A reality show based on the simplistic notion that several strangers, when forced to coexist, often find themselves in conflict, seems to leave little room for comments, insights or reflections that haven't been made 1,000 times before.
"Survivor," currently in its 14th season, has been on the air since 2000. To some extent, the television series "Lost" is a dramatized version of the basic premise of this reality show. "The Real World," essentially the creator of the genre, has been on the air since 1992.
In his essay "What Happens When People Stop Being Polite," pop culture analyst Chuck Klosterman suggests that the legacy of "The Real World" is that "it has validated the merits of having a one-dimensional personality. In fact, it has made that kind of persona desirable, because other one-dimensional personalities can more easily understand you ... By now, everyone I know is one of seven defined strangers, inevitably hoping to represent a predefined demographic."
It seems that Klosterman is only about half right. "Survivor: Fiji" certainly supports the notion that all people can be boxed into easily identified stereotypes, but it would be na've to suggest that those stereotypes are the individual's actual personality. More likely, it is the show's editing that creates this effect. Early on, the directors of "Survivor: Fiji" can decide what actual person will play what role on the island, and then only reveal clips of that person behaving in that particular way. They could decide that one person is always sleepy and only show clips of him or her sleeping. It's not unreasonable for a person to be asleep, but by the end viewers will believe that this person was lazy, even if he or she only slept one hour a day.
This practice is, of course, nothing new, and neither is this season of "Survivor." The producers are pretending that this season they are shaking things up - the contestants are not divided into teams immediately - but there's honestly no real difference between watching this season and watching any other season.
The reason the show remains on the air is that people still watch with the desire to learn how to they could be a successful contestant. Everyone yearns for the minor hint of stardom that comes with being on the show. After all, Jeff Probst himself is dating a previous contestant of the show, about 20 years his junior. Probst, by the way, has won an Emmy for his excellence in pretending to be concerned about people and living very comfortably while watching some idiots try to build a hut. It is important to remember that people don't really watch the show for him, but for the people viewers can see themselves beating.
The self-perpetuating cycle of would-be contestants keeping "Survivor" on the air tends to make for relatively boring television. People wake up and then have to do a challenge. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes not. Needless to say the plot twists are abounding. One season is not enough time for us to care about these people's successes or losses, especially since we know that in a few months another group of people will be doing the same things.
The more seasons of the show, the fewer the celebrities that spawn from it. Currently, the only news-maker from "Survivor"'s history is the naked fat man who is currently in prison for failing to pay his taxes. He was in season one. Yet the show continues to churn out season after season, a living-but-tiresome testament to how far people will go to achieve notoriety and win money. "Survivor" may be the last remaining beacon of that sad reality ... if we forget Paris Hilton ... and Dustin Diamond ... and 50 Cent.
