Which race will win?
 

Does anybody even watch 'Survivor' anymore?

From http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,210380,00.html
NYC Officials Want New 'Survivor' Pulled

Thursday , August 24, 2006



NEW YORK — As CBS prepares to launch a new season of the hit reality show "Survivor," this time featuring teams divided by race, enraged city officials are saying it promotes divisiveness and are calling for the network to reconsider.

"The idea of having a battle of the races is preposterous," City Councilman John Liu said Thursday. "How could anybody be so desperate for ratings?"

For the first portion of the 13th season of "Survivor," which premieres Sept. 14, the contestants competing for the $1 million prize while stranded on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific will be divided into four teams — blacks, Asians, Latinos and whites.

Liu, who is Asian-American, said he was launching a campaign urging CBS to pull the show because it could encourage racial division and promote negative typecasts. He and a coalition of officials, including the council's black, Latino and Asian caucus, planned to rally at City Hall on Friday.

In a statement, CBS Entertainment, which is part of New York-based CBS Corp., defended the ethnic twist, saying it follows the show's tradition of introducing new creative elements and casting structures that reflect cultural and social issues.

"CBS fully recognizes the controversial nature of this format but has full confidence in the producers and their ability to produce the program in a responsible manner," the statement said. "'Survivor' is a program that is no stranger to controversy and has always answered its critics on the screen."

Last season, the show divided contestants into groups of older men, younger men, older women and younger women.

The show's host, Jeff Probst, said the network was aware this season's race ploy might offend viewers.

"It's very risky because you're bringing up a topic that is a hot button," he told asap, The Associated Press service for younger readers. "There's a history of segregation you can't ignore. It is part of our history.

"For that, it's much safer to say, 'No, let's just stick with things the way they are. Let's don't be the network to rock the boat. Let's not have "Survivor" try something new,'" he said. "But the biases from home can't affect you. This is an equal opportunity game."

I have to admit that Survivor is a guilty pleasure for me. I like the way it shows how people deceive themselves. It's also nice to see city slickers gradually toughen up (the ones that do) and learn some physical skills.

I've got mixed feelings about this new twist. They do have a point though, people self segregate along racial lines much of the time.

This could sound racist, but I swear that black people are generally not good swimmers. I think every time I've seen a reality show that required swimming, blacks just did not do well. I've read that it could be a tissue thing -- lower fat to muscle ratio. Culturally too, blacks are less exposed to swimming, I'll wager.

So I'm thinking that any events that require swimming might need to be balanced out with some non-swimming components.

The Whites or the Asians will win since they're probably the smartest two races out there.

Watch CBS get sued over this. Attorneys have got to be loving this. That would be the real race.....who wins the most.

I don't think this is anything more than a cheap publicity stunt to generate interest in Survivor. I still watch it, but it has become less compelling over the years. This new twist gets people talking about the show, and will probably increase viewship, at least for the first few episodes.

Kamil
 

Good comment:
"Whites or Asians since they are the smartest"

Alright there Adolph... So you are saying black people are generally less intelligent than Whites or Asians? Rutgers is a pretty diverse school, and thats an awful stereotype..or maybe the only African Americans you've had experience with are members of G Unit?

I'd love to hear what the African American members on this board would say about that one..

If we want to talk about stereotypes than the Asians will get smoked when it comes to anything except karate and tai chi, since they can't run fast, all are very short. But since they are all geniuses, when it comes to calculus they will destroy everyone, since they are all geniuses.

Boost that GPA a little more, maybe it will get you some class.

gooo whitey

The next "Reality" show
 

The next "Reality" show can be called "Shark Fest." In it a bunch of lawyers can be the contestants. Each will be provided with a plantiff. The plantiffs will have the flimsiest possible grounds for a lawsuit. The see which lawyer can overcome the hurdles of little or no grounds, above-average intelligence juries, limited budget, and a reasonable judge.

What do you think? Interesting idea for a show? I've never watched Survivor, but I hear it discussed all the time.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it's obvious this little boy has never held a real job.

What gpa? He probably spends his days pulling tampons out of clogged toilets on campus.

Remarks like that are one reason why the show is probably a bad idea. Persons whose concept of intelligence extends not much beyond "test scores" will think, and say, dumb things like the comment above.

Conversely, blacks and hispanics (those born and raised in this country) are tougher, and have a stronger survival instinct, and will likely do pretty well.

That's a pretty good way of looking at it too.

Your remark is not intelligent.

You speak as if society is, and always was, open to everyone, everyone was equally accepted and represented, and no group’s talents were exploited without compensation.

You concurrently ignore the fact that the "greatest" material and cultural contributions of whites and asians have come at the cost of a dying planet. Western Civilization can be credited with mechanizing the world, but that’s it. It has failed horribly in its behavior towards the earth, and any human inhabitants that don’t subscribe to the Western worldview. "Stuff" and "things" and money are all that matters, and are the sole measures of "intelligence."

This is analogous to an intelligent cancer. It takes pride in its homogeneous mass, greedily consuming the resources of its host body, not realizing -- or not caring -- that when the body dies, it dies too.

That is not intelligent.

I know that this is mean but who cares about the Earth. Why should I worry about it if there is nothing that I can do? It's not like everything will die in my lifetime so I will not worry about it. Selfish?...maybe. Will I lose sleep over it?....not really.

Wow.