Kaz
08-24-2006, 07:34 AM
RACE will matter on the new season of hit US reality TV show Survivor, with contestants divided into four tribes by ethnicity: blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians.
"We're going to take some heat for it," creator and executive producer Mark Burnett said of the twist announced today. "But it's a great cast."
Host Jeff Probst said the idea "actually came from the criticism that Survivor was not ethnically diverse enough".
He said the twist fitted in perfectly with what the show does as "a social experiment".
"This is adding another layer to that experiment," he said.
"Some people will think this is controversial. Others will think, 'What's the big deal?'
"Either way, it's going to be very interesting."
Probst said the 20 contestants had mixed reactions to the racial divide.
This time the crew are stranded on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific.
Competing for the $US1 million purse are a heavy-metal guitarist, a female police officer shot in the line of duty, a Vietnam War refugee who manages a nail salon and a gay fashion director.
The four teams will battle each other and, perhaps, racial stereotypes until the tribes merge later in the season.
"There are going to be people looking for stereotypes: Will this tribe be smarter than this tribe, or will this tribe be faster than this tribe?" Probst said.
"That's why I think it's fun. But five people on a tribe do not represent an ethnic group."
- news.com.au
"We're going to take some heat for it," creator and executive producer Mark Burnett said of the twist announced today. "But it's a great cast."
Host Jeff Probst said the idea "actually came from the criticism that Survivor was not ethnically diverse enough".
He said the twist fitted in perfectly with what the show does as "a social experiment".
"This is adding another layer to that experiment," he said.
"Some people will think this is controversial. Others will think, 'What's the big deal?'
"Either way, it's going to be very interesting."
Probst said the 20 contestants had mixed reactions to the racial divide.
This time the crew are stranded on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific.
Competing for the $US1 million purse are a heavy-metal guitarist, a female police officer shot in the line of duty, a Vietnam War refugee who manages a nail salon and a gay fashion director.
The four teams will battle each other and, perhaps, racial stereotypes until the tribes merge later in the season.
"There are going to be people looking for stereotypes: Will this tribe be smarter than this tribe, or will this tribe be faster than this tribe?" Probst said.
"That's why I think it's fun. But five people on a tribe do not represent an ethnic group."
- news.com.au