If you’re one of those people that sees or hears an advertisement for Survivor and wonders how the heck that show can still be on television or who even watches it; I am both proud and ashamed to admit that I am part of the reason and I am the person still watching it. The twentieth season just wrapped up this spring, while I was wrapping up my spring semester of school. I tivo-ed it and now that it’s summer, I have been catching up. I’m not sure if this is the best choice of a television show for this assignment because it’s a reality show, but besides the news I don’t allow myself to regularly watch any other shows. So a tivo-ed episode of Survivor will have to do.
This season is the “Heros vs Villians”. They brought back from all the previous seasons the most notorious bad guys, who are playing against the players who over the past nineteen seasons have played the most honorable games. The villains started out on a tribe (team) and have been willing to lie, cheat, and steal whenever need be to get themselves further in the game. The heros weren’t willing to go to such measures and perhaps it’s sadly because of this that they have done as poorly as they have in the game.
The players on Survivor have shown that they are capable of working well as a team when they need to, but only do so to get themselves ahead. On Survivor, you don’t see people make selfless moves. The players are always thinking about themselves, but at the same time it’s important to keep in mind that it’s a game and perhaps the players behave differently in their real lives.
This television show doesn’t accurately depict what Americans wear and certainly not where they live. It does show that we are not modest. The players have clothing along with them, but spend most of their time wearing very little of it. The players do almost everything wearing just their bathing suits.
On this show, the players typically hang out with the people that they have made alliances with. This was not a typical season of survivor because the contestants already knew one another from past seasons. So based on the previous seasons that I watched, the players usually form alliances with people that are their own age or close to it. Twenty year olds have the most in common with the others twenty something year olds. And the same is true of the players that are in their forties and so on.
This episode I watched mostly focused on the sneakiness of one player, named Russell. Russell’s behavior on Survivor has made him the most memorable and perhaps most hated player ever. He is willing to stop at nothing to get ahead and win. He has a pseudo alliance with every other player in the game. If someone was viewing this episode, or any of the episodes, in another country they would perceive Americans as one, extremely competitive, and two, gullible. I think they would also view us as selfish because of the players only worrying about themselves.
If you ever watch Survivor, do you think that it accurately portrays the behavior of Americans? How do you feel about the way Americans are depicted in general on television?
This is a tough one, because I don't really watch television. I think I saw some survivor episodes way back in the first season and possibly sporadically in years past. I think survivor does portray Americans. Whether or not the cast members play that dirty in real life, there are certainly people who do. It also represents a diverse group of people put together that do not know each other. We are in this setup a lot in life: as incoming freshman or transfers, employees at a new company, etc.
ReplyDeleteI think how Americans are depicted on television depends if we are talking about a scripted show or reality television. I would say that in reality television they are depicted as they truly are except that those shows can still be edited to make a person look anyway that the director wants. Shows are so diverse that Americans can depicted as so many contradictory things. Shows vary so much that I think I foreign observer would have a hard time getting a picture of what the average person is like. We are such a diverse culture that maybe different shows represent different groups.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen the show so I really can't comment on the first part.
ReplyDeleteThe way that Americans are generally portrayed in television: do we have three days? Just kidding. Well there tend to be a few archetypes that are followed pretty faithfully: action shows the main character (usual male but increasingly female) is a take no prisoner's always right tough as nails type of person. Others follow their lead and those who don't get crushed. They can be softer in personality but those who don't follow their lead usually meet some sort of horrible fate.
Cop shows: similar primes righteous justice, that often breaks the rules.
Then their are things like Glee which satirize high school stereotypes.
There are as Mindy said so many contradictory images in the media it's hard to say what Americans are actually depicted as.
Though, it is generally consistent that direct and forceful are carryovers in most areas.
Everyone in Hollywood has their own way that they view American's. In some ways American's are portrayed correctly to me and some are not. I am not a religious watcher of Survivor and do not plan to be as I think it is not real. There has to be food on the island if the camera crew is there. No one really lives like that and is only necessary for a limited time. The winner is also determined by how popular you are and how many people like you.
ReplyDeleteI've never watched Survivor but I'll check it when I go back to the States!
ReplyDeleteI don't really watch American TV show, so it is hard to say. But I think many TV shows are about rich people or people that can't actually exist like superpower or psychic. Well, there might be some, but it doesn't happen a lot. They are lie dream world that we can't really have in our real life even if it's about rich people or psychic.
I think it just portrays people in general, not just Americans. It shows people being competitive and wanting to get the overall goal. They are working hard towards something. I also think no matter what culture you are from, if your put in a area with very little food and around the same people all the time, your going to get caddy and have some attitude. Sometimes Americans look completely false on tv, then in real life. They makes us look to made up and make it seem like everyone is rich and beautiful.
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