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'Survivor: Two Solitudes': Let's Do It!
Canada's copycats slow to jump on a hot concept.
Cook Island version was racially divided
Man is it ever great to be a part of this tech-savvy generation -- you dinosaurs born in the days before Canada went metric will never know what it's like to grow up with such a hyper-abundance of information at your fingertips. "Newspapers." Ha. I lost any need for newspapers when I started lining my bird's cage with blogs. When I want to know what's happening in my world, I needn't do anything more strenuous than check e-mail, and the good people at Yahoo! give me a list of hyperlinked headlines to keep me up to speed. Like the other day, when Ian Hanomanachronism and the rest of the non-web "journalists" were hung up on some nuclear family having lunch in Korea or something, I was fully aware that Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie had put their differences aside, and were seen hanging out again.
I'm so glad to hear that the girls have buried the hatchet; that is so hot. After Patty Hearst, Paris and Nicole are by far my favourite heiresses (people always ask how it is that Nicole's dad, run-of-the-mill pop singer Lionel Ritchie, became so enormously wealthy; they forget that he receives big-time royalties every time someone in Sri Lanka sings the country's former national anthem: Ceylon, honey/ Good times never felt so good). Their show, The Simple Life -- in which the two wealthy girls partake in the rough-and-tumble, work-a-day life of blue-collar heartlanders -- is one of the shining beacons of class-integration in beginning de siècle America. Now that the two pals are back arm-in-arm, this season promises to be their most realistic imitation of proletarian life yet: reportedly, they will be killed in Iraq. This is good news for us, since every successful American reality show yields a Canadian knock-off, and so it's only a matter of time before Ben Mulroney is downed for the cameras in Afghanistan.
But is it such a good idea for Canada to continue producing our own takes on America's reality TV? I'm not as sure as I once was, as recently as a paragraph ago. The fly in my ointment, as it were, is the new CBS venture, Survivor: Racism.
Survivor: Two Solitudes?
As you've no doubt read, or seen, or downloaded onto your iPod, this season CBS had made the controversial decision to divide the Survivor tribes by race. But by making a show about a single landmass upon which antagonistic clans divided by ethnicity engage in cutthroat competition and vote by skin colour, the show infringed upon a copyright held by the island of Manhattan. Most recently, the producers uneasily merged the tribes, without admitting their past mistake, or facing up to their racism; in other words, the show is a perfect microcosm for America.
And that's my point: how will we make a microcosmic Survivor: Racism for Canada? The white team will have to steal the island from the Native team by getting the Chinese team to build a railway across it. The French tribe will get off to a slow start because they get the instructions in English, but they'll make up for it halfway through by getting their team a sponsorship.
And what will that mean? You guessed it: subtitles. In other words, I won't be able to check my e-mail and text my friends while watching TV. And if I can't check my e-mail, then just how am I supposed to stay informed about the world around me? Merci beaucoup, globalization.
Charles Demers is a regular contributor to The Tyee. ![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
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gaulois
5 years ago
Comments on "'Survivor: Two Solitudes': Let's Do It!"
Hey that sure was a low blow on this French team sponsorship. You are out.
canary
5 years ago
Very cute, Charles! Such amusement to poke fun at ourselves or "try on the masta's clothes" to see what the american media flavour of the day looks like on us. Emulating U.S. media is really too, too lame! All the really good entertainers in the U.S. are former canadians,anyway!
Reality TV is about the common man having his/her turn at being the one to have 5 min. of fame.The internet is the media where the common person's ideas really shine. You can spend all day on this thing!
But I will confess that I love to watch Canadian Idol which pumps up the excitement about new canadian talent. But really that is a BBC original concept, so let's give credit where it's due.
Stop for a while at "The Corner Gas" station and experience the prairies. Then go to Quebec and maybe the Maritimes to get the flavour of a French culture that has a romantic sensibility that sticks to your soul. No kidding; they have Quebec pop stars there that everyone in Quebec supports that we in the rest of Canada have never heard sing before (unless you listen to Radio-Canada)Yes, I know our gilded golden Las Vegas diva,Celine is from the heart of Q. Funny thing is that the Maritimes and Quebec are a day's drive away from NY but have such a deep canadian sense about them.
Hey,why not learn to speak French and go to visit the other solitude, EH!
OUI! I live near Vancouver now and I teach French to Gr. 5's. One of the best experiences I ever had was getting language training and living with a non english speaking French-Canadian family in Chicoutimi, Quebec in 1990.
Let's face it folks; our two countries; Canada and the U.S. have grown up in tandem from similar stock and similar influences but also some unique contributors.
I hear tell that in the old Ashcroft theatre(B.C.) there are some pretty famous performer's American, Canadian and British signatures on the walls from the days that the CPR brought all sorts of entertainers through to small settlements to perform on stage.
I think we canadians can give ourselves a "cuddle pat on the back hug" We just don't realize how awesome we are!.
massromantic
5 years ago
when i first saw the promo for the newest survivor i was certain it had to be a joke.
i mean here, in 2006, are we really going to divide up people by race and make them compete against each other?
guess so.
the promo included a little jeff probst camera action, where he stated it was only natural for people to root [for competitors/teams] based on ethnicity.
apparently.
i just feel sorry for my future children, that's all i have to say.
darcy.mcgee
5 years ago
We're already doing this: one tribe is called Surrey and the other Richmond.
Moat
5 years ago
Mass Romantic,
Don't worry about it too much, it is natural to stick with what you are familiar with. It does not mean that one is racist, BUT instead, it reveals bias.
Read "Blink" by Malcom Gladwell for a easy to read discussion of this.
As canary, yeah we do have deep sense of Candian, but too many people look for divisions to seperate us - esp. Conservatives. Think about all the crap that has been shoved down our throats about "Western Alienation", "Distinct Society", and "Torontocentric". The Neo-Con way.... look for differences and exploit them for your own gain.
Let's face it, the Canadian Tire is Edmonston, New Brunswick, is almost the same as the one in Coquitlam. However, you can get served in both languages at the one in New Brunswick, and stop off for a McLobster at the McDonalds.