5/11 Show discussion thread ***spoilers***

[KeepItReal]

Well I remember reading an article after Mel and Mike were eliminated from the Amazing Race and it spoke a bit about how CBS pretty much had the way they wanted the contestants to be identified during the show. It was not a negative article, it just stressed that they had no interest in portraying the contestants as multi faceted. Mel is a gay activist, and when Luke found out he was in the cast with him he wanted to be portrayed as openly gay as well. Mel mentioned it to the producers who basically told him not to mess with their formula. Luke was the deaf kid, and his team represented the gay community. Mel was fine with that, but as an activist was hoping that an All Star cast that consisted of 3 openly gay racers and 1 openly bi racer would be an opportunity for people to see different types of representatives of the gay community. I would think they are no different with Survivor. Rob is the blue collar charmer, Matt is the religious guy, Phil brings the crazy, Grant is the male who will eventually challenge "the king" for the throne, and the girls are the women who follow the charmer and ride his coattails while under the spell of his perfect smile. I'm sure there is a lot left on the editing room floor because it just doesn't fit into the storyline that CBS has us following right now. Doesn't mean that what we see is not a true representation. I'm sure that it is. I just think it's not a complete representation, and I'm not sure how possible it would be for us to get a complete picture of each player when we only have an hour a week to represent their entire time on the island.

[Tilden]

Well I remember reading an article after Mel and Mike were eliminated from the Amazing Race and it spoke a bit about how CBS pretty much had the way they wanted the contestants to be identified during the show. It was not a negative article, it just stressed that they had no interest in portraying the contestants as multi faceted. Mel is a gay activist, and when Luke found out he was in the cast with him he wanted to be portrayed as openly gay as well. Mel mentioned it to the producers who basically told him not to mess with their formula. Luke was the deaf kid, and his team represented the gay community. Mel was fine with that, but as an activist was hoping that an All Star cast that consisted of 3 openly gay racers and 1 openly bi racer would be an opportunity for people to see different types of representatives of the gay community. I would think they are no different with Survivor. Rob is the blue collar charmer, Matt is the religious guy, Phil brings the crazy, Grant is the male who will eventually challenge "the king" for the throne, and the girls are the women who follow the charmer and ride his coattails while under the spell of his perfect smile. I'm sure there is a lot left on the editing room floor because it just doesn't fit into the storyline that CBS has us following right now. Doesn't mean that what we see is not a true representation. I'm sure that it is. I just think it's not a complete representation, and I'm not sure how possible it would be for us to get a complete picture of each player when we only have an hour a week to represent their entire time on the island.

I think you're right about the show deciding on each player's storyline, so to speak, and I think this season the problem is compounded by the show's decision--for whatever reasons--to focus in on a few players, right from the start. For instance, when Grant started getting teary about how important his fiance was in the last TC, it was the first I realized he even had one--and Grant has had at least a physical presence in the game because of his power in the challenges, particularly the early team challenges. It might have been nice to know something about him. It also took me weeks to be able to tell "the girls" apart, because they were always shown together and rarely had any individual airtime where they talked about much of anything. I don't know if they chose to concentrate on certain players because there the others weren't providing much airtime worthy footage or what, but it feels like Matt, Rob, and Phillip have gotten the lion's share of the on-air footage thus far.

Speaking of which, I wish they'd have come up with something for this group to do, because it seems like once the shelters were built, they didn't do much of anything. We don't really see them fishing or looking for food or coming up with goofy ways to entertain themselves (remember the guy who did the morning radio show report about his tribe every day?) or even talking about much of anything. I realize it's very hot and they're underfed and tired, but honestly...in other seasons, people have lived under poor conditions and still managed to do something worth watching. I think the lack of challenges where people get to leave camp for a while has diminished the opportunities to see the survivors do interesting things as well. If they spent that money on the idea of RI instead, I don't think that was a good choice in terms of viewer entertainment. At this point, the little weekly Ponderosa clips are more fun to watch than the actual show.

