Say what you will about Survivor being just a game that people play to win a million dollars, but tonight’s amazing episode really illustrated the show’s original point of being a social experiment as well as a game.
Over the years, a lot of the fascination of watching how people interact and behaved when dropped in the middle of nowhere, cut off from the rest of the world, kind of became obscured by the game play. Certainly as the show aged and people became accustomed to the actual game play, that was all that was important — who is going to win and how are they going to get there. This season brought together two veteran game players, and with the elimination of the one who really didn’t understand the social part of the game after two previous tries and losses we saw how the other vet, Boston Rob, learned how to be more social but more manipulative as well.
This week, though, really put that original social experiment front and center. It was almost unimportant that Mike and Matt won the Redemption Island duel and David became the first jury member. It was not unexpected that Rob would win immunity on a puzzle challenge. It wasn’t a real surprise, after admitting to stealing Phillip’s shorts, that Julie was sent to Redemption Island. No, this episode really belonged to Phillip, but probably not for all the right reasons.
After the Ometepe tribe discovered their rice bucket had developed a hole and that some of their rice was moldy and contaminated with maggots, Andrea asked the Zapatera members if they could combine their rice. Steve said no and she went back to her tribe with the verdict but Phillip was not in any mood to take no for an answer. As has become typical for Phillip, he made some veiled threats to steal the Zapatera rice can and possibly do some physical harm to Steve and Steve had a natural reaction — he called Phillip crazy. I think any sensible person faced with that kind of extreme behavior would have the same reaction. But to Phillip, being called crazy was the same as being called the N-word. Everyone was shocked to hear Phillip make those accusations that Steve was a racist for calling him crazy all over a fight about rice.
Things got even more interesting at Tribal Council when the issue was broached by Probst, who noticed that Phillip was sans shorts (he was just in his dreaded pink skivvies … and his feathers). Phillip, already believing Steve to be a racist, accused him of stealing the shorts. From the shorts to the rice, Phillip laid out what had happened at camp and how, as an African-American, he automatically equates the word ‘crazy’ with the N-word when used in a heated situation (using Richard Pryor‘s comedy album title That N—-r’s Crazy to support his argument). Steve swore he did not have a racist bone in his body simply because his football team was one-fifth white — which is like saying, “I have a lot of black friends,” which rarely works to support your non-racist claims, but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
In one brilliant moment, Jeff Probst gathered up all of the information that had been presented to him and laid out one of the most succinct explanations for how people perceive themselves and each other, especially when it comes to matters of race. Phillip, being African-American, saw his father belittled by white people and he has carried that with him. I have heard African-Americans use the race card in situations that I felt were a little absurd, but not being African-American I really can’t fathom those deep feelings that can be drawn out by simple words. I don’t think for a minute that Steve meant to call Phillip the N-word when he called him crazy, but that’s what Phillip heard based on his experience. It really makes you stop and think about perception and just how words can hurt. I really hate our current climate of such political correctness where you have to watch every word you say, but seeing Phillip’s reaction also made me realize that we have to stop and think about how someone else could perceive our words because of their own personal experiences. Probst handled the situation extremely well. I don’t know if he was able to convince Phillip that Steve did not mean his comments in a racist manner, but I thought he did a magnificent job of really getting to the heart of the matter. I’d love to see this particular Tribal Council in its unedited version, because if it went even deeper into the matter it’s something that should be required viewing. One doesn’t expect to learn any lessons about life from Survivor, but bravo for handling such a touchy subject with such grace.
“It’s like watching Divorce Court.” – Grant, during Phillip and Steve’s rice war
“Phillip somehow managed to make a war about white rice racial.” – Rob, totally not being ironic
“At the end of the day, Phillip will be Public Enemy Number One. I just have to figure out who to make Public Enemy Number Two.” – Rob
“If this were therapy, I’d say very good session.” – Jeff Probst after a heated Tribal Council
“Guess you’re not gonna find your shorts.” – Julie to Phillip after being voted out
Clacked by Chuck Duncan 
on Apr 21, 2011 @ 09:30 EST5EDT
Phil IS a crazy N____R! I’m so sick of this poor escuse & can’t believe he wasn’t given the boot for being such a low-life. There are only 2 reasons he’s still around:1. He makes for controversial television. 2. Rob wants to take him to the end so he’s sure to get the million. I give big props to Steve & Julie for acting like real people. I piss on the rest of them for not standing up to Phil. Why hasn’t no one remarked, “If Phil is the kind of guy the CIA, or whatever, hires, this country is in big trouble!! Why has no one asked, “If you’re so all-fire trained & smart, why have you been at the bottom of EVERY challenge? This guy should never have been cast. He’s a BAD excuse for a human. I hope he chokes on his race card.
Wow. That was shockingly uncharitable.
*POST AUTHOR*
Wow, you showed some amazing restraint there by not actually writing out the whole word.
