Oh by the way-remember the "ethnic" Survivor TV show?

[underpants]

I watched the finale last night after having missed 6-8 weeks of the show. You may remember that this season's show made news because they segregated the 20 contestants by race-Asian, Black, Latino, White.

There was quite a bit of discussion and of course Rush offered his opinion http://mediamatters.org/items/200608240003

Well guess what-the four finalists were:
Two from the "Asian tribe"
One from the "Latino tribe"
and One from the "Black tribe"

Seems they made a bond/pact when the first "merge" happened and they stuck with it. Though Yul was assumed to be the leader (more on this in a bit) they all said that all decisions were made as a group.

The funny part was that they all (Yul especially) were very direct about how they thought their diversity played a major role in their ability to continually overcome adverse situations: two (white) members of their tribe suddenly switched over to the other tribe creating an 8-4 advantage. After "the 4" were able to win anyway (Ozzie) they whittled down the other tribe until there was yet another merge, "the 4" were then outnumbered 5-4 but they (Yul) were able to get one guy who repeatedly "Turned rat" to go with them for one vote and after that they just picked off the opposition one by one. All of "the 4" made comments about how they at first didn't like the idea as it could reinforce negative stereotypes but how their alliance allowed them to see that they could make a statement about their race and the state of race relations in this country. They very openly talked about it.

Another funny part about coming back into the show is too see what the obvious thinking of the members was.

The white contestants very stereotypically acted...white. They never got together at least not to any lasting extent. They simply could not BELIEVE that "the 4" would stick together (surely one of them will turn on the others, right?) and they were just beside themselves that "the 4" stuck together. They openly ridiculed the two women for riding the guys' coattails but failed to realize the importance of the solidarity of the 4 votes in a block and the effect that had on the game.

Very interesting indeed.

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor13/

[marmar]

1. That's fascinating. The hubbub about that seemed to die over the season...

As much as I was disgusted by the concept of "ethnic" survivor, I love the thought of racist buffoons watching the show to have their supremacist delusions verified, only to see them shattered....
BTW, I'd love to see a liberal/conservative Survivor: DU vs Freak Republic, Mike Malloy vs Rush Limbaugh, Randi Rhodes vs Laura Ingaham, Keith Olbermann vs Bill O'Reilly.

[underpants]

2. They only kept the tribes by race for 3-4 weeks

meaning about two weeks on the island and then they very quickly changed it. I stopped watching just after that-not because of that but because of my TV preference "Earl" and "The Office". I see that this Survivor got very good ratings (leads into monster #1 "CSI")

It struck me as just another PR media thing but apparently the players held on to it at least the group of 4 did. It seemed to fuel them.

[treestar]

4. True, I bet Rushbo ignores it now but if the whites had won

it would have been a big deal.

[treestar]

3. I only see the ends of these - how did they start, with two tribes, which races

were together, or did they have four tribes?

I did notice that the effect was to have more Asians than normally are there.

Euro culture is very individualistic - it was interesting to see how these individuals actually did the right thing - normally the ends of these always have people admitting they have to betray someone in order to win.

It was fascinating that the Asian girl actually preferred to go to a contest rather than take the idol - she knew it would make it look like she was relying on relationships rather than skill. She admitted she relied on relationships to get that far.

I wonder that they don't make it a pure skill contest - I guess they think the American audience would be too bored by that - in reality the one with the most skill "deserves" to win. The social aspect is overrated - he who knows how to survive physically is going to "win" that in the real world.

[underpants]

7. Originally 4 tribes (by race) of 5 members each then in week 3..

Four Tribes Become Two
The four tribes are in for a surprise when they convene for their next challenge. To the shock and disbelief of all Survivors, Jeff Probst commands, "Drop your buffs. You have been living together as tribes divided based on ethnicity. It is now time to integrate." In a series of random selections, two new tribes are born. The Raro tribe now consists of Nate, Rebecca and Stephannie from the old Hiki tribe, Brad and Jenny from Puka, J.P. and Cristina from the Aitu tribe and Adam and Parvati returning to their home at Raro. The new Aitu tribe consists of Yul, Becky and Cao Boi from the old Puka tribe, Sundra from Hiki, Jonathan, Candice and Flica from the old Raro tribe and Ozzy and Cecilia returning to their old camp at Aitu. Anxiously the two new tribes depart for their new homes.

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor13/show/ep03/index2.shtml

This is where "the Aitu 4" got together. I couldn't remember the tribe name in the original post.

You are right about how this would have been hammered down had it been an all-white final. I would be willing to bet on that and I rarely bet.

The sad part was the way that all the white players shook their heads in a clearly condescending way towards the final 4.

