens. But let’s be honest, this is pure sensationalism. There is no greater humanitarian goal here. It’s not about bringing greater understanding between ethnic groups in the United States. In truth, it’s all about the ratings. But hey, it’s a network television show, what more can you expect.
When I first heard about the idea I was somewhat alarmed. There’s enough segregation, voluntary and involuntary, in our society. I didn’t think devoting a show to it would be beneficial. But I was intrigued and figured I should at least check it out.
There are 20 contestants divided into 4 groups: African American, Asian, Caucasian, and Latino. They will be “stranded” for 39 days on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. One by one they will be voted off each week until there is a winner who will be rewarded with a million dollars.
Yesterday’s show was more entertaining than I expected. The contestants were apparently not aware that they would be separated by ethnicity until the game started. While they seemed to be surprised by it, none of them really seemed to have a problem with the notion and they all seemed to embrace it as a social experiment.
But if it’s really supposed to be an experiment, what exactly are they trying to find out? Which ethnic group is superior? Whether people get along better with members of their own ethnicity? Or are the show’s producers really only concerned with how they can get the highest television ratings possible.
After watching last night’s show, I would probably go with the latter. The show seemed to be focused on trying to make distinctions between the groups. It also couldn’t resist throwing in some stereotypes here and there. One of the African Americans was portrayed as being lazy while one of the Asians was using mystical healing techniques.
That’s not to say I’m condemning the show. I just think that CBS and the show’s producers should be honest about what they’re doing. As I mentioned before, I did find the show entertaining. I enjoyed meeting “Cao Boi,” a colorful Vietnamese nail salon manager. I couldn’t help rooting for the Latino clan in the immunity challenge. I also got a kick out of seeing the African American group send Jonathan, a member of the Caucasian band, to exile island for stealing a chicken from the Asian group.
So while I’m not proud to admit it, I have to say that CBS’ gimmick worked. I plan to tune at least for another week to see what happens. But let’s be honest, this is pure sensationalism. There is no greater humanitarian goal here. It’s not about bringing greater understanding between ethnic groups in the United States. In truth, it’s all about the ratings. But hey, it’s a network television show, what more can you expect.
posted by The Pocho at 12:42 PM
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