 |
|
|
Survivor is too much like real American life, to be entertainment for me. I promised a few days ago on the Round Table that we'd talk about this show. I'll be curious to see what you have to say and how you reacted to my fellow Western NY native Rudy's late and frustrating exit from the castaway pack. Let me open, though, by saying we should have seen it coming. Richard Hatch portrayed himself quite accurately as a scheming, manipulative game-player, using both the rules and the people around him...and that, he said quite openly, is what's needed to play the game. He was right. He won. He's now a millionaire with a fancy new car and a world of possibilities open to him. And you know what? You can make a good argument that he's the perfect metaphor for success in America today. You may need to be self-centered, manipulative, always looking for the opportunity to twist and bend the rules (without ever being caught actually breaking them) and use other people to your own advantage if what you're looking for is the grand prize. And if nice guys get bumped off in the process...oh, well... Is that just something you shrug your shoulders and accept, even joining in the game for your own self preservation on the job and in your private relationships? Or is it all starting to make you tense, even angry--have you had enough? Does seeing it right before your eyes for 13 weeks in prime time on TV finally convince you how ugly and futile it all is for most of us--knowing that for every winner, 15 more of us will end up losers? We're seeing it every day even in politics. The Bush campaign test-marketed a deceptive ad in which an Al Gore interview about the Ollie North senate run in 1994 was made to look like a discussion of the Lewinsky affair, and call Gore's honesty into question. Then they yanked it back, ADMITTING it was deceptive and unfair, but not before getting it talked about and aired for free on every morning news show in the country. Couldn't have gotten that much exposure for their message if they'd gone ahead and bought those millions worth of air time, could they? It's playing by the rules, Richard Hatch style, isn't it? Maybe HE ought to run for office next time out...after all, when it comes to the game of Survivor that politics in America has become, he's already proven he's the master of the tribal council, hasn't he? 'Til next time... Bob |
 |
 |  |
 |  |  |  |  |  |