[warrior1]

5. Because of the final three

Ozzie, clearly the winner in my book, lost out to Yul. I wish Ozzie the best of luck in the future.

[Bluebear]

6. But Becky received no votes anyhow.

So she didn't skew the results.

[warrior1]

8. I guess my thinking of

Ozzie would have taken Becky to the final two. I still don't understand Yul's winning. Does anyone know how the jury voted?

[Bluebear]

9. It was 5-4 but they din't reveal who voted how. nt

[aikoaiko]

47. This is the way I saw it.

The jury was evenly divided as to being impressed with Yul's social game and Ozzie's athleticism. That was a fair outcome. One of the most important parts of the game was Yul getting Adam's vote by voting off Jonathan before Adam and Parvarti. Adam hated Jonathan so much that he vowed to give Yul his vote in exchange for the favor. Adam kept his word, but he might have voted for Ozzie otherwise. I don't think Adam liked Yul that much.

[ellenfl]

13. i disagree. i think ozzie and yul tied. yul used his head where

ozzie used his body. i had a very hard time deciding who i would have picked.

don't worry about ozzie. i predict media in his future. he is just TOO cute.

ellen fl

[lectrobyte]

19. And with the $100,000 for coming in second, he can get that

education or continue his acting career.

[NYCGirl]

21. I'd bet on that, too. Ozzy is adorable! NT

[a kennedy]

24. Looked like he had gained some weight......

looked a little different.

[NYCGirl]

30. Still really cute, though. Those big, brown puppydog eyes! NT

[QuestionAll...]

32. isn't he cute tho, o my gawd, what a doll!

in fact the final four and most of the others were such beautiful looking people.

someone mentioned here how the 'whites' reacted to the win and I felt that arrogant nose in the air thing too - specially from adam and johnathan (not sure of names, two white guys) and uncomfortable snickering from others as well. Maybe I'm interrpetred this wrong, but that's what it seemed like to me. Haughty, what's the workd on of the judges (jonathan) used on Ozzy, = damn can't think of it - like assuming you deserve your good fortune. shoot - entitlment something. What corner out of that white guys ass did he pull that one off. Ozzy was not independtly weathy at all but his just being multi-talent Ozzy, the mexican, seemed to threaten jonny.

anyway, I'm rambling. Was surprised it was as good a show as it was - I haven't tuned in since the official first one.

[Norquist Nemesis]

38. Well, for me that was exactly why Ozzie WAS the winner

Yul let on early about finding the idol, and then when the tribes merged it was known by his tribe members plus Jonathon that he had it. From that point on, Yul wasn't a consideration for eviction because 'he has the idol'. The only time an attempt to expose the idol was made got the schemer evicted (Cow Boi sp?), pre-merge.

Ozzy had to go under the radar and not challenge or scheme any of the alpha players, while positively dominating in challenges to survive. Otherwise, he would have been gone due to the huge threat he posed (and he was fully aware of it). Yul, on the other hand, held his secret idol over the heads of the others and they followed like sheep.

JMHO. I was disappointed. *sniff* At least he got the car. LOL!

PS - I hate the questions that are, "What are YOU going to do with the million dollars if I vote for you?"

[ellenfl]

43. i HATE the questions! couldn't they come up with something

intelligent? it reminds me of the beauty pageant questions . . . and some of those answers are lulus!

ellen fl

[Norquist Nemesis]

44. Frankly, I don't see the point of the questions

Good TV? That's debatable. I'd rather see the jury locked in a room for 24 hours arguing and scheming/advocating and learning how they were stabbed in the back. LOL! But in reality (no pun intended), the finalists would have to be master manipulators to survive though a jury session based solely on the experience vs. their 'explanations' to questions.

Let them give a final comment to the jury, jury deliberates, votes inidivually in private, then the votes are revealed. :shrug:

[DerBeppo]

45. He's done softcore porn.

You might want to look that up if interested.

[gollygee]

10. Ozzy and Yul were my favorites

so I'm glad they were the final 2. Yul worked for Joe Lieberman at one point :/ ( http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor13/survivors/bio_yul.shtml )

I suppose it could be worse - he could have worked for a Repub. senator or something.

[seaglass]

11. I think that really simplifies what happened. The game would

have been very different if Yul had not found the immunity idol. It was the key turning point in the game and made the difference between the 4 being voted out by the numerically superior Raro or staying in the game.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the Aitu 4 and was routing for an Ozzie/Yul F2 for a long time but it wasn't their diversity that helped them win - it was the idol and it was the personality types of the 4. Yul was very clear that it was what was inside the people (the 4) that counted, not their ethnicity.

