07 January 2008

Recap of Survivor China

This post contains spoilers. Please do not read if you do not want to know who won Survivor China.

Unable to control myself, I went on Youtube and watched the rest of Survivor China. Watching Survivor China on Youtube is a challenge because you have to try your hardest not to look at the pictures while you are searching for the correct episode to watch. This is because the pictures can give away who is being evicted thereby ruining the suspense.

While I was watching Survivor I was very quiet and didn't speak to my family. I was so obsessed with watching what was going to happen. I feel really empty now that I can't watch any more Survivor and I am thinking of buying or hiring DVDs because I can't seem to find any other episodes on Youtube. I have only watched three Survivor seasons so far, Survivor Borneo, Survivor Australia, and Survivor China. China and Borneo were probably the best. Australia is forgettable, so much so that for a while I even forgot I even watched it.

Gay Mormon flight attendant Todd won Survivor China. I wasn't very happy because he was a big liar. I like watching Survivor but all the dishonesty in the game leaves me feeling dirty afterwards. It is especially hard to see players who I thought were good turn bad. It seems as if anyone who is in a losing position always appeals to honor but once the situation changes and they are in a powerful position, they try to excuse their dishonest behavior by appealing to the law of the jungle and survival of the fittest. For example, when PG was evicted she spoke about how she was honest and was focusing on the game, but if she were so honest why did she throw an immunity challenge to vote Aaron out? The same happened with James. When the double kidnapping occurred, James and Aaron had their heads on the chopping block. When Jaime and PG threw the immunity challenge, James was angry, calling these women dishonest. However, James himself was dishonest when he lied to Jean-Robert about possession of the hidden immunity idols. When the tribes merged and he was safe with two immunity idols, he felt invincible and when his arrogant side showed, I was turned off. Courtney is another example. At the beginning she was the weak player and I had sympathy for her smallness and lack of strength, which meant she performed poorly in the challenges. However, towards the end when her alliance put her in a powerful position, she became very cruel by bagging lunch lady Denise, saying that she "sucks at life" and that people shouldn't have sympathy for her. All this reminds me of the saying that only the impotent are pure.

I fear that many who watch Survivor will believe that this is the way the real world operates and that they themselves need to behave deceptively if they want to be successful. One of the biggest myths of business and life in general is that it is a zero-sum game like Poker or Survivor. It is not. In real life or in business you generate wealth for yourself. In man-made games, you fight for the wealth that already exists, that is, the prize money.

No comments: