- The first few seasons of Survivor had a profound impact on me.
- I would not put the show in the same category as Wayne’s World or The Simpsons in terms of the role it played in shaping my ideas of America, but it taught me a lot and I think of it often.
- Survivor was what first introduced me to the fact that many American women have insanely powerful and muscly legs, even or especially the ones you wouldn’t expect.
- Every single time I see a powerful and muscly American leg, I think of old Jerri in the second season of Survivor, wearing her sport bikini and her trainers and having some insanely powerful and muscly legs.
- I learned that while being terrifyingly and nakedly competitive to the extent that it presents as a personality disorder is not by any means an exclusively American quality, there is a certain kind of acceptance of this quality within America that allows it to flourish in interesting ways.
- Yes, the producers specifically chose people who would be guaranteed to start behaving like sociopaths at the first sign of pressure or discomfort. Still though.
- Promotional material for the show often describes it as “the greatest social experiment on television”, but this seems like a bit of a stretch. “Putting people into teams and making them compete against each other” is not exactly up there with the Milgram experiment.
- One of the main things I remember about the first season of Survivor was that everyone started behaving like total maniacs from the moment their feet hit the sand. They didn’t need to be persuaded or coerced into acts of bewildering psychological aggression. They were READY. They were probably doing it on the plane ride there – gripping air hostesses by the lapels and screaming hoarsely about needing to win.
- Where did these people come from? How did they all know how to be so insane?
- You, for instance, were clearly off your rocker from day one. You needed no assistance from anyone.
- You had this kind of glittery perverted leer on your face at all times. The leer was not exactly lascivious – it was more like you were ogling the social fabric, if that makes sense, getting ready to fuck the whole thing in front of everyone.
- This is maybe a bit much, but you yourself were a bit much, as I’m sure you know.
- Happy Birthday.
Popula is 100% ad-free, reader-supported journalism accountable only to you. Every dollar of your subscription goes straight to our work. Thank you for supporting Popula.
Each comment or response costs a tiny ETH fee of 3.0E-5 (about 5¢ in Ethereum cryptocurrency), payable from your Metamask.io wallet (the wallet is free, and takes just a moment to add to your browser). This system helps protect Popula conversations from trolls, fakers, Cambridges Analytica and other malign influences.
If you haven’t got any ETH yet and you’re a Popula subscriber, please write to hey@popula.com with your subscriber email address and MetaMask wallet address, and we’ll send you a little bit to get started! It’s pretty easy and a lot of fun to use, Yay.
If you’d like to learn more about cryptocurrency, Ethereum, and how Popula is using these new technologies to help protect speech rights and the free press, please visit our FAQ page.
We’re having trouble checking your subscriber status. Try refreshing the page.
Welcome! To leave a comment, you’ll need to log in, and also have your MetaMask wallet ready with some ETH cryptocurrency available.
It’s easy! Just visit metamask.io to install an in-browser MetaMask wallet. If you’re a new subscriber, write to hey@popula.com for $2 in free ETH crypto!
Thank you for being a Popula subscriber! As a subscriber, you may leave comments, but you have to be logged in as commenter here first. This is an additional login—the login for your commenting privileges—and you’ll stay logged in after you log in the first time.
We’ve sent an email to your registered address at … with your commenting details. Please follow the directions in the email to open your commenting privileges and then come back here to leave your first comment!
Thanks for registering! Please log in and you can get started commenting.
You need to connect to the Main Ethereum Network before you can leave a comment. Click on your MetaMask icon so the window pops up, then select ‘Main Ethereum Network’ from the network-chooser dropdown at the top.
You’re logged in and ready to leave comments! All you need is a MetaMask wallet and a little ETH cryptocurrency, just like with our microtipping system.
If you know what MetaMask is and have it installed, activate MetaMask and refresh:
Each comment costs 5¢ in Ethereum cryptocurrency to post! Just write your comment and click the green button. Thank you, Popula subscriber, for joining us in the new world of cryptoeconomics! Please don’t forget to set your wallet address in order to receive tips on your comments.
Alas! commenting is not yet available on your mobile device. Each comment costs a little ETH cryptocurrency to post, and for now that requires a regular computer.
So please go to your laptop, install the MetaMask browser plugin, and hold forth!