Lastly, they couldn't believe the 4 stuck together because strategically it made sense to force Yul to use the idol to even the playing field. Based on the result, they weren't necessarily wrong.

That being said - the white team really had no redeeming value.

[qanda]

18. I think the pure physical strength of Ozzy kept the tribe winning

Especially after the mutiny. I think Ozzy deserved to win, but I don't mind that Yul won.

[Arkansas Granny]

22. Those are pretty much my feelings also. Both of them played a

really good game with Yul having great strategy and Ozzie was just a powerhouse on the challenges. I was hard pressed to pick a favorite between those two.

[Squatch]

12. I am so burned out on Survivor

Up until last season, my wife and I watched religously. Then, during the first couple of episodes of this most recent season, we came to the realization that we really don't want to sit through another umpteen episodes of a gameshow that is just a rehashing of all the other seasons.

[treestar]

14. So true, I only see the ends generally, but that makes them look

all the same. They try a new gimmick each time, but it ends up the same. The competitors say the same things at the end. They had to make alliances at first then had to betray somebody. You can't win just by being the best at the games, you have to have this political/personal element going. Ozzie clearly deserved to win, as in reality he would have survived the longest, you really don't have to be a politician to survive in a jungle atmosphere.

The location sure was beautiful, though.

[Squatch]

15. Yeah, no kidding. I've updated my "places to see list"

to include the beautiful places Survivor has been filmed.

[Bluebear]

16. Not to mention "Amazing Race"

ooh, Iceland....wanna go there.
ooh, Helsinki....wanna go there.
etc etc etc etc

[ellenfl]

36. you can't just watch the end . . .

you have to have a stake in these people. it's just like becoming a nascar fan. until you learn about the personalities, it will mean nothing and be boring to you. the point of the show is that you invest something in these individuals and that you get to know them. otherwise, it is very boring.

i like this show better than idol or others that let the audience vote because the best person usually wins, not just the most popular with the audience. i quit watching idol after one season because the best singers were voted off by the audience.

ozzie's beard made his face look thinner. he shaved it off for the last show. he probably also put a little weight back on. he was VERY skinny at the end. he sure was a monkey running those obstacle courses tho'!

ellen fl

[npincus]

17. suggestion: next one should be Sunnis vs. Shi'ites vs Kurds

[spoony]

56. Doesn't CBS already have cameras in Iraq?

[BlackVelvet04]

20. I thought it was a great season for

survivor. I wanted Ozzie to win and I think he deserved to win because it was really his physical skills that kept that tribe going. Had Ozzie not fed them and won almost all the competitions it wouldn't have mattered what Yul did.

What was Jonathan talking about when he said Ozzie acted like he was entitled and came across as a little prince?

Jonathan is one weird guy.

I will admit Yul did a good job of helping the tribe stay together.

[Arkansas Granny]

23. There's no doubt the Ozzie's strength was a great benefit to the

whole tribe. However, if Yul hadn't convinced Jonathan to switch sides (again) when they merged, they would have been picked off one by one due to the other teams superior numbers. It took Ozzie and Yul both to win. One couldn't have done it without the other.

As far as Jonathan's remarks about Ozzie, I have no idea what he has talking about. Unless something happened that wasn't shown to the viewers, I didn't see anything to support his statements.

[BlackVelvet04]

28. And I can't argue with the fact

that Yul swinging Jonathan to their side was important. Although, I thought there was another way they could have evened up the numbers.

I can't remember the names of the tribes, but the week Yul got Jonathan to switch they could have done something else. One of the members of Yul's team could have encouraged the other team to vote Yul out. Then Yul's team could vote for a member of the other team. When Yul pulled out his immunity idol the member of the other team would have been out and the numbers would have been even.

[qanda]

34. But if it wasn't for Ozzy's strength in the challenges after the mutiny

There wouldn't have been a conversation between Yul and Jonathan.

[underpants]

25. Ozzie was the best competitor the show has ever had

the first "spider web" challenge was incredible. He was bounding across those nets like it was second nature. That one shot of him going across the netting and then taking a hard right (on one bounce mind you) and then heading up the shoot thingie was amazing.

The part that I had watched had one competition in which it looked like he was running across the water.

[BlackVelvet04]

29. Not only was his physical abilities

unbelievable, he seemed to be fearless.

[donsu]

31. yes he has brain and brawn - amazing man

nt

[qanda]

35. I love Ozzy

If I wasn't married.... Lord have mercy. That man is awesome.

[NYCGirl]

37. BTW, cutie Ozzy was on a Playboy Channel show — and there are some pretty

interesting filmclips and full-frontal stills going around the internets. I won't give you the URLs here — and they are really not safe for work — but just Google "ozzy lusth" and they'll show up.

