Scott Miller
Perspectives Assistant
This season, the creator behind the hit show, “Survivor” (premiering tonight at 8 p.m. on CBS), decided to put a new twist on the show by creating tribes based on different racial ethnicities. This has caused some uproar among critics, and viewers, but is actually a legitimate move.
This season there will be an Asian American tribe, an black tribe, a white tribe, and a hispanic tribe competing against each other.
However, the producers and host, Jeff Probst, have been very politically correct, mentioning the fact that the idea for racially divided groups actually came from a contestant during casting interviews.
The question is, why is everyone so up in arms about this show? It doesn’t condemn or commend any one group, and the fact that this is a show that is privately owned means that these people should be able to run their show any way they want.
In a teleconference from the location of filming (from survivorfever.net), Probst, said the producers were trying to open themselves up to not only a more diverse set of contestants, but also a more diverse viewership, in hopes of reaching out to their communities.
“We weren’t trying to stunt cast the show,” Probst said at the teleconference. “As far as people on the show, we are simply going to observe.”
This shows that exploiting stereotypes was not their intention, but the simple aim was to bring some more life and viewership to the show in its 13th season.
This is completely legitimate, especially since, as I mentioned earlier, the show is a private enterprise, and private owners should be able to do with their property what they want, since they aren’t injuring anyone.
If this plan fails, the owner, Mark Burnett, will be the one to take the brunt of it, losing money and stature in the show-biz industry.
However, if this proves successful, it will undoubtedly increase viewership and advertising, which means more money. Burnett and the CBS network are assuming that risk, and it in no way affects the public.
If Burnett isn’t endangering the public’s safety in anyway, then they should not be protesting and second-guessing his business moves.
Because that’s exactly what television is, a business.
Burnett obviously has a good reason to risk his reputation and money on this venture. Burnett has obviously proven himself the superior businessman compared to the average Joe, so who are they to contradict and protest what he is doing?
The protesters do not have any ground to stand on really, only that they think that it is wrong, for reasons they cannot articulate, because they have not given the producers an adequate opportunity to explain themselves.
The public does not even know if the show and its producers are perpetuating stereotypes because they have yet to see an episode. They do not have any examples of racist, or inflammatory situations, yet they still raise a stink about it.
The producers have been accused of simply doing this as part of a publicity stunt. Well, that is the point. The producers want to attract viewers through a fresh and original idea, which is a smart and logical point.
The producers and Burnett are not doing anything wrong. They are not doing anything to deserve the criticism and protests that they have been dealing with since they announced the new format.
Burnett and his crew are simply doing what they are supposed to: making money. They have not done anything wrong here.
They simply saw a new way to market their show to get more attention, viewers and advertisers.
09-14-2006