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Trying to survive the summer of 'Survivor'
By Deborah Taylor-Hollis
If you were like more than half of the households who watched television this summer, you watched the summer filler show Survivor, starring 16 people on a deserted island in the South China Seas. I watched it all summer long (missed just 3 episodes), and, amazingly, so did my son.
At first, he just wanted to watch the people eat bugs (any respectable 7-year-old would find this fascinating, aside from the obvious "gross" factor). But as time went on, and we watched the various challenges, the hardships, and the rewards come into play, we found that the show gave us literally hundreds of opportunities to talk about the important stuff.
Responsibility, fair play, friendships, hard work, weather patterns, revenge, trust, fair play, fishing, appearances and how they affect how you are judged by others, to name just a few.
We talked about how the cameras were following these people all the time, and that greed was the driving force to putting up with all that hardship.
My boy began to form some interesting opinions of his own.
He decided that grown men who fish all day and don't catch anything are lazy (a simple and logical move for a kid to make) and that people who talk bad about people may not be worthy of his trust.
Americans made some interesting observations about human nature themselves after the 39-day odyssey with these diverse people. The belief that the younger people would automatically throw off the older people held true for the first 2 weeks--but only due to the physical challenges they could not master and that the groups needed to avoid "the vote."
Being rude and honest paid off much more than being kind and friendly but insincere in this version of Lord of the Flies as well. Two of the most cantankerous members, Sue and Rudy, made it to the final four, and, although he lost, Rudy, the 76-year-old Navy Seal, proved to be the most beloved due to his outspoken honesty about his feelings. He may have disliked women, gays, and young people, but he would tolerate them for team behavior, and try to find points they had in common for his own good as well as the common good.
His reward was not only being invited into the alliance, but also receiving more accolades from viewers than any other castaway.
My son found the backbiting and gossip mean and unkind, and was not sad to see the worst offenders go. He also noticed that just because someone won a physical challenge didn't mean that they were safe when the vote came around. He took that to mean that being good at sports and outdoor activities was fun and good, but that you also had to have something nice inside you- he learned about substance. We laughed together watching these people try to stay dry, clean, and fed--another gross out moment that no self respecting boy in America should have missed.
When the castaways lost a food challenge and resorted to cooking rat for dinner he got a whole new understanding for appreciating what mommy cooks. The 'eeews' and 'yuuucks' were funny, but underneath, he thought about how hungry you had to be to do that. When iguanas ate most of the 3d chicken and the castaways cleaned it off and ate it anyway, he understood just how important respecting food was. I haven't had an open refrigerator door since.
There were moments when the conversations turned to adult themes, and we either talked over them, or he ran short errands for me, but these were few and far between. Even Rich doing his "fat nude guy" thing was fodder for his education. We had a chance to discuss if that was acceptable (not in public, but OK on the island) and how it made others feel. He's now much better at getting dressed in the morning, and I don't have to yell, "Put some clothes on!"
The best part of all this was that we had the first show in years with no sexual overtones or double entendres, no violence or serious anger, and no chases or stupidity. We found a show we could watch together, root for people, laugh at the gross stuff, and use as a launchpad to really talk about the important things. We also decided that it's smarter to try to join Regis if you want to be rich. Eating live grubs is way gross.
We also have a new catch phrase when we get in trouble. We don't just apologize anymore. We beg, "Please don't vote me off!"
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
