Survivor: China has been through a tumultuous two weeks, creating a large schism among viewers (or at least among BuddyTV readers) and generating heated discussion. First,
Peih-Gee Law and Jaime successfully threw a challenge and voted off
Aaron Reisberger, who previously seemed poised for a long run on
Survivor: China.
James Clement appeared next in line to fall victim to Jaime and Peih-Gee's next thrown challenge, but fate smiled upon the grave digger. In a sudden turn of events, James was kidnapped, Todd found the hidden immunity idol and Peih-Gee/Jaime decided not to throw their next challenge. Todd and James made a deal, Todd giving the James the immunity idol and James half-heartedly tried to throw his challenge, but couldn't go through with it and led his team to victory. Eventually, it was Sherea who was voted out, but the discussion among fans revolved around the relative merits of Jaime, Peih-Gee and James' strategies.
I was fairly outspoken in my dislike of Jaime and Peih-Gee's thrown challenge. They laughed while losing, and thus showed up their teammates. I hated it because they didn't need to do it, they could've tried to forge new alliances, but they opted to take the easy way out. I had no problem with what James and Todd planned on doing because, well, it was a response to the previous week's thrown challenge. However, James didn't go through with it, and therefore the issue should really become moot. Also, it was a complete matter of survival for James. Had he not taken the deal with Todd, he wouldn't have received the immunity idol. James has to assume, at that point, that Peih-Gee and Jaime are planning on throwing the challenge again. What choice does he have?
However, when I wrote my Friday
Survivor article, many a BuddyTV commenter openly questioned my motivations. In short, people seem to equate my dislike of Peih-Gee and Jaime's actions to rampant sexism.
Here's what some of you out there had to say:
Anonymous said: Oscar!!! You just proved us right, you low-life scum-bucket! We knew you would support the males when they attempted to do the exact same thing that the females did last week. YOU ARE BUSTED! You have to be the worst excuse for a man. Go to hell you sexist pig!!!
(California)
I like this one because, in one sentence, it says that I should be entitled to my own opinion, but should also be fired for having that opinion:
Anonymous said: Okay I've read a few comments and I want to chime in. Does it really matter what a know-nothing like Oscar thinks? I mean who cares? Oscar is entitled to his opinion, and even though he should probably be fired for being stupid enough to support people who don't deserve to be supported (*like Dick, Todd, etc), he still isn't really hurting anyone because nobody thinks he has any sense anyway. Case closed.
(St. Joseph, MO)
I had some support, though:
Anonymous said: Why is this conversation disintegrating into a "men" vs "women" argument? Anonymous from California... calm down.... take a deep breath...get a handle on your issues. People are disgusted with PG and Jaime not so much because they threw a challenge, but the immature way they did so. To continuously laugh in the face of the people they were screwing over was absolutely detestable.
(Vancouver)
I think this comment simplifies everything:
Anonymous said: I am a female, and I agree with Oscar's list. There is no man vs. woman angle. It's just who we like and who we don't. Please don't bring sexism in this.
(Houston)
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of CBS)