Survivor: New season will divide tribes by race...big deal

Ed. note: this post reflects the opinions of Stefania Pomponi Butler, not all of the Kimchi Mamas.

When I first heard that for the upcoming season of Survivor the tribes would be divided along racial lines (a black team, an Asian team, a white team, a Hispanic team), my first thought was, "That's either the dumbest idea I've ever heard...or the most brilliant."

Most people seem to think it's dumb.

Now, I've never watched Survivor, but from what I hear, it sucks. At least now. This "may the best race win" strategy appears to be a last-ditch effort on the part of creator Mark Burnett to win ratings. People are outraged, but come on. Could the producers really be that stupid?  Will they allow racial epithets to fly? I think not. Word is that they are going treat the experiment or whatever you want to call it "sensitively," and eventually, the teams will go from homogeneous to heterogeneous.

There have been calls to boycott the show, but I'm not so sure I agree. I might be compelled to watch even though I've never watched before just to see what happens. I want to believe that despite being grouped according to race that race will end up being a non-issue. After all, there can only be one "survivor" and somewhere among all those contestants is a person shrewd enough to manipulate the game to her or his advantage. (And from what I understand, standing on a stump until you fall off really doesn't have anything to do with the color of one's skin.) I might be inclined to watch just to see if Survivor "does the right thing," as it were.

The reality is that I probably won't watch. For some reason I get the impression that the producers are yucking it up watching us get all bent out of shape about the race concept. There's no such thing as bad publicity, right? When was the last time Survivor got this much attention before the season aired?  I feel like the opening credits will roll and then Jeff Probst will turn to the camera and say, "Just kidding! Jeez, how stupid do you think we are?"

And, if you're going to be bent out of shape about this, then why not get bent out of shape when you see women of color on shows like the Bachelor? Every season I want to take aside the token Asian chick and say, "Girl they're just using you. You know you're just there because the show wants to seem diverse.  You got no shot at the final rose, honey. You won't be eliminated right out of the gate because no one wants to appear racist, but I wouldn't unpack if I were you."

To me, the whole "let's include one Asian and one black woman to make our pool seem diverse" is much more disturbing than a stupid reality show trying to be "edgy" by stirring the shit.

So the Survivor race thing: is it merely a desperate ploy to grab ratings or a real reason to get worked up? Or both?

What do you think?

—Stefania Pomponi Butler

[photo credit: Survivor. Yul, 31, Korean-American Stanford graduate from the San Francisco Bay Area]

Comments

[Didi]

I think it's more of a "we've had so many seasons that we've run out of new ideas" thing than anything else. If anything, I'm thrilled that there are only 5 white people this time. The tokenism on these shows, like you described, makes me crazy.

For those who don't watch Survivor, it's pretty typical that they start out with the tribes (I hate that term, btw) divided one way and then after 2 or 3 episodes they mix them up, and then when they get down to 10 or so people they combine them. They don't stick with the same group to the end.

There's a rundown (with pictures) of the cast over on RealityNewsOnline .com, btw.

[MetroDad]

Of course, it's stupid. Of course, it's opportunistic. And, of course, it plays to the lowest common denominator. It's reality television! It's not geared for the Mensa crowd.

In my opinion, people tend to get their panties in a twist whenever anything involving race is concerned. With all the injustice in the world, am I really going to get bent out of shape over a dumb reality show? I totally agree with your comparison to the token Asian chicks on "The Bachelor." It's like those JC Penney commercials where they take extreme measures to ensure that every color of the rainbow is represented all the time. Big whoop! Who cares?

Personally, I think the whole idea is so ridiculous that it might actually get me to watch the show for the first time. Ha! Mission accomplished.

As for all of you people who are morally offended? I completely respect your opinions. But you know what? Voice your individual rights and boycott the show. Organize protests in your hometown. Write a letter to the FCC. Send e-mails to the advertisors urging them to pull the funding.

As for me?

Pass me the remote, pour me some soju and get me some dried squid. GAME ON!

[Mother]

I tried commenting on this over at Rice Daddies - but for some reason, I have trouble commenting over there.

BUT, I agree. Lame - like 1952 or something. Let's all live in post WWII America again - weeeeeee....

Even separating my sexes IMO is a bit backwards.

