I am not sure if anyone else
has noticed this, but Survivor has mimicked the death of the US congress, but
at a speed that makes it easily understandable.
.
Hear me out.
.
In the early Survivor episodes,
they people worked together to find food and survive at the base level. Make fire, find edible plants, raise
chickens, fish, etc. Even though they
fought at challenges and argued by the daylight, they still got together and
worked to survive (remember the rat being cooked – or the pig that was
slaughtered?).
.
 |
| Typical Bully Type Invited Back Again and Again |
But the politics of
double dealing and surprising ousters was more entertaining than
“surviving”. Just like (in Congress)
grandstanding and chest-thumping makes for better TV than passing legislation
and fixing things.
.
So the game slowly
morphed into an “intellectual” game (they
use the term intellectual to mean emotionally stunned pissing contests in both
Survivor and Congress). We got more
talk about game playing. To facilitate
this change, the producers gave them enough food to live. And live easily.
.
This means that the
skills in getting things done (like fishing, knowing the right foods, making
fire) are less important over time. As
more and more food is introduced, even competing in challenges has become less
important.
.
The skills that are
important now are the ability to intimidate others. It used to be influence, but the producers
have shown that intimidation is powerful and rewarded (the biggest bullies are
invited back again and again). Being
terrible to others is great TV.
.
 |
| Prototypical Congressional Bully |
Now, isn’t Congress just
like that! (No question mark because it
is a rhetorical question). The people
getting Face time on FOX or NBC or CBS are not those that do the dirty work of
actually legislating. The loudest
bullies dominate the airwaves. And,
since they seem to dominate, their constituents vote for them.
.
It is pathetic.