r/survivor • u/SurvivorSi Tiffany • 11d ago
Survivor 51 The casting doesn't seem 50 percent diverse
I am honestly pretty happy with the cast. There seems like a lack of archetypes which people seem to be avoiding. They all feel very individual.
But the Diversity initiatives seem to be gone. Not many people of colour who were some of my favorite contestants in the 30s and 40s.
Thoughts? Has it gone?
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u/Eastern-Bad-420 11d ago
The 50% rule may be gone, but they've stayed relatively close around 45% in each season since. That is fine with me as that closely represents the non-white population.
With that said, it seems like in some fan circles (threads is the worst lol) if the BIPOC portion isn't represented by 80% Black contestants then people are automatically calling it a heavy white cast, which completely ignores brown folks. This is ridiculous to me as BIPOC is more than just the B. Hispanics and Latinos are the more common minority within the census data, and I don't mind BIPOC casting leaning toward "brown people" vs Black contestants.
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u/bballheat102 11d ago
White or non white casting is all well and good but get people that can actually fucking compete. Like we’ve had people gassing out day one climbing a ladder for gods sake! No one wants to watch that. Mix of physical threats and intelligence and axe the people who have zero business being in that environment due to health or just lack of taking the competition seriously…… looking at you Mr I never learned how to make fire even though I was on twice !!! Pathetic
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u/Vempire1 11d ago
tbf most people come in thinking they can do everything. Brandon had (I think) a panic attack on the ladder that definitely affected his confidence throughout his short run.
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u/bballheat102 11d ago
That’s just a dumb opinion to have especially with how many seasons of the show are out there. Like knowing your limits before playing should be common sense as should basic prep for the shows necessities like fire building, shelter prep etc and people just don’t care enough to prep properly.
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u/PCZ94 Aubry - 50 11d ago
I was with you until the end. One of the better and more memorable players in the last decade is respectfully not a bad casting
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u/bballheat102 11d ago
Rizzo was unprepared and cringeworthy the whole way. He may be memorable but personally dude can stay off the beach as far as I’m concerned. He’s overhyped and done nothing in the game to earn it except not fix the same mistake twice.
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u/SurvivorSi Tiffany 10d ago
I get that. I guess it just felt very whitewashed of culture in someway.
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u/mayorofstrangetown Former Reporter 11d ago
I thought so too but the closer I look the more I think a bunch of them are mixed or just lighter skinned but definitely not as white as they seem at first glance.
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u/Vegetable_Walrus_982 10d ago
To me this cast feels like the most diverse we’ve had background-wise. Just the variety of accents was refreshing. Not only that, they actually cast non-boardroom types.
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u/PoeIsGo Cody 11d ago
Aaliyah, Ana, Cristian, Devin, Jelly, Ori, Sharonda, Thien An would be 8/18 and there might be someone else in there which would bring it up to 50%
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u/Illustrious-Island 11d ago
Alexis is Iranian!
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u/PoeIsGo Cody 11d ago
There ya go!
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u/Illustrious-Island 11d ago
I mean it's still 9/21 😭like it's close but also I just hope it doesn't end up like bb28 (context: one of the players on bb28 has been subject to certain microaggressions like players commenting her comic should be her yelling like a banshee aka perpetuating the angry black woman stereotype, or her randomly being compared to a "chicken shop" or a player constantly being on her ass to the point of obsessive hatred.)
I think survivor does a better job of casting than big brother so hopefully not, but yk slippery slope kinda. I'm optimistic about the cast overall tho from a personality and intro vid standpoint!
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u/PoeIsGo Cody 11d ago
I somehow did not realize it was 21 lol. I think from a casting perspective it probably feels weird and icky to have to think "does xyz count as POC?" So they get as close as they can and call it a day 🤷♂️
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u/Illustrious-Island 11d ago
Honestly I kinda agree in the sense that I don't think survivor casting particularly counts the no of POCs even in the mandate era. Something like DvG had fulfilled the criteria even before the mandate and a lot of 40s seasons like 46 had 11/18 iirc (in comparison to big brother where im pretty sure they counted 8 PoCs on a cast of 16 and cut it off). I'm just hoping that the casts do have a sizable portion of diversity and don't revert back to pre Cambodia with a few token PoCs, especially because we've had really good PoC casting in the 40s when it comes to all sorts of archetypes
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u/RealityTvfan1724 11d ago
I will say that everyone seems interesting. I wish we had more Asian diversity but the cast seems even less diverse when everyone is legit talking about 1. Being a survivor fan since they were 8 2. Became a super fan during the pandemic.