[Longhornfan]

Well I remember reading an article after Mel and Mike were eliminated from the Amazing Race and it spoke a bit about how CBS pretty much had the way they wanted the contestants to be identified during the show. It was not a negative article, it just stressed that they had no interest in portraying the contestants as multi faceted. Mel is a gay activist, and when Luke found out he was in the cast with him he wanted to be portrayed as openly gay as well. Mel mentioned it to the producers who basically told him not to mess with their formula. Luke was the deaf kid, and his team represented the gay community. Mel was fine with that, but as an activist was hoping that an All Star cast that consisted of 3 openly gay racers and 1 openly bi racer would be an opportunity for people to see different types of representatives of the gay community. I would think they are no different with Survivor. Rob is the blue collar charmer, Matt is the religious guy, Phil brings the crazy, Grant is the male who will eventually challenge "the king" for the throne, and the girls are the women who follow the charmer and ride his coattails while under the spell of his perfect smile. I'm sure there is a lot left on the editing room floor because it just doesn't fit into the storyline that CBS has us following right now. Doesn't mean that what we see is not a true representation. I'm sure that it is. I just think it's not a complete representation, and I'm not sure how possible it would be for us to get a complete picture of each player when we only have an hour a week to represent their entire time on the island.

Very well stated. That was what I was trying to get across - CBS reviews the footage of the show and decides how they are going to portray each person. It is not possible to get a complete representation of the true character of these people, since we are shown only what CBS deems worth broadcasting. The circumstances dictate who is being featured the most week to week.

And, I did not know that Luke, the deaf guy, was gay. I had never heard that.

[Shoepie]

KeepItReal, well said.

[JavaJo]

They use that formula for most reality shows, I believe. Big Brother, for instance. Jerry, the elderly man, was portrayed as the loving soldier, husband and grandfather on the tv show, but on the feeds, he was something else. Completely vial and the nasty things he said about Keisha made me angry.

[KeepItReal]

And, I did not know that Luke, the deaf guy, was gay. I had never heard that.

Yes, he is. That's why Mel felt like they missed out on a huge opportunity to show someone who not only deals with a disability, but is also gay. Then Kisha up and wins the entire thing (with her sister, of course) and Mel, being the activist, wanted the viewing public to see them as more than the deaf guy and the female athlete. Even Mel himself, having stepped in to race when his son's original teammmate backed out, was not billed as a gay Christian activist but simply as a gay dad with a bi son. Problem is, there just isn't enough time to flesh out all of these characters and still keep these shows focused on where they are suppossed to be. I understand that. I only hate it when they show someone such as Matt only as the deeply religious guy. Maybe that's all he really is-this guy that is looking skyward for game tips. That, however, usually drives the viewing public bananas after a while and you either root for him or get disgusted with him. He will have to deal with a ton of people thinking he's naive once he gets out of the game. I know his decisions have been edited to seem as if he's purely guided by his beliefs. Maybe that's true, or maybe he's just a crappy player and he can't blame it on his beliefs. Personally, I think he probably just sucks at such a cutthroat game and he, perhaps, should have tried out for Amazing Race since he does just fine at the challenges. He just can't seem to grasp the total mindf^#^s involved with a game like Survivor.

[Longhornfan]

I have wondered if Matt had ever watched Survivor before he was chosen for this season. I totally agree that Matt was unprepared for the lying and deceiving part of the game, and he was a bit too transparent. So, I would agree with you. Survivor isn't the game for Matt, but he might do well on a show like the Amazing Race.

[sweetpea]

I have wondered if Matt had ever watched Survivor before he was chosen for this season. I totally agree that Matt was unprepared for the lying and deceiving part of the game, and he was a bit too transparent. So, I would agree with you. Survivor isn't the game for Matt, but he might do well on a show like the Amazing Race.

I wonder too, if he has watched Survivor previously, is he familiar with Boston Rob and his gameplay? Does anyone remember Matt saying something about this during the show??

Seriously, going to Rob and acknowledging that you were thinking of blindsiding him is stupid beyond belief. In fact, admitting that to anyone who has the majority alliance behind them is stupid beyond belief. I hope he realizes that just about any other savvy player would have voted Matt out after that confession, not just Rob.

[KeepItReal]

On top of that, the way Matt just totally was caught off guard by Andrea telling him how he screwed up her game. I mean, he's been sitting out there on reject island all of this time and had not figured that out until it was pointed out to him. Unbelieveable.

[PWS]

On top of that, the way Matt just totally was caught off guard by Andrea telling him how he screwed up her game. I mean, he's been sitting out there on reject island all of this time and had not figured that out until it was pointed out to him. Unbelieveable.

And even when she explained it to him, he didn't seem to get it, feel guilty that he'd betrayed the one person to stand up for him, or feel he did anything remotely wrong. Supporting people is a two way street, Matt! Even though she's only the woman in your relationship, sometimes you should support her! Andrea's well rid of him, and I hope she knows it.