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Topic: The Reality Of Survivor (Read 313 times)

Insane 4 Survivor
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The Reality Of Survivor
« on: Jun 1^st, 2005, 3:28pm »

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Survivor Palau
The Reality Of Survivor

Commentary By Gayl Killough
May 23, 2005

They was an empty void Thursday night without a Survivor episode to watch. I dont think I even realized how much I was used to watching it until it was no longer there. I miss the tales of Tom, Ian, and the gang.

What is even more difficult to believe, is that Survivor Palau was my first time to ever watch Survivor. I had managed to stay away until this season. I had certainly heard about Survivor, but I did not think watching Survivor was for me.

It was almost a fluke that I even saw the first episode and I admit my interest in the show started out less than honorable. While flipping channels, Ian caught my attention because I thought Ian was cute and he looked like boyfriend material.
Eye candy has oddly become common enough that it no longer seems to be enough to hold my attention for very long anymore, but real guy, honest boyfriend looking cute is still rare. So I watched and then I also became hooked on the father-son relationship that Tom and Ian seemed to have. I could care less about the game at that point; I just found the show to be interesting.

As the show progressed, I also found a soft spot for some of the others, mainly on the Ulong team such as Bobby Jon, Stephanie, and Angie. It hurt to see them lose after a while. It also hurt to see Jeff hurt his ankle. I mean I really connected with his pain because I was watching that particular episode with my own ankle propped up on an ice bag. Ouch. Talk about Reality TV. I had managed to re-injure my ankle after struggling to recover for many weeks from a badly sprained ankle myself, and I was so angry at myself for being stupid.

Strangely I suddenly felt better knowing that at least I did not sprain it while being on Survivor. I felt bad that Jeff had to withdraw. This was before I knew the rules of the game and that someone could be worthless and still carried through. For me, it turned out that beating myself up over being stupid and my imagination were much worse than the actual physical injury at that point. I believe something similar happened to Jeff. Jeff should have stayed and let the game run its course. My own ankle felt fine the next day. That is also what sticks the most with me about the Survivor show itself. Mental breakdowns and imagination play a stronger role than physical ability, and not only is that true about the show, but I believe in real life as well.

The other thing that really sunk deep was how earlier decisions affected later decisions, even if they seemed innocent or small at the time, they wound up having results not imagined. Back to my ankle injury, I hurt it for real right before Christmas. Pure fluke too, while walking a little too fast on wet grass. It was over before I knew it was happening, but I knew it was really bad sprain, not a usual bad sprain, but one that was going to take a while to heal. That I was right about too. I also had to miss two days worth of work, and given that I did not have that many days to spare, I decided to cut my Christmas vacation by two days. It did not seem to be a big deal at the time.

The day then came to ride Greyhound home for Christmas, but Greyhound had to cancel my route due to a record snowfall. I did not make it home for Christmas day for the first time in my entire life. If I had left on the day I originally planned before I hurt my ankle, I would have been home on Christmas day. Innocent decisions can have an impact. However, I did go home the following weekend and had a great time, so maybe it was not such a big deal in the long run. At least I got to go home and have a Christmas; many people did not get that at all.

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"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day."
Frank Sinatra

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Re: The Reality Of Survivor
« Reply #1 on: Jun 1^st, 2005, 3:28pm »

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Back to Survivor, I think fans of the show could spend an eternity second guessing the players and the outcomes. What if Jolanda would not have been voted off, what if Stephanie would have been on Koror instead of Ulong, what if Ulong would have managed a win, what would Tom and Bobby Jon have been like working together, what if Ian had let less things slip out, the possibilities seem endless but interesting to think about.

The fact that players survive by not seeming like a threat holds true in real life too. I had no idea this show would be so reflective for me.

Growing up I remember how horrible I was at sports, much smaller than my classmates, and quite clumsy on top of it. Also I just dont care that much about winning, there are more important things in life.
However, I enjoyed playing for fun and to have the chance to move around after being cooped up in school all day. Surprisingly the guys would pick me for a team over the athletes. Here I am this small clumsy girl and they would pick me. (Girls almost always picked me last though.) I figured out that the guys picked me because there was no possible way I was going to beat them and I easily made them look good by comparison. In other words, not seeming like a threat helped me even then.

I was also enough of a team player that I did not want to embarrass myself or the team, so I realized I had to figure out ways to be a help to my teammates and that I had to play smarter than everyone else. That fact that I was small meant I could dive for balls on the ground faster, and I could play unexpected roles because I stayed in the perimeter of the main players, and had the time to look for opportunities. The way the challenges are set up on Survivor, I think might stand a chance after all. I like how the challenges combine different elements and it is not based on pure physical advantage and skills. Playing smart also helped Tom and Ian as much as their physical strength, if not more so. It also makes the show much more interesting as well.

The show also came full circle for me when Ian gave up second place and a chance for winning by choosing friendship over money. I was drawn to the show in the beginning because Ian seemed like boyfriend material and Ian seemed like someone I would want to know in real life. After the last show, I really wished I knew Ian in reality. Really wish. Not because of the money, but because true friends are worth even more than a million, they are priceless. I dont think Ian made the right decision and Katie did not seem like she was worth it, but Ian made the decision he felt he had to make, and I will probably always have a little bit of a crush on Ian because of it.

My first reaction when I heard about Survivor is how unrealistic it seemed. It was a silly game played by rules made up by some people, and it had nothing to do with reality or surviving on an island. But in reality, we constantly have to follow silly rules that are made up by other people, have to deal with people not always of our own choosing, and the most talented and brightest rarely seem to come out on top.

Survivor is more like reality than I originally gave it credit.

When does the next season start?

Gayl considers herself a jack of all trades and has too many interests. Gayl writes environmental legal documents for a living and hopes people find this commentary to be more interesting. Gayl likes to believe that being born on B.B. King's birthday means she was born to love the blues.
You can contact Gayl at [email protected]

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"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day."
Frank Sinatra