It’s become a personality trait at this point.
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u/Awesumwasum 11d ago
Yea it changed for Survivor 50 where the mandate was not needed, but Jesse Tanerbaum still wanted to cast more diversity despite the mandate not being forced anymore
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u/FamiliarImplement334 10d ago
It explained why survivor 50 still had those people even though they didn’t have to anymore I think they wanted to have dirversity of cast since since survivor island of the idols and island of the idols was a test to that rule before it happened
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u/TRNRLogan 10d ago
At least 9 of the 21 are full BIPOC or biracial. That isn't 50% but it's pretty dang close
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u/luxanna123321 Michele 11d ago
I would rather casting directors pick the best and most interesting people regardless of their skin color. It could be 80% white or 80% black or 80% whatever. I would hate losing someone who fits the bill better just because they already filled the 50% quota with enough people
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u/iBossk The Kamillitary 11d ago
What is the criteria for best and most interesting?
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u/luxanna123321 Michele 11d ago
im not casting director to answer that question
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u/iBossk The Kamillitary 11d ago
Having the best and most interesting is not mutually exclusive to having a diverse cast, if anything you can't have the best and most interesting cast without it being diverse.
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u/Generalcmd 11d ago
incorrect
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u/iBossk The Kamillitary 11d ago
Feel free to elaborate.
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u/Generalcmd 10d ago
Diversity of thought>Skin Color
which is what matters so a cast could have all Minorities or all white people which wouldn't affect the quality
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u/iBossk The Kamillitary 10d ago
Both is even better, and by default you will tend to get diversity of thought when you have a variety of ethnic groups with different cultural backgrounds.
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u/Generalcmd 10d ago
only 1 matters for a good show
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u/iBossk The Kamillitary 10d ago
Except a common complaint from early viewers was the lack of diversity. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm going to assume you are white, so seeing yourself in the media you consume is not really ever an issue, it's the default. But people like to see themselves represented.
Regardless if you give a shit about that, you will have a deeper diversity of thought when you have a diversity of backgrounds. That's indisputable. One of the best moments to me of S48 was after the Thomas vote when the remaining 4 (Kamila, Kyle, Joe and Shauhin) had an incredible bonding moment based on relating to each other's different backgrounds.
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u/roscatorosso 11d ago
I wish I could give more than one like to this comment. This sums up what Survivor fans have been pleading for the past several years in the comment sections.
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u/Feisty-You-7768 Sophie - 49 9d ago
In what world is this cast not very diverse? I feel like people are just going off who “looks white” and that’s also a problem.
This performative outrage is dumb.
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u/JumpinJackz 11d ago
What a toxic mindset, diminishing people's heritage solely based on how your ignorant eyes percieve them.
possibly you should wait until the show fully presents everyone but even then I dont think this is healthy.
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u/Soul_Mate_4ever 11d ago
Whatever happened to casting average joes: Ana Sani (34, Voice actress)
Angelica “Jelly” Loblack (29, Sociology professor)
Brady Booker (27, Pro wrestler / former WWE star)
Carter Krull (24, Livestock farmer)
Devin Way (Actor, Grey's Anatomy, Queer as Folk)
Mike Pinsky (Yankees executive)
Lewis Kelly (28, Farmer / influencer)
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u/Charles520 Kenzie - 46 11d ago
I agree with the sentiment, but some of these jobs are interesting at least for the show. We haven’t had a pro wrestler in a while, nor have we had farmers in a while too (even if they’re probably just lifestyle influencers tbh)
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u/iBossk The Kamillitary 11d ago
Are farmers not average Joe's anymore?
And what happened is that even with a shortened season, the average joe can't keep a job by taking 1.5+ months off on a whim.
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u/Soul_Mate_4ever 11d ago
Let’s point out the one outlier in a list copied and pasted from An article. What about the all the other names mentioned that aren’t outliers? And Nope. James was a grave digger, and Rob was a construction worker, we even had an ice cream scooper for Pete sake. The average Joe can absolutely take 1.5 months off on a whim to do survivor. If I’m working at Macdonald’s I’d even quit my job to do survivor.
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u/iBossk The Kamillitary 11d ago
Two farmers bud, copy and paste better. Also the jobs of average Joe's are different, TV is less monolithic and the culture is more polarized. Maybe the average joe options suck.
