Survivor: let the stereotyping begin!
CVK
“Survivor: Race Wars” kicked off last night. I did watch it for MMW’s sake but I have to admit I fell asleep towards the end there. Sorry, I don’t really see the appeal of the show. I guess I’m more a Project Runway kind of girl. Thankfully, others were paying closer attention than I was, as you’ll see below.
My one observation is that Cao Boi (long-haired, bearded Asian dude) is already shucking and jiving to the fullest for the cameras. I’m sure America will love him 
Especially because his name is pronounced so it sounds like Cowboy and he knows how to cure headaches by rubbing out the “bad wind.” VH1, give this man his own reality show! Maybe he can be the Asian answer to Flava Flav!
Ben Hamamoto, writing in the Nichi Bei Times, analyzes the media coverage of the Survivor controversy. Jen and I share with him what we think is missing from the discussion:
What Carmen and I have been trying to message throughout this whole debacle is that this issue speaks to a larger problem with the way the U.S. deals with and talks about race,” Chau explained. “We have a tendency to pit groups against one another (e.g. black vs. white, us vs. them) — what we should be talking about is how ‘Survivor’ fits into this larger, problematic dynamic… We rail against the specific offense without ever really diving into the larger problem at hand.”
Jenn at Reappropriate live-blogged the show and did a fantastic job of pointing out how already, racial stereotypes are being confirmed:
And then the Black women have “Black woman drama” and the Black guy is shown “being lazy” because he takes a nap on a bamboo sheet while the women busy themselves with trying to start a fire. Yeah, this show is really going to be challenging stereotypes.
…More stereotypes — the “sorority chick” immediately throws herself at one of the Neanderthal-ish frat boys “because it’s cold out”…
Next episode: Cao Boi makes anti-Asian jokes, making him the most self-hating yet stereotypical Asian man on television, while a large Latino man is lazy.
Christopher Bracey, writing at Blackprof.com, also points out a number of stereotypes:
…the producers trafficked heavily in stereotypes – at least to my eyes. The communal and cooperative Latinos. The Asian refugee with mysterious healing powers. The lazy African American male. The chivalrous white male. ..
justin wrote:
Did they give any explanations for the tribe names? They are named after islands, but Rarotonga is the big populated island and the abbreviation raro is kinda derogatory. Raro is a brand name for a powdered drink like kool-aid. Apparently Manihiki is famous for its black pearls.
Posted 15 Sep 2006 at 11:37 am ¶
John wrote:
In his article, Ben wonders if the people producing the show are just “out of touch white people.”
Isn’t that a stereotype … that all white folks are ignorant about race? He should be more careful about how he categorizes people.
Let’s be honest. Everyone will — at some time — do something that fits the mold of a “stereotype.” And they will also do many things that DON’T fit a commonly held stereotype.
I only saw the last 45 minutes of the show but I thought it was as balanced as a goofy show like Survivor can be. For example, is it a stereotype that the Asian-American group put its puzzles together first? I don’t know … they also seemed to be very strong physically. To me, the first was a random happening … the second is very anti-stereotype.
Of course, how you view these events depends entirely on your own biases, and the bloggers cited in this post all had their minds made up long before Thursday night. They were SEARCHING for stereotypes and watching the show in a way few people do.
No matter what Mark Burnett portrays, it will be wrong in their eyes.
Posted 15 Sep 2006 at 12:12 pm ¶
site admin wrote:
“Of course, how you view these events depends entirely on your own biases, and the bloggers cited in this post all had their minds made up long before Thursday night. They were SEARCHING for stereotypes and watching the show in a way few people do.”
John, that’s exactly the problem we have with this show. It sets up a situation where everyone will find a way to confirm whatever stereotypes they happen to believe in.
People who think that blacks are intellectually inferior to Asians will proclaim that they were proven right because the black team came in last in the puzzle challenge, while the Asian team came in first.
People who believe white women are sexually promiscuous will proclaim that they were proven right because the white woman made a big production of cuddling with her male teammate.
It’s a no-win situation, and it’s one that should have been avoided altogether. –CVK
Posted 15 Sep 2006 at 12:23 pm ¶
mtevc wrote:
i think the illustrious leader here of the site is right…so, you have to ask: what is the point of a show like this one?…answer: it’s there just to incite…to play on that race issue we have in this country, and to win ratings…ugh…i am turning on the discovery channel or the food network…at least that’s ok…
geez, if we had some decent leadership in this country, we’d have a president who would come on tv and state plainly the major issues keeping americans behind…1) a lack of depth (illustrated by our over-interest in reality shows, tv and movie stars, and our lack of knowledge about local, state and federal issues)…manifested in short attention spans, a drop in the number of Americans going to grad schools, and the rampant materialism and waste (from energy to trash to more) 2) racism/anti-immigrant sentiment (that keeps us from feelings as a nation) 3) drugs (legal and illegal) 4) short term goals in Corporate America (all for the large stockholders and exec boards, but layoff the American worker to cost cut/it’s undermining innovation and the American worker’s standard of living and morale)…sorry to vent, but i am so sick of the world’s fascination with survivor, when most people can’t even name the secretary of state
Posted 15 Sep 2006 at 3:55 pm ¶
John wrote:
Carmen:
Isn’t it also possible that people will see something that challenges a preconceived notion? By starting off with the teams divided, it will be easier to see the full range of individuality contained in each group.
Re: the fear of stereotyping …
You can’t avoid stereotypes — they exist in all forms of life, not just race. Jocks are dumb. Computer people are nerds. Old people can’t learn things. Suburbanites are boring. The list goes on and on.
Heck, many of your readers have stereotyped me just by my comments.
Even if the teams weren’t divided by race, you’d still have the potential for stereotyping. What if there were integrated teams and an Asian guy helped his team solve the puzzle, or an African-American woman helped her team win a physical challenge?
The fact is, sometimes Asians do smart things and sometimes African-Americans do athletic things. Is that life, or is that a stereotype? If it’s a stereotype, then the NBA and NFL are more a threat than this season of Survivor.
I read about 15-20 reviews of the first episode from TV writers and columnists across the country. Surprisingly, most were very positive about the show and its portrayal of the four groups. Not all, of course, but the positive reviews far outweighed the negative. I’m sure someone could find something negative with those results, but to me it shows that the first episode, at least, wasn’t as inflammatory as so many said it would be.
Posted 17 Sep 2006 at 5:30 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
John:
Stereotyping someone usually happens BEFORE they open their mouth or you know anything about them. While I don’t like the harshness of a few comments directed at yourself, to which you refer, you can’t claim that people are “stereotyping” you based on written comments when this is a blog in which written comments ARE the way we know anything about someone else. Noone is judging you on appearance or profession or whatever.. they’re judging, right or wrong, on what you say. Not the same.
>The fact is, sometimes Asians do smart things and sometimes African-Americans do athletic things. Is that life, or is that a stereotype? If it’s a stereotype, then the NBA and NFL are more a threat than this season of Survivor.
Yeah, see, that kind of comment? Shows why stereotypes are a problem.
Do you care WHY there are so many more pro athletes of certain ethnicity/background in certain sports (hint: it’s NOT the home of their ancestors, but other complex real-life socioeconomic factors). For every 1 Asian person in Mensa or 1 African-American pro baller, there are thousands (no really, thousands) of average people who get that stereotype or are expected to somehow uphold their “race” by conforming to that 0.001 percent.
Damn. I hate nausea before bedtime…
Posted 17 Sep 2006 at 8:14 pm ¶