So Survivor is splitting up tribes based on race, eh? I don’t watch a lot of reality TV, but my family watches Survivor so this one I’ve seen. Once I figured out that it was about surviving socially rather than the elements or the physical challenges, it made a lot more sense. That’s about as close to a fan of any “reality” show as I’ll probably ever get. Especially since the writers from one of the “reality” shows went on strike!! THE WRITERS went on strike... for a REALITY show. There’s one situation where management should have just caved. Their secret’s definitely out.
Anyhoo, back to this splitting up by race thing. Since I don’t watch much, I don’t know what the verdict is yet regarding this afterthought of an idea Survivor’s writers came up with now that they’ve done everything else, but it seemed like there was a lot of concern about it and most of what I accidentally caught in the news seemed to indicate a collective conclusion that this was somehow a bad idea.
I don’t get it. It’s ok to discriminate by race when it comes to distributing public money for public education or when offering abatements and other subsidies to industry or big business, or in housing and healthcare and about a million other places where racism is the institutionalized, de facto practice, but when it comes to a game show we’re up in arms?! What’s up with that?
Besides, this show just might force folks to realize what a little common sense, open-mindedness, and careful thought after careful observation should teach people in the first place: that the differences within any group are far greater than the collective differences between the groups. It’s possible that this show will demonstrate to an audience the opposite of what their daddy and their daddy’s daddy have been telling them all along. It might even cast doubt on the anecdotal evidence they’ve used to maintain the stereotypes this teaching has solidified in their minds. It’s just possible that we will see a lazy guy in the Asian tribe or a conniving and deceitful guy in the white tribe or a lying, stealing cheat in the black tribe... or any other negative stereotype commonly associated with a particular race or culture in EVERY tribe!
We will also likely see strong, intelligent leaders in each tribe or caring, nurturing followers who help hold the team together in each tribe.
I don’t know that I’ll set time aside to watch each show, but I’m actually curious about this one. I don’t really believe that a tv show can undo years of brainwashing, the likes of which actually has some so-called Christians thinking, for instance, that the Moslem faith is a violent one (hello, can you say “Crusades” or Koresh or Jones... didn’t Hitler claim to be a Christian paying back the Jews for killing Christ?!) Yeah, but somebody else’s wackos claiming they do what they do in the name of their faith is just inexcusable!
So no, I don’t expect the racists, haters, whatever they’re called these days to suddenly see the light as a result of watching Survivor, in fact, those kinds of people tend to see what they want even if the rest of us don’t, but I might actually have to watch and see how this one goes. In the meantime, get off Survivor’s back. If you want to complain or rise up against racism, do it where it really matters, not on some tv show!
Later dudes.
6 comments:
This just in: reality TV producers exploit worst of humanity to gain viewership...
I am shocked, I tell you, shocked!
-Bill (still reeling from The Swan, that show where they comestically engineered participants in a beauty pageant)
Ray, Ray, Ray...
Those who question if the Bible contains contradictory information base their claims on the Bible. Likewise those who claim it discriminates... advocates violence... etc. and so on. There are plenty of English translations of the Koran available online. Check it out for yourself. It's short. It advocates no more violence than our Bible. It takes a lot of interpretation to justify what extremists of any faith claim is justified in their reading. For most of us, it's just not there. This is every bit as true of the Koran as it is of the Bible.
As far as the article on Shakira law, it's just another example of my point. People with crazy agendas and "fundamentalist" interpretations will justify what they want to justify. The fact that some countries adopt this as their law is further evidence against using a holy book as the basis of public law. Seems like a pretty fundamental Christian group pulled similar measures against witches in our recent history. Good thing we didn't adopt their interpretations.
Like Clinton told Chris Wallace, why don't you ask the same questions of the other side?
Oh, and screw reality tv. I'm swearing it off no matter how much the Survivor "experiment" intrigues me.
"... why don't you ask the same questions of the other side?"
Not a fair question, Luth. I believe I've demonstrated my reasonableness in my posts. I don't always agree with the right, I have strongly disagreed with Bush. I have repeatedly voiced my opposition to the Iraq War.
I posited that Christians today do not proselytize using the knife to the throat as some Muslims do. You shoot back something that happened centuries ago that Christians did that we find abhorant today. That's taking a page from the pope in his recent debacle.
But there are Christians today who do and you and I know that they don't represent what we believe. Why don't we (in general) apply that same logic to Muslims or Jews or anyone else for that matter. You don't have to be religious to have strong, clear morals and yet the opposite assumption is often made.
Just like the groups on Survivor, the differences within a group of faithful are greater than the differences between faiths. The wackos get all the press.
"The wackos get all the press."
Yep, on both sides of the spectrum.
I've been having some serious discussions with a conservative friend who happens to be a Russian Orthodox. Politically, we are in close agreement. Religiously, though we have much in common, there are significant differences. My kind tend to be strong supporters of the state of Israel. As a result of these discussions with my friend - she has a much different view of Israel because of the experiences of her church - I am questioning my position.
As I get older, I see more gray and less black and white.
Here here! I guess I've just always liked gray... I'll gladly argue both sides. It's just that the side in power has been there so long it makes me appear to favor their opposition. I'll admit to being a devil's advocate, but not partisan. It's the circumstances over the last 10 years that make me seem that way.
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