how much do you love/hate 'survivor'? if you don't say why, then whats the point.

-- the hurt (hmftb@hotmail.com), July 26, 2000

Answers

well then they shouldn't tag things with phrases like "as real as it gets" you wan't to know what as real as it gets? CSPAN!! i don't see that kicking ass in the ratings. 'tho if they added more ex- strippers . . . .

on an unrelated note, what's up wit the proliferation of "suggested by real events," you see tagged on things lately?

-- the hurt (hmftb@hotmail.com), July 27, 2000.

Sadly I do not fully agree with you on this one Hurt. Big surprise there, me disagreeing with you. However I feel that the executives are doing just what they promised by giving us "reality based TV." Just like a sensational made for TV movie is "based" on some real life event. It is not a true representation of that event and it doesn't ever use people who closely resemble the people who participated in the real life happenings. Example the movie "Quarterback Princess." Don't get me wrong I love Helen Hunt as much as the next person, but I have seen pictures of the girl that that story is based on and I can tell you she was not petite or terribly feminine. Why you ask. Because who is surprised to see some large athletic girl get to be a quarterback, no big whoop. and then there is no politics about her going on to be homecoming queen. In the end though at least we are seeing real people. They may be less real (or more perfect) than most of the people we know and they are certainly being placed in scenarios that would never just happen randomly to any group of people, but for me that is part of the appeal. I know that these people were hand picked for these shows, but ultimately there is no scirpt and they really don't know what they are going to be dealing with from day to day. All they know is that they are doing it with this fixed group of people. I do agree whole heartedly that some accountability to the people off the screen needs to happen. The staging for "tragedy" is getting out of hand. I wish Ruthie had run over the camera man when they watched her ride off drunk. I don't want anyone to have gotten hurt, but maybe she could have ruined the camera. I hear those things aren't cheap. So that is my opinion, it is worth what you paid for it.

-- Disagreeable Bee Grrl (beegirl@intersrv.com), July 27, 2000.

Okay, I've never watched "Survivor"... I've never even watched "Real World" (except for a few minutes when I was subjected to it by a co- worker) but I do have an opinion about these 'reality' shows. I think that most Americans' lives have become so hopeless and meaningless that people now have to latch on to what they perceive as success', which in these dismal days means celebrity.' Everyone can watch the ...millionaire... show and think it could be them, or watch Darva (I'm a complete moron) Conger become an overnight sensation for.... well, for being a complete moron. Couch-bound families, (watching on separate TVs in separate rooms) tune in to "Survivor", "Real World", "Big Brother"... to see how people interact with each other. What the fuck? Here's how the equation works: The media bombards me all day with the idea that celebrities' lives are more important than mine. Thanks to the proliferation of media outlets (ie... video cameras, web cams, ever present circling media and police helicopters vying for the same airspace... ) I can become a celebrity easily. Then my life will have meaning. You think I'm wrong? I heard that when one of the women picked to be on "Big Brother" was asked why she would submit to being watched like this said, "Cause then I'll be famous." !!! Look, I'm no better than anyone else.... mmmm well... maybe some.... but anyway, I'm having enough problems dealing with my reality, to bother about watching someone else's pretend reality. And that's the thing, isn't it? I dealing with my reality, not avoiding it. Not skipping off to idiot land to watch un-mediated talk shows. (Oh oh... I'm picking up speed...) And another thing... I find it to be the greatest of ironies that the masses are tuning in to this crap, to fill a void in their lives, a void I believe was put there when TV was created! I thought my family was disjointed when I was growing up, but we only had the one TV and the three networks, so sometimes we still did things together! (true... those were usually disastrous, but ... but we tried) I personally know several families that have TVs in every room, and... oh crap... I'm too depressed now to continue.... argh...........

-- Moak.... (msteckel@ix.netcom.com), July 27, 2000.