[eliaday]

my gut reaction to this, is WTF? but then, after mulling it over a little more, i think it's a good idea, BUT only in an ideal world.

to me, this sounds like a network tv version of the color of fear, but without the moderation that makes this film work.

i would love for this version of survivor to be a catalyst for honest and intelligent discussions on race relations in this country. i would love for this show to help edcuate people about privilege and power in the US. i would love for the host to be someone who can thoughtfully moderate and breakdown what happens on the show.

unfortuntately, i don't have that much faith and idealism any more. i think it's going to turn into a name-calling-stereotype-evoking media circus, and not get much farther than that.

i don't have a tv; and i won't be going out of my way to watch this show.

[twizzle]

I'm a die-hard Survivor fan and will most certainly be watching this season with the rabid curiosity of a rubbernecker passing a six-car pile-up on the Interstate.

In the past, I've always found myself rooting for the token Asian person, like Shii-Ann (the Chinese/American woman) of a couple of years ago. Even though she was a whiny bitch who ultimately screwed herself by being too paranoid, I wanted her to win -- for la raza!!

As for Mark Burnett's thinking around this thing - of course it's exploitation. But it's teevee and it's good entertainment.

Go Asian Team!

P.S. That Korean guy is CUTE!!

[Mama Nabi]

Ah, the reality TV schtick/gimmick... I have to admit my interest did pique. I've never really watched the show - only in passing, kinda know the premise - so I can't even guess how they would play this. However, isn't the most rivalry among the members of the same 'tribe'?

Of course the one thing that did threaten to bunch up my panties a bit was the fact that I saw only ONE Asian woman (I could be wrong, though). So I may end up trying to watch an episode here and there just to give her some telepathic support.

Didn't they try to do something similar with another reality tv show and it got nixed? I don't know - I think (from my international school days) a bit of friendly competition between races can be a healthy thing... Sometimes I think America thinks too hard about racial segregation to the point of (sub)conscious denial (i.e. those ads with token minority - because you know that per every group of 2-3 white people, there's one minority friend. PUHLEEZE) that maybe this isn't such a bad idea.

Funny, Stefania, I think exactly the same thing when I see an Asian woman on dating shows like that.

[marley]

I think once people start watching the show they'll root for the people/personalities they like best and not based on their ethinicity and it will be less of a "race" race. It's just going to be nice to see more than one token Asian on a show for once. The last time there was this many Asians on a show was MASH.

[honglien123]

You know, I've been trying not to comment on this because it's all over place at the moment (this and Pluto), but I just have to get it out somewhere. Here are my 5 thoughts on this:
1) I never watched Survivor and gee, I guess I'm definitely not now.
2) This brings out the inner racist. I was going to say, could they have made sure that the Asians were any more disadvantaged? Not only are they not all the same ethnicity, but they can't even use the advantage the hispanic group has by being able to speak a second language...and then I realize that's pretty prejudiced because not all hispanics speak Spanish. See? Evil Evil Evil
3) Did they HAVE to throw in the Vietnamese Nail Salon manager? Did they really have to go there? Seriously, they couldn't find any doctor's or dentists? Why not throw in one of those Viet guys from the World Poker Tour?
2) Despite my protest, I am rooting for the Asian team. Why? What's the point of cultural and racial pride if you don't root for your own team, even in stupid shit?
1) This is bad, I know, but subconsciously, I not only want the Asian team to do well, but I want the Vietnamese guy to do well and have a Tommy Smith and John Carlos moment. But that's not going to happen. Instead, everyone is outraged about this now, however, as soon as the results are in and IF THE WINNER IS NOT WHITE, the respective winner's community will be (hopefully quietly) proud about it.

[honglien123]

and I can't count! It's making me stupider already!!

[jstele]

CBS is so concerned about not appearing racist that it has started airing commercials on tolerance featuring Nelson Mandela.
http://www.cbs.com/cbs_cares/nelson_mandela/

They want to have it both ways, make money off of racism and not appear racist.

[Gandalf Mantooth]

Just because the ploy is raitings bait doesn't mean it isn't worth getting "worked up" over, as if the alacrity with which they go after money somehow mitigates their responsibility to society . . . and ours. People are protesting and boycotting (John Liu) and making plans as we speak.

[Sizwe_X]

"The last time there was this many Asians on a show was MASH."

Not true, I recently saw a show in passing where *ta da*, a Vietnamese cycle gang was depicted. A whole brace of Asians up in there. And people say we don't get any media representation! That's sarcasm, btw.