He's REALLY awesome.

[ecstatic]

42. I think so too. Yul had lots of lee way, having the Idol and all

All his BS talk about being a great strategizer is just that--BS. Without the Idol, Yul would have received his walking papers long ago.

One thing though, why was Ozzie trying to look like Joey Lawrence? He needs to find his own look.

[underpants]

51. That's it

I knew he reminded me of someone during the reunion show and that is it

WHOA!

[Paranoid Pessimist]

26. I have a feeling Ozzie will be back

the way they did for Rupert. They'll find a way.

[Ganja Ninja]

27. I'd love to see a religious "Survivor".

They could put several groups of religious fanatics in the middle of Baghdad and literally see who survives. That would be must see TV.

[ecstatic]

40. definitely!!!!!!! "My God is better than yours!!"

I can just see it now. That would be the most controversial thing to ever hit TV.

[Virginia Dare]

46. The Buddhists would blow everybody else away imo...n/t

[Ganja Ninja]

48. My money is on the Jews every time. n/t

[aikoaiko]

33. Survivor is more about surviving the vote than surviving the contests/elements.

In organizational sciences, they differentiate between task leadership and relationship leadership. The Yul-Ozzie-Becky-Sundra alliance benefited from great relationship leadership (Yul) and Task Leadership (Ozzie). Becky was no slouch either athletically or intellectually. Sundra was the weakest of the four but had the good sense to stick tight. They all had the good sense to not break their alliance to one another. That helped them get to the final four but it all but guaranteed Yul and Ozzie would be in the final two (or as it happened the final three).

I liked the race divisions in the beginning because it showed something important -- the even within the minority groups -- the same evil plots and machinations developed against the weaker players within each race. The same harsh feelings and exploitation happens within race groups as happens across race groups.

[peacebaby3]

39. LOL. Everybody turned on everybody else. Race played no role

in this game except that alliances that were made in the beginning were between people of the same race because the show divided them that way.

The "Hispanic" team threw a team competition so they could go to tribal council to vote out Billy. All of the other members besides Ozzy were voted out rather early in the game. He would have been voted out much earlier if he wasn't beneficial for the rest of the tribe in getting food and then kept winning immunity.

The "African-American" team had no problem throwing each other under the bus. They voted out each other easily when the racially divided tribes merged. Sundra, who made it until nearly the end had an alliance with Becky and Yul from the original "Asian" tribe.

The "white" team split up too. They would have voted each other out to win.

The Asian team had no problem voting out Cowboi, Brad, and Jenny. The only reason Becky stayed with Yul was because she knew he was her way to stay in the game. Yul had the immunity idol, if he had not, he would have been voted out long before because he was a threat just like Ozzy.

I guess all the other races "stereotypically acted...white" as well. Hmmm...talk about a racist comment.

This is a GAME. That's why I don't understand the hatred for Jonathan either. He was playing the game just like all the other people. There wasn't one person who didn't lie to another person while there. Anyone who signs up to play survivor since the first season knows how this game works and shouldn't do it if they can't handle it.

Ozzy should have won because he was left alone with no alliance and no leverage to pull people his way. He survived by being superior to all of the other people. If Yul hadn't had the immunity idol he wouldn't have been there. The only credit I can give him is that he got Adam to vote for him in the end by going after Jonathan. Adam must be the biggest idiot around since he knew he was going to be voted out anyway, but then he had promised his vote to someone. Ozzy would have won if it wasn't for that idiot.

What this seasons Survivor really showed was that race plays zero factor when it comes to pride and greed. In the end, we are all the same.

[ecstatic]

41. Rupert purposely put together a weaker black team

As far as physical strength and youth. I really didn't appreciate that.

[JacksonWest]

49. Rupert who?

Not Murdoch. It's produced by Mark Burnett, and runs on CBS(Viacom). Do you mean the former contestant?

Also, The African-American tribe outlasted the white tribe.

[ecstatic]

50. oh yeah... him

I just wish the ages and physical fitness levels were evenly matched across all tribes.

[LoZoccolo]

53. You were so sure it was Rupert LOLZ!!!!1

it might still be i don't have the proof you do LOLOLOL!

[ecstatic]

54. I dunno. All British/ foreign racists seem alike to me

:sarcasm:

JUST KIDDING!

[LoZoccolo]

55. this is my impression of how the truth hurts a lot

OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCHLOLOLOL!

[LoZoccolo]

52. I knew the white people would lose lolz!!!!!11

I don't like to get together with other white people either ROTRFFFLLLM
aAAAAO!