Survivor Cook Islands

Man.... I am having conflicted feelings about the racial division of teams.

I felt so upset when the Hiki team lost -- but it made me realize that I didn't want any of the teams to lose.... and then I made the connection to Life and the RW and how I don't want anybody in the world to lose either....  but somebody always does lose - and that was sorta depressing.

I haven't watched the show but when I heard what they were planning....I felt odd. Given the state of the world right now.....I feel that this was a poor decision....we should be doing ALL we can to unite....not divide.

I kind of liked what the one girl on the Asian team said.  She pointed out that they are from different nationalities, so they really aren't that similar just because they are Asian.  It's true, and I think it's kind of stupid to divide people by "race" when that is the only common factor.  Their tribe especially seemed so diverse, so I'm not sure race was the best way to divide the tribes.

I thought the same thing about the Asian tribe - it was almost like an insult to them to be assumed to have commonalities because of the way they look, when in reality, the cultures of the pacific are very diverse.

On top of that is the cultural aspect of honoring your family and your ancestors.  If you are Korean, being grouped with other non-Koreans, as if you are a 'tribe' could be construed as not completely honorable. 

Still, overall I think the players seemed to handle it pretty well.  It just kinda makes the producers look a bit like... jerkwads, I believe is the technical term.

The only instance I saw in which race seemed to exacerbate things was when the Hiki tribe picked the white guy who took the Asians' chicken to go to Exile island....

I found it funny because Survivor has been plagued with accusations of being racist because the majority of players are white. As a solution to this they include other races but then divide them for the competition. It?s just ridiculous. As if tv isn?t bad enough?.they are taking a giant step backwards with this type of programming. And that?s my two cents!

Yes, I questioned their motives for that choice.  The white guy didn't steal their chicken, so I don't know why they singled him out.  On the other hand, maybe he was the only person who had already done something "wrong" (that they knew of) so they chose him.  Either way, I think it would have made more sense to take away a member of the strongest tribe.  It may be too early in the game to tell which tribe that is, but it was the Asian tribe last night. 

I hate the start of the new season.  Now I have to remember all the new tribe names and figure out who's who!  It gets so confusing! :)

Yeah... so many people.... so many of them that will soon be voted off....

I'm actually hoping I can get thru the first couple of weeks because I think it will be more interesting and less morally bothersome once they merge the tribes somehow.

And that exile island? that looked awful! so tiny and no shelter or trees or anything!  I would have sent the person who looked least likely to find the hidden idol, as if I could figure out what that person would look like  LOL!  Maybe the prissiest person?

I don't know who I would've picked.  I would've felt guilty sending another woman because it's hard to be out there by yourself, especially when they aren't used to living on the island in the first place.  Not that a woman can't survive outdoors, but the show always seems to have such prissy girls that don't look like they could even pitch a tent! 

But what was the guy doing last night looking for the idol?  I thought there was something in the clue about standing somewhere and not seeing the sun or something?  He might have had the "A" right, but I think he was supposed to be watching the setting sun, not randomly digging.  Of course the idol wasn't going to be directly underneath the "A!"  They aren't going to put it where you can find it the first day! 

hee hee!  you're right!

just got back from the dining hall and several teachers got into this huge sociological debate that evolved from talking about survivor

maybe it's a good thing to get people talking after all....

i am so happy right now that i have fellow survivor watchers. that just means we have one more thign in common. wahoo. i dunno how i feel about the racial thing either, but i think it will kind of be what the players make of it. some of the survivors seem to not even think about it at all. others seem to think its a bigger deal. i think it'll be a kind of cool social experiment. not because races are competeing against each other, but just to see who makes a big deal about it and how it changes the interracial behaviors of people vs. how they normally act in their everyday unsegregated lives.
yay survivor. p.s. i used to go to vassar college, and that's where Ethan (the winner of Survivor Africa) went to school and so he visited and i saw him and he is amazing and the best survivor ever!

Ethan was my favorite of all the winners.  He seems like such a nice, honest person.  He played the game well and I didn't think he was ever decietful or anything toward the other players.  He was the most deserving winner, IMO. 

I said I wasn't going to watch this season because I think Terry got cheated last time. :P  But here I am watching again.

Anybody else think it was a bad move for the Latino tribe to throw the challenge?

Anybody else notice that the fattest people are getting voted off first?

LOL!!  I didn't notice until you said it!  Did they throw the challenge?  I had it on, but we were cleaning the kitchen and I couldn't hear what was going on.  What was with the white girl/hispanic guy saying I love you?  Did I miss something?

I don't think the cameras picked up on it or else they'd have edited it in -- and I don't know if he was just making that up either, a desperate attempt to stay in the game???

Yeah, that Ozzy didn't like Billy who got voted off and schemed with the others to lose the challenge so that they could get rid of him....  but that christina, the cop, didn't like it and now doesn't trust ozzy

There appears to be dissent within each tribe now, except the african americans seem to be working better together - although I think they would have lost if the other team hadn't been trying to throw the challenge - they were catching up even as they were lollygagging....  I don't know, but I think not losing last night might have helped the african american team get some confidence or something - maybe on the next challenge they won't be as nervous or something

I was gonna root for the underdog, but I honestly don't feel comfortable rooting for any of the teams at this point -- I don't want to cheer for any one race at the expense of others.... *shrug*

Well I was glad Yul found the idol.  I think I'm liking him the best so far.  I can't be racist because I really don't like anyone on the white team! Except for maybe the guy that went to Exile Island last week.  He seems to have the most common sense.  The white people all seem really lazy, especially the two girls and other guy.   

Yeah, I thought it was cool that he found the idol too -- it sure didn't seem to take him that long!

I agree about the white team too, Raro -- the young ones are sorta lazy -- why is sleeping on raised bamboo better than the ground?  Duh!

If I was the older common-sensical guy, I woulda made a bamboo platform big enough for me and let the others sleep on the ground... 

That's what Joe said!  I'm sure bamboo would be hard to sleep on, but it's got to be drier.  And remember that one season where the camp flooded and soaked the shelter and their blankets?  If that happened to this tribe, they'd be begging him to build them a bamboo floor!