Friday, August 25, 2006

'Suvivor' Plays the Race Card

In a desperate attempt to boost its falling ratings, Survivor has decided to split contestants into teams based on their race. There will be four teams; Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, and Asians. Needless to say, this is just asking for trouble.

If the goal of Mark Burnett was to get attention for the new season, then by all accounts, he has succeeded. But let's face it: If anything "racially charged" occurs, you can bet that CBS will make sure it doesn't go to air. Basically, the concept is just to get notice while that actual episodes, will be very controlled for fear of losing sponsors.

Still, after years of witnessing how dividing races can lead to problems such as a Civil War, Burnett could have come up with something better. For example, why not make teams based on nationality. You could have a Team Canada, Team USA, or Team Mexico. It doesn't have to be countries. Teams could also be divided by states or areas of the U.S. (Midwest, North, South, Westcoast, Eastcoast, etc). If it was done that way, audiences would tune in and cheer on their team. It would be a sense of national or state pride.

Regardless, I'm still not watching the program.

The Hek

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