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Survivor is just a game |
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| Nipawin - By Mario deSantis, July 21, 2000 |
 In the evening, I take some fresh air and take my dog for a run. And even the hype created by the CBS TV show Survivor hasn't deterred me from my evening routines. But at home, for my wife and grown up sons, this new show has created a craving interest for the whereabouts and lives of the people left on the island.  The show
lasts thirteen weeks and follows the experiences of the sixteen original people who
are stranded on a remote island in the South China Sea, supposedly without food and
water. These people play games for getting along with each other, and at the same
time they struggle against each other for having their competitors voted off of the
island until only one person is left to win the prize of a million dollars.  When the show was first aired, my son James commented that the show would be a laboratory for the many sociologists interested in human behaviour. However, we must not forget that the objective of the show is to entertain the TV audience, make money and increase the rating of the TV network. People on the island are not out there in the jungle without food and water, in fact they have an unlimited supply of rice and fresh water, and their behaviour is not a natural behaviour but an orchestrated behaviour programmed by screen writers and producers.  That is, the people in the island are actors and their overall acting such as eating rats, having sex or backstabbing each other has nothing to do with survival and real human nature, rather, their overall acting has the purpose to create an environment of suspense and trigger the curiosity of as many TV viewers as possible. The last survivor will win one million dollars, while others will have more notoriety and if lucky they will have a spot either on Playboy magazine or on Dave Letterman's show. Let us remember that in real life and at the time of need, people would rather get together and share their resources rather than compete and backstab each other. Survivor is just a game and it is not a human laboratory. |
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Some of the Survivors: Rudy, Gervase, Sean, Greg and Richard |
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Susan, Kelly, Jenna, Colleen, Ramona |
| Resources: |
The pictures on this page were borrowed from USA Today, website and blended by Ensign. |
You might find it interesting to visit CBS's website and check out the hype on this TV series. |