Racial divide doesn’t change ‘Survivor’

Still the same ‘Survivor’
What’s clear now, however, is that because of the cast’s overall diversity, the show actually helped guard against the typical type of reality television stereotyping that often occurs because there are so few non-white people.

That’s certainly been the case with every other season of “Survivor,” which has been predominantly white during its first 12 seasons. This season, however, it is now much more difficult for ignorant viewers to link the behavior and appearance of certain cast members. If one person behaves in a certain way, there are others of the same skin color and background who may act completely differently, and make generalization impossible.

That said, it’s also unfair to ask five people to represent anything more than themselves. If all five members of one tribe do act in a similar way, or express a certain point of view, that doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone who shares their race behaves in the same way or thinks the same thing.

After three weeks of debate, outrage, defensiveness, dismissiveness and curiosity, some people will be content. Others may be horrified. But in the end, how viewers interpret the show may say more about them than about the show.

Those who pretend that race does not matter in our society and world may use the events of this season as evidence which permits them to continue to hold tightly to their ignorance, while those who have experienced racism and hatred in powerful ways may find illustrations of that in this episode or in those to come.

“Survivor” placed race at the forefront of viewers’ minds by dividing the tribes this way. At the end of the first episode, however, what’s most evident is that “Survivor” remains the same game as before.

Andy Dehnart is a writer and teacher who publishes reality blurred, a daily summary of reality TV news.

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