“Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.” Frank Herbert
Feeling Survivor
There are lots of topics covered bloggers write about Survivor. Some scrutinize editing. Some discuss strategy and others talk about their favorite players and why they are the greatest player since Brian Heidik. This blog is not about any of those subjects… well not about any of those subjects without touching on what is touching about them; or what is annoying or what is uplifting.
One of the reasons Survivor is such an entertaining show, is the same reason any good form of entertainment is excellent. Survivor elicits emotions from its viewers. This is very important. There are only a couple of reasons most of us choose to watch a television show and there is currently a lot of television vying for your valuable DVR space. The reasons are knowledge and entertainment. Survivor is definetly in the entertainment category. Any knowledge you gain from watching Survivor was layered into the show to increase the entertainment value. Survivor is a fascinating show to of its fans because of the many things that it does correctly. The producers of Survivor have been doing it well for 11 years.
Add video games, netflix, the internet as other options to your entertainment time, and the fact that you even watch Survivor means it entertains you on some level. What is it that entertains you and why do you keep coming back to Survivor, week after week, even if we all know that the remaining Zapatera tribe is going to be pagonged straight to redemption island; the most boring of Survivor situations. Even as we are in the middle of a pagonging we watch, waiting to see what happens. We become emotionally invested in our favorite players. We begin to hate their enemies and root against them. We cheer when something we like happens, and we laugh when the show’s jesters do something ridiculous. In short, Survivor plays on our emotions like any good for of entertainment should.
Which brings be back to the topic of this blog. I want to discuss how Survivor makes you feel. This will be an attempt aside logic and strategy, to get in touch with our feelings about Survivor. I believe that if we can getting in touch with how we feel about what we see on Survivor, we can determine what it is that the editors want to show us; and maybe what the editors do not want to show us. Because, all we really see of Survivor is what the editors want us to see. And once the editors throw in the music and cut the footage together, they are really just playing with our emotions. They do a good job at it.
With that, I am going to try and get in touch with my feelings about Survivor. Like some ultra-hippy new age psychic, I am going to search inside myself to find the answers to questions outside of myself.
I am watching Gabon for the first time. I am at episode 12 where Crystal is booted. Sugar wrestles with what kind of player she wants to be and she declares to Matty that she is a good person and she wants to be on the good side. I thought to myself “Yes! That is what I want too as a person. I want to be a good person and be on the side of good!” I wanted Sugar to win right there, knowing full well that Bob wins. How silly is that? I got so emotionally wrapped up in Sugar’s edited story that I forgot I knew the winner for a second wanted Sugar to win. My brain quickly kicked in and reminded me that Bob wins, and that it when it hit me. Bob is on the good side too. The rest of the episode is Bob being decent and level headed and siding with the good girl, Sugar. The editors wanted me to feel, when he wins, that a good guy won. Those manipulative bastards! My feelings about Sugar and Bob were not lying to me… the editing was telling me how to feel about the winner.
Let’s get into how I am feeling about Redemption Island and elements in general. For this first post, I am going to shotgun my thoughts out there. I expect to be feeling my way through episode by episode from here on out, but since we are more than half way through the season, I have a little catching up to do.
Redemption Island Theme and Twist
I am excited every week to watch the redemption island duel. The duel has been tense almost every week so far until the final pre-merge Matt versus Sarita duel. I had convinced myself that Matt was going to go back into the game again, so by the time it got to Sarita it was just a matter of time. Also, since we got Phil’s silly bushido rant the tension of the duel was blown. I already had picked Matt as the winner of the duel so the standard false lead-up that maybe Sarita could win felt hollow. I am a savvy Survivor watcher. I can read editing very well and the more they want me to be concerned that Matt is going to lose, the less I become concerned. Add the obvious editing about the foot to the silly Phillip rant and Matt’s supposed danger was false; and I knew it.
The week before on Redemption Island when Stephanie lost to Matt, I was really on the edge of my seat. The memory game was something that is luck unless you are an idiot; and then it is even more luck. Anyways, that duel had me excited that Matt might lose. You have that correctly, I was so convinced that there was no way Matt was not coming back into the game that the thought of Stephanie winning excited me. Most Survivor fans that know me, know I love spoilers. And when a spoiler is wrong, I love it. Yes, I actually root against spoilers being correct. Why? Because it is so damn exciting when they are! Now, I did not have any spoilers that said Matt was going to survive redemption island but based on the editing, I was absolutely convinced he was safe. During the Stephanie duel, I thought she might have a chance and I was ecstatic at that possibility. Of course, my original opinion about Matt’s editing was correct, however it did not stop me from cheering for Stephanie to win that duel.
Zapatera Tribe
Currently, I am pissed at this tribe. They are really, really begging to get voted out one by one and are doing NOTHING to stop it. Make a move already!! At the very minimum stir-up the emotions and drama around camp. They are too nice to Rob and his zombies. I would spend every waking hour in the Murlonio tribe bad mouthing them and trying to sow seeds of distrust. I would openly challenge Rob and call out what I see as his plan. What I would not be doing is what it appears they are doing right now, which is rolling over to be pagonged. I truly despise this type of game play. This type of pagonging should have died out during Survivor: Africa, but it is 19 seasons later and it exists.
Someone on the “Previously on Survivor…” facebook group said they wanted to see someone on Zapatera pull Marty from Nicaragua and promise to vote for Rob if he made it to the finals, just to throw a monkey wrench in his plans. I love that plan! Their lack of any kind of plan angers me, and if they do nothing like they have been I will be happy when they are gone. When they are done, at least we will have a game again. Unless…
Boston Rob
Yeah, yeah. Rob is a mastermind. He is the greatest. He is a genius. One nation under Rob… blah, blah, blah.
I have such mixed emotions about Rob in this season of survivor. The beginning of the season, I laughed at how easily he controlled his tribe. He was very entertaining and I was in awe of insights and game play. I am even more in awe with the power position Rob has built for himself this season. What this has done for the season however really depresses me. I feel really bummed out that these people are so blindly following Rob, that they will not even eat perfectly fine fish when all they have been living on is rice. The cult thing scares me to some degree. Any cult has always creeped me out, because I am rebellious by nature. I fear someone that can control another’s actions so completely that they seem to have lost any and all free will. At first, I did not like Rob at all for having done that to his tribe, but the more I have thought about it the more it is the rest of Ometepe that I am not liking. How could they be so dumb and such sheep??
So, with my anger at Zapatera and my sadness that no one but Rob seems to be playing the game, I can really only root for Rob right now. And that would be the case if I didn’t have Phillip to root for. Oh Phillip, I have many feelings for you, but I will save that for another blog post.
Before the next blog post, let me know how you are feeling... about Survivor only please. I am not your frickin' therapist!
deymann@earthlink.net
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