Thought that Steve was a “little girl” about not putting the rice in a safe container. Really low – we’re talking food. And to hide Philip’s shorts was lame & again ignorant. Would Steve have responded the same way to Rob? I don’t know. Why is it okay to treat Philip like crap? Even if he is crazy – his question about keeping the rice safe was fair. I didn’t think Steve’s comment had anything to do with race, yet I do think Steve had his panties in a twist because Steve was not “winning”. Ultimately this plays well if Philip’s game is keep me to the end, no one will vote for me.
*POST AUTHOR*
Keep in mind that there is a lot of editing that influences what we see. Steve flat out said no, but we don’t know if that’s actually how it went down. Keep in mind, the rice was contaminated. There’s no guarantee that they totally separated all of the good rice from the bad. Steve’s rationale may have been that they didn’t want to mix possibly bad rice with their good rice. Makes sense. Maybe it was presented that way, maybe it wasn’t. Phillip’s reaction made for good TV, so that’s the edit we saw. I’m sure Steve would have given Rob the same answer, but Rob’s reaction most certainly would not have been the same.
As for Cynthia’s comment that Julie acted “real,” was it really okay to bury Phillip’s shorts? There actually is a rule in the contract all the players sign that says they may not touch another person’s belongings, but that has certainly been violated many times of the years without any retribution. Julie was being childish where Steve was being reasonable. He just didn’t – at least from our perspective – handle his denial of the request in the best manner. Phillip’s reaction to the denial was without question the wrong thing at the wrong time, but it really was a fascinating example of how racial issues are still prominent in our society (see above!).
I guess you folks haven’t been watching. Rob’s tribe was snug & dry under their tarp which they refused to share w/the other tribe. They made it plain from the beginning that they weren’t going to merge & share. Phil stole rice from Steve, Ralph & Julie. There was no reason for them to offer their rice canister. Hey, I will show the same “restraint” that Phil used & write out the word nigger. There it is, nigger. I’m black, so I can say nigger, nigger, nigger all I want. It’s great how I can put whitey in his place with the race card all I want. I just choose to never use the race card or the word nigger, in my life because I have moved on. I’m rich, successful & do just fine with all the other races in the world. My initials are O.W.
*POST AUTHOR*
Hey, I totally agree that Steve was perfectly within his right to say no, and I thought it was ballsy of Andrea first and then Phillip to expect them to agree to it. The argument was that it was food, but there was certainly a concern about mixing possibly contaminated rice with the good rice. I agree that Phillip’s reaction was the wrong one, but like Jeff said at Tribal, we don’t know Phillip’s personal experiences that makes him harbor those deep feelings of racial prejudice against him. I don’t for a minute think that Steve is a racist and calling someone crazy who is acting crazy 24/7 is not the same as calling them the N-word. If Steve had called Rob crazy for suggesting the rice merge, I don’t think Rob would have taken as an ethnic slam to his Italian heritage. But I can’t relate to Phillip’s personal experiences and neither can you because none of us have lived his life. Like I said in the post, Probst put the whole issue into perfect context and we could all learn a little from that.
As for Phillip’s federal agent status, the graphics on the show still come with a question mark, so he could totally be playing mind games with everyone. One thing’s for certain though, anyone who makes it to the final three want him with them because it’s doubtful he will get any votes at the end.
So, it’s okay for Phil to steal rice, but not for Julie to steal his shorts? I thought it was hilarious & if he never finds them, then we’ll be treated to that wonderful sight of him walking around in his skivvies looking like he has a load. And as far as, ” it really was a fascinating example of how racial issues are still prominent in our society (see above!).” the only person w/racial issues was Phil. He has a problem w/white people. Guess that’s why he sought a job where he might have authority over whitey. If Phil was green, blue, white or purple, people would still hate him. And, I have no sympathy for his past. There’s such a thing as getting along in society & it doesn’t work if you’re instantly ready to pull the race card. In case you didn’t know, everyone has a past & they need to get over it.
*POST AUTHOR*
No, it absolutely was not okay to steal the rice and I’m surprised it was never brought up again. So either it was made to seem like a bigger deal than it was through the editing, or the Zapatera people hadn’t noticed it up to that point.
It’s really wonderful that you have all the answers and security and confidence in your life to make you a strong person. Again, you don’t know what his life was like in the past so it’s very unsympathetic for you or anyone else to judge him, assume he took a job to have power over “whitey” and to tell him to just “get over it.” People go through traumatic events in their lives that shape who they are and if the scars are deep enough, it’s easier said than done to forget about them and move on. Bravo to those who can, but sometimes those people are just suppressing a lot of pain and use over-confidence to mask that pain. Phillip either has major issues, or he’s just crazy like a fox and playing everyone.
Philip knows what he’s doing. He played the race card so everyone would feel too guilty to vote him off the island. And it worked.