In Hollywood, there is no bad press.
When CBS decided to divide Survivor: Cook Islands teams by race, did they have any inkling it would give them this much free publicity? Since Survivor host Jeff Probst made the announcement Wednesday on CBS's Early Show--which the network later confirmed via a press release--the media has been alive with reactions from various factions regarding the decision. Most are unsupportive of the plan.
"I hate it," James Pritchett, professor of anthropology and director of the African Studies Center at Boston University, told The Boston Herald on Thursday. "This program is drumming up every old stereotype, and I don't think it is going to be useful at all. What next, a show pitting Jews and Muslims and Christians against each other?"
Hispanics Across America founder Fernando Mateo told Reuters, "Survivor is not reality TV--it's racist TV. The participants will be held to the daunting and unfair challenge of representing an entire race of people. What will it mean for a team--a race--to fail in a battle of wits and strength against another race?"
New York City councilman John Liu is starting a campaign to have the show pulled off the air.
"The idea of having a battle of the races is preposterous," Liu told Associated Press yesterday. "How could anybody be so desperate for ratings?"
Survivor could be. Last season, the show's 11th, Survivor lost a quarter of its viewers from the season before. The aging reality show had trouble fending off ABC's hot-stepping time-slot competitor, Dancing With the Stars.
CBS released a statement yesterday saying that it stands behind the show's creators on the race matter.
"CBS fully recognizes the controversial nature of this format but has full confidence in the producers and their ability to produce the program in a responsible manner," the network said. "Survivor is a program that is no stranger to controversy and has always answered its critics on the screen."
Probst tried to put a noble face on the decision.
"I think at first glance...it could sound like a stunt," he said on Wednesday. "But that's not what we're doing here. We've always had a low number of minority applicants... So we set out and said, 'Let's turn this criticism into a creative idea for the show."
Series creator Mark Burnett attempted to cast the new season in an even loftier light, saying he thinks the show could actually help defuse racial issues in society.
"Maybe [stereotypes] could disappear through this," he told Variety on Thursday.
Survivor: Cook Islands will battle racism beginning September 14 on CBS.
Comments (26)
As much as I like the show, I doubt I'll watch this installment due to how the tribes are sparated.
this is perhaps the worst survivor edition ever conceived.
It sounds Strange to me but whatever. I don't think I'd do it in such a politically correct world (that we now live in) but I suppose if it's ok with the teams then those who don't like it should not watch, like me who has NEVER watched Survivor.
so i looked in a dictionary and found this:
results for: racist
hatred or intolerance of another race or other races
so answer me on how Survivor is being racist???
I actually don't have a problem with this. It will not be divided into race for the whole entire game. Like last season... they divide the contestants into 4 groups based on age, and then at one point merged the 4 groups into 2. That's what will happen here. Initially, they will be divided, but eventually they will merge. I think that it is an interesting concept. They've already divided groups into age and sex... why not race? Also, in past years, there has been very littte racial diversity... now they are on an equal playing ground. I think people are reading why to much into this... it's a tv show.
lets go whitey! haha jk but i wont be bothered by this, hell i think its pretty interesting, but is it a good thing? i dunno.
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"What will it mean for a team--a race--to fail in a battle of wits and strength against another race?"
Uh… they don't win the money?
"What next, a show pitting Jews and Muslims and Christians against each other?"
Sure, why not?
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People just need to lighten up alittle. Forget the race card just let them do the show.
i dont really see how it is that bad, they seperate by gender and age so why not race?
Here is the bottom line. None of the people commenting on this “controversy†have even seen it yet. The truth is the whole season has already been filmed. It’s in the can. The only unknown is the winner because they do that show on live TV months later.The producers of the show and the CBS executives have the benefit of knowing what’s going to happen and they would be stupid to allow something that is going to turn out to be offensive or racist to air. Everyone should just relax and wait to see what actually happens on the show before getting their panties all in a bunch.
"It is a social experiment"
If you want a social experiment, watch a documentary or read a book. This on the other hand is a sad excuse for ratings.
I love Survivor. What's so wrong in dividing them by races anyway? If people cannot take that in good spirit, they're juvenile. Stop worrying about everyone else, worry only about what you think this move will cause.
Hopefully this will kill the show for good. It does not belong on television.
I think this is a great idea. I will certainly be watching it. Only a raciest mind would find this raciest. It is a social experiment. If people are that in secure about something then don't watch it - its that simple!
And the big bright ELEPHANT in the middle of the room, was finally spotted!!!People talk a lot about racism, theres a bunch of NO NO type of words or expressions, or this and that, but wen some guy tries to do a study regarding the dominance of African descendent's in sports or whatever, all hell breaks lose!!!WE ARE DIFFERENT!!! LETS EMBRACE OUR DIFFERENCES!!!If a TV show wants to see just how different we are, LET THEM!!!Survivor is a tv show based on testing humans, its like a test tube. Hey lets put this bunch of people strained in a island or whatever and lets see what happens....hey lets make em eat bugs....how about separate them in 2 groups.....hum, interesting....lets separate them by gender Lets see who....( and every one goes along just fine)...I have an idea, how about divide them by race? Lets see who adapts better?WHAT YOU F*** RACISTS!!!!!And thats the beautiful world we live in!moreless
elektrixxx and Skinnytony - Are you even reading the article? The people who are claiming this is racist aren't... you know... idiots. They're some of the smartest people in the world. It's not like how some people just like to cause a stink and say the purple Telletubby is gay This is for real, and if you can't see that I think you should bring the dessert at your next Klan meeting.
Who cares?Some people are just jerks who want to ruin everything.
They had to have know this would be bad from the start..
So, if what Survivor is doing is racist, was it sexist when they divided the tribes by sex 2 years ago? I don't remember anyone making that claim, so why is this considered racist. If they do it like last season, they only stay seperated into groups of four for 3 days anyways. They will be combined during episode two, so what's the matter. I love Survivor and I think they are doing a good job at changing it up every year. I applaud their courage to do this. There's too much censorship and trying not to please everyone going on these days.
When I heard about them dividing the tribes up by race, I knew that this was going to happen. NBC, while its hasn't been a good year for them, had enough smarts not to go down this road with their top reality show.
Rush Limbaugh said some stereotypical racist things about this. He needs to cut back on the painkillers again!
I used to like survivor back when it was good in the first and second seasons, but then they started getting stupid... they started repeating things over and over again and didnt come up with good ideas anymore... This is the stupidest thing yet. I used to watch it all the time but you after a while I lost interest because basically they are doing the same things over and over again just with different people.
I hope this leads to the show either not being made or being canceled a few episodes in. I know the producers of Survivor were just trying to spark interest, but not all press is good press.
"The idea of having a battle of the races is preposterous," Liu told Associated Press yesterday. "How could anybody be so desperate for ratings?" THAT IS SO TRUE, THIS IS THE STUPIDEST THING EVER, I CANT BELIEVE THEY'RE DOING THIS, IM NEVER TUNING INTO SURVIVOR AGAIN, IT SUCKED BAD AND NOW WITH THIS STUPID RACE THING, IT SUCKS TWICE AS BAD