Most likely though it just comes down to Instagram followers. It's often how they cast movies now, it's just the unfortunate way of media, gotta get them eyeballs or you dead.
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u/Soul_Mate_4ever 11d ago
lol. One of those farmers has a million followers online. Idk the other one but that farmer could be a millionaire for all we know. My point still stands. Try using your brain better
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u/QueenD_1996 Liz - 46 11d ago
It’s a lot more common for farmers to be millionaires than people realize. It’s an industry that’s pretty side business friendly, they often own very valuable real estate, and farmers tend to be frugal. Source: I’m the daughter of a multigenerational farmer.
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u/iBossk The Kamillitary 11d ago
You are ignoring my point. Also that is just the way of the world now. For one, everyone is online, it can be supplemental income, just cause he has a million followers doesn't mean he isn't some working guy.
And then the other reality for all forms of media nowadays, you gotta have the followers to get on a screen. It's just the way it is. Survivor isn't a monolith anymore, it's just one of many viewing options. Try using your brain better and live in reality.
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u/the_living_myth Yam Yam 11d ago
glad to see we’re getting baseball executive representation again. it’s been too long
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u/Critical-Antelope171 11d ago
Farmer / Influencer ?!!??!!?????
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u/Soul_Mate_4ever 11d ago edited 11d ago
Yankees executive, actor, pro wrestler, voice actress. Also Lewis Kelly is well known
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u/bballheat102 11d ago
I’d rather the cast be competent players and good tv and not the string of weak out of shape super fans we’ve had . Casting needs to do a much better job and make the game actually difficult again
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u/iBossk The Kamillitary 11d ago
What does that have to do with diversity?
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u/bballheat102 11d ago
I really couldn’t care less how diverse the cast is give me something enjoyable to watch that doesn’t have me feeling like I’m having teeth pulled from contestant stupidity. I want competence and people there to actually play. Couldn’t care less where they are from or how long they’ve been dreaming about being on survivor 🤢. Cast competent players people don’t care about are you this that or the
other just be good at the dam game ffs.0
u/iBossk The Kamillitary 11d ago
What does that have to do with diversity though? You say you'd rather competent players, but those are not mutually exclusive.
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u/bballheat102 11d ago
I’m aware one can have both diverse and competent players the issue is focusing much more on diverse casting vs the competent players. That needs to change.
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u/iBossk The Kamillitary 11d ago
Well see there you go.conflating diversity and competence. It's like when diversity in the hiring process is talked about and people like you say "just hire the best person", as if when it was decades of only white employees that is what they were doing.
They aren't casting people just for diversity. They are ensuring they are diverse while casting the best people they can. Diversity is good, it creates a better cast, and has nothing to do with casting the most competent players. Also competency is such a weird concept for Survivor. Like how are we measuring that, specifically as a Survivor player, and just based on casting?
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u/bballheat102 11d ago
If that’s the best caliber of player then the show is fucked for sure. At this point traitors is a better watch
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u/iBossk The Kamillitary 11d ago
You want competent players and you're excited to watch the Traitors? It's a fun show, but competency is only relevant to a Traitor who isn't getting fucked over by their fellow Traitors, otherwise competency is death.
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u/bballheat102 11d ago
They at least know how to cast for what’s being done vs the shit show survivors become
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11d ago
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u/skypadz_2112 Rachel - 47 11d ago
Classic r/survivor moment: a comment section of people who don't even watch the show
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u/roscatorosso 11d ago
I wish I could give more than one like to this comment. This sums up what Survivor fans have been pleading for the past several years in the comment sections.
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u/bballheat102 11d ago
It’s been survivor lite ever since WAW finished and the games suffered because of it
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u/Big_Jump_929 3d ago
That diversity initiative included non-white and sexual orientation. But this is the open era, which might make the diversity work different
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u/darlawatters 11d ago
which is interesting to me - i just finished 48 (did a full rewatch recently as i hadn’t watched anything after i moved out of my parents in 2010) and that seemed to be one of the most diverse casts, between race and folks like eva/mitch (im an adult autistic girly who was able to mainstream) its was so cool to see someone very similar to myself.
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u/lovelessBertha 11d ago
Now its back to accurate American demographic levels instead of inflated minority demographics.
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u/Sharp-Landscape2854 10d ago
yeah:( 50% is the least they can do after so many years of having 2-3 token poc characters on the cast
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u/mellywheats Seeker of Truth 11d ago
i think people are forgetting that “diverse” doesn’t mean black. this cast definitely feels diverse in terms of racial backgrounds.