If you haven't heard already, the latest installment of Survivor will initially divide contestants by race: White, Hispanic, African American, and Asian. Host Jeff Probst calls this "just another chapter of a very public social experiment" - and I think that this is a good thing.When it comes to race, I think there should be more open debate. I'm compelled to watch this show more than any other Survivor, because I'm rooting for the contestants to buck stereotypes. The United States is a melting pot, and I'm hoping the new season shows that our society is moving towards a confluence of race - it would surely stand in stark contrast to the rest of the world.
I think it's easy for someone to say that this show should be pulled from the air - especially when their boiled-down argument is "Because racism is bad." I truly believe that political correctness is about as helpful to racism as George W is to Iraq. It's the ideas behind the words that need to be healed, not the words themselves. Censorship covers up the truth. If you can't tell what I'm thinking, how can you tell me why I'm wrong?
At worst, what this show is going to do is make us think. Make us talk. Make us disagree. It's okay to disagree, as long as, in the end, you listen to the other person's point of view. We're not robots. Yet.
This is officially my #1 show to watch this year.
3 comments:
Carlos Mencia already did this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EPoZQCZbjw
I watched Carlos Mencia this weekend.
Carlos Mencia = racist
Dave Chappelle = racial
Big difference.
I think they should let the local inhabitants field a team. Whenever the producers bring in one of the natives to show the contestants how to hunt, fish, or make fire, the contestants are all like, what? How'd he do that? I bet the natives would be good at the challenges, too, with the exception of spelling.
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