Survivor, Exporting America's Economy to China
SPOILER ALERT: This post reveals who was voted off last night's Survivor: China. Also, the Ken Burns posts reveal who won WWII.
Monty Brinton/CBS
We interrupt Ken Burns Day at Tuned In to prove that we're not all about lofty matters historical here. Survivor: China debuted last night, and while I can never judge the quality of any given Survivor season until a few episodes in, I was glad to see the show switch things up with an inland adventure for the first time, if I'm not forgetting anything, since Amazon. All those beaches and freaking coconut trees start to look the same after a while.
Otherwise, it was a largely typical first episode: you had the mandatory first episode puke, the standard fights over building the shelter and the usual dilemma over whether to vote off the bossy woman or the cranky old man first. (It was the latter, the aptly named chicken farmer and Robin Williams lookalike Chicken, who had his neck wrung.) And the obligatory nods to the indigenous culture (the survivors received copies of The Art of War, which, Jeff Probst informed them, was "written by the Chinese.")
What always amazes me about any cast of Survivor, however, is how it testifies to the bizarre breadth of the American economy. I mean, you can make a living doing damn near anything in this country. There was the professional poker player. The Christian radio host. (Who described herself, nonetheless, as "not a religious person," yet walked out of a Buddhist welcoming ceremony.) The lunch lady. The surfing instructor. The chicken farmer. The gravedigger. The parkour runner (OK, he's a college student now, but give him some time). And, in a how-could-they-not-have-already-done-this bit of casting, a professional wrestling diva, who has inverted the natural order of the universe by posing for Playboy before appearing on Survivor.
All this, appropriately enough, displayed on the home soil of one of the U.S.'s greatest economic partners and competitors. You can outsource poison toy manufacturing--but you can't outsource reality-TV humiliation! Made in America, baby!
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1
It was a pretty typical first episode. I realize that reality shows are edited and you don't always get a true picture of what might be happening. That being said, I'm always amazed at the stupidity of some folks. The inexperienced young people always want to get rid of the old party poopers and then they flounder around. It happens more than it doesn't. You had the anal retentive, stressed out Oriental gal bossing everyone around and the wrestling gal throwing up her guys and not doing anything. Then you have Chicken who probably knows more than the rest of them all put together when it comes to knowledge needed to survice comfortably. What do they do? They get rid of Chicken instead of the other two. Dopes!!! One of my first picks would have been that "center of the universe" NYC waitress. Hey honey, the rest of the world counts too. You're just another pimple on the ass of the world like the rest of us. It'll be interesting to see how the show shakes out in the long run.
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2
Have they ever considered an Urban Survivor? Like, Survivor: Khartoum. I guess it would make more sense as something more akin to the Real World. That would actually be a show I'd be interested in.
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3
Urban, not to my knowledge. Desert, yes. Before 9/11 they were going to shoot Survivor, IIRC, in Jordan.
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4
"Urban, not to my knowledge."
Well, there is Project Runway and Top Chef and The Apprentice....
And the ultimate suburban "Survivor", Big Brother...
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5
James,
Do I have a post lurking out there waiting for your approval? I was a bad boy and used the word a$$ in the post and it said it was pending approval. Feel free to censor me comrade. I am so ashamed!
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6
Keith,
Sometimes the spam filter even picks up _my_ comments, for reasons I don't understand. I didn't think its sensibilities were that tender, but I'll check it.
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7
A few things:
1) As a New Yorker, Courtney is not representative of us. She is representative of the stereotype of New Yorkers - which she, for some reason, chooses to embrace. She is actually from Boston (where I'm from) so I am doubly embarrassed.
2) To Keith: sorry bro, the rest of the world doesn't actually count.
3) I love irony.
4) They obviously casted Chicken to serve in the Yau-Man role except for the fact that Chicken was a complete d-bag who wouldn't speak up and state his opinion even when directly asked whereas Yau-Man was one of the best, most-loved Survivor contestants ever. He was happier shaking his head contemptuously than contributing and that kind of attitude needs to be get rid of. "Dayum" indeed, Chicken. "Dayum" indeed.
5) Again to Keith: things are Oriental, people are Asian.
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8
Also, Courtney is scary skinny. America's Next Top Model skinny. Girl needs to eat a sandwich, made of other sandwiches.
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9
I wonder if Ashley has an unfair advantage if they ever have an individual "Who Can Stay Afloat the Longest" challenge.
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10
I commented in front of my 14 year old son last night that they need to use Ashley in any underwater challenges since it is obvious she can hold her breath for a long time. My wife didn't seem to appreciate the comment as much as my son did. Go figure.
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11
Hey, a question on the Welcoming Ceremony. I know they went out of their way to explain that it wasn't religious, and maybe it was just the editing, but did it seem really religious to anyone else? It was in a temple, with a lot of religious statues, they were bowing and bowing and bowing, folding their hands a certain way (or not as Courtney demonstrated.) I can really understand why a christian would have a problem. My husband and I kept turning to each other and saying, how is this not religious? What was everyone else's impression?
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12
@Mary: I would say it was ritualistic without being able to understand what they were saying. But it could easily be mistaken for a religious ceremony by some folks. After the Christian radio host's comments about idols, I wondered aloud to my wife how she is going to handle competing for the immunity "idol". Will desiring that particular idol get in the way of her religious beliefs? I think not.
- poniewozik Loved the season. Mrs Tuned In wd have put u on the main list RT @boredtodeath Thank u for incl us in Time's Top 10. We'll take hon mention. - 8 hours ago
- poniewozik @carr2n Virgin is the best, LAX-JFK - 9 hours ago
- poniewozik Did NPR interview abt multiscreen multitasking. After, automatically reached for iPhone in pocket. Like don draper wd have for cigarettes. - 10 hours ago
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