Politicians Of All Races To Band Together To Defeat 'Survivor'
If CBS' goal was to get people talking again about a show no one has given a shit about for years, then yes, divvying up this season's out-of-work-actor cast of Survivor into four piles of headshots of increasing darkness definitely proves how Mark Burnett is a true visionary of the genre. But not everyone is as energized by the hook:
"The idea of having a battle of the races is preposterous," [New York] City Councilman John Liu said Thursday. "How could anybody be so desperate for ratings?" [...]
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. [...]
The show's host, Jeff Probst, said the network was aware this season's race ploy might offend viewers. [...]
"[I]t'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."
It will be interesting to see if our local politicians will organize a similar reality show boycott (and, God willingly, perhaps do something about The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency while they were at it). And once again, we find ourselves endlessly tickled at CBS' newly anointed Defender of Bad Ideas, Probst, and his ridiculous set of talking points—as if there is some logical way to justify a premise that will inevitably lead to tribal council meetings in which contestants hold a paper to the camera reading, "Sekou, 'cause he's black," before dropping their eviction ballots into a bowl.
