Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Survivor: Favorites vs. Fans

The statement made on Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites brings up a debate that connects with issues of media literacy.
Alexis (a fan) stated, "I think the fans versus favorites setup is the ultimate challenge because we have the favorites who have obviously played the game before, coming in here with experience. But at the same time you have us (the fans) and we know their game. We know not only their strengths but weaknesses too. So I think that puts us at a huge advantage."
I think Alexis is neither completely correct nor completely wrong in her statement. By watching the past seasons she probably picked up a bit of information about the strategies of how to play the game. Like she said, she saw how her opponents have played the game in the past, whereas they do not know anything about her.
However, the shows are condensed and put together for entertainment purposes, so they might not always have been truthful. Alexis has probably fallen in the media literacy trap of getting a false feeling of being informed. She believes that she has the advantage because she has watched her opponents play the game in the past, but what is to say that the favorites will play the same way as they have before?
The Favorites are definitely the ones with the advantage because they have had the chance to experience the game. They already figured out which individual strategies have worked and which have not. The fans might think a strategy could work for them, but since they have never actually played the game, all of their preconceived notions could be way off.

No comments: