The New 'Survivor'—Divided Not By Race but By Class

By: Jessica Durando

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January 22, 2007

After "Survivor" received enormous criticism for last season's tribe division by race/ethnicity—and after advertisers such as General Motors bailed—the show revamped its plot to unify first before it divides. But dividing by race still seems to be its path.

The Paramount reality-TV series, which this week received renewal orders for two more instalments, claims to emphasize the importance of cultural diversity by featuring 19 castaways from locations spanning the globe.

Airing on Feb. 8, the "Survivor Fiji" cast of competitors includes men and women from places such as South Korea, Colombia, Venezuela and Hong Kong ranging in age from 23 to 54.

Geographic and age diversity were implemented last season alongside immediate segregation by race.

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This year, the castaways will set out as one tribe on the island, and by the third day, they will be split into two groups. The tribe that wins the first Immunity Challenge will return to camp with "copious resources," and the losers will return with only a pot, machete and water source, according to www.survivor.com.

The division will create a "have" and "have not" situation. But it is still a matter of contention whether the "have nots" will be made up of a certain ethnicity/race. The show's creator insists it will be decided upon the challenges, but judging from last year, who knows?

The show, which started out in 2000 with 16 people marooned on a remote island all trying to win the $1-million grand prize, has started to dip in approval ratings, so the show's creator scrambled to find a new edge by implementing the "ethnic-diversity" challenge.

An average of 17.7 million people watched the debut of "Survivor 13: Cook Islands," which was a significant drop from the 19.3 million who watched the debut of last spring's "Panama: Exile Island." Among total viewers, the show averaged 17.7 million, down 8 percent from the previous year's 19.3 million, according to Media Life Magazine.

The show turned off many viewers with its racial divisiveness. Some people feel the racial/ethnic division will continue, even taking on new forms.

"Next it will be straight vs. gays (lesbians) vs. bisexuals vs. transgenders. Then maybe well have Christians vs. Jews vs. Muslims vs. Scientology," said a blogger about Season 14, based upon last year's decision to divide by race. "There is enough tension about race in this country with out throwing sticks into the fire."

Another blogger feels the creator, Mark Burnett, is infusing another equally disturbing division for this season to up ratings—class divisions.

The blogger explained her utmost dissatisfaction with the show that plans to give one group material belongings and the other group next to nothing.

"This is an oversimplification of class structure in America, but nonetheless you have one group given all the material privileges of being upper-class, while you have another group expected to compete on the same level, and yet being given nothing and will end up having to 'pull themselves up by their bootstraps,'" the blog said.

Last season, certain contestants felt they were representing more than just their team—they were representing their entire race on national television. To learn more see, "Did 'Survivor' Live Up to the Racial Hype?"

Also, the show was heavily criticized for perpetuating instead of diminishing stereotypes by "selecting black contestants who perpetuate the stereotype of the 'crazy black woman' and 'angry black male,'" wroter a blogger from the Cincinnati Black Blog.

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