Since my original comments on this years Survivor, I've done alittle more research.
I like to go to the authorities on such matters so I emailed my cyber-friend Val. Val not only is a die-hard fan, she belongs on Survivor. The girl lifts weights, spins, takes care of 2 children and her mom and is an awesome wife and does all successfully. She is a born winner. When asked her thoughts on this years plot twist, she said:
"The four tribes will be divided into tribes consisting of Blacks, White, Hispanic and Asian. It will be interesting to see if those who make it to the merge will stick with their formor tribemates. Many think that CBS is wrong for doing the whole race tribe thing. I don't think so. I think it is just a way to twist the game. They have to do something to keep the game fun to watch."
I then ask her if she will be tempted to "root" for one tribe as opposed to an individual and she said:
"For me, I always pick one or two people that I will root for, thus I will root for that tribe. So, I am basically blind to race."
Other comments from those not an authority but definatley worth listening to have said:
"Survivor delivered an exciting and entertaining hour," critic Aaron Barnhart wrote for the Kansas City Star. "And the first results from the racial groupings seemed to vindicate the show's producers."
On Blogcritics.org, TV editor Jackie decided, "Okay, this looks like a good cast! I don't care how they're split up. It's great to see real diversity on the show!"
USA Today's Robert Bianco, however, was alternately offended and bored. "The show actually invited us to judge these players on an ethnic basis," he wrote. "Yet the ridiculous and oddly comforting thing about the premiere is that for the most part, if you closed your eyes and ignored the random references to ethnicity, you would never have known there was anything special about this Survivor."
More than one reviewer noted that the only racial stereotyping going on in Thursday's episode came from within the segregated tribes, not between the segregated tribes, who as, Bianco pointed out, rarely interacted anyway.
"There was little indication that the season had become what some have branded Survivor: Race War," Andy Dehnart wrote for MSNBC.com.
Agreed David Bianculli in a three-star review in the New York Daily News: "Dividing tribes along ethnic lines was just another way to keep the game fresh, introduce a new variant and get attention--all of which worked. Racist? It sure didn't seem like it to me."
In more mundane Survivor matters, Sekou Bunch, a 46-year-old jazz musician from Los Angeles, became the first X'd-out Cook Islands castaway.
