Racey Survivor

I haven't watched Survivor in many, many moons...at least not a full-season.

A few times I peeked in on a few eps or I caught the last two including the finale. But watching it from start to finish? I think the last one I saw was about seven seasons ago.

Now, Surivor has decided to pit race against race, this season. There will be a team of African Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic Americans and White Americans.

Yeah, yeah it's politically incorrect as hell. Yet, I can't wait to watch. Here's why:

* As superficial as it may end up being, I'll give Survivor producers a little dap for not shying away from the issue of race. There's an element of tip-toeing around racial issues in our country that some will deny and others exxagerate.

No matter what side you fall on, the fact is, for every person who wants to scream "What difference does race make? Why do we keep talking about it?!" there are many examples that proves the "playing field" is not balanced and race still matters.

So, I'm interested to see how having people with at least one very general commonality, working together as a tribe will mainfest itself into drama. And, no doubt, there will be drama.

* At least the start of the season will be interesting. Once the tribes merge, it will be the same old game of Survivor.

Let's be real, there's only one original. Since the first season, all the other seasons have been the same cycle of allegiances, back-stabbing, lying etc... ::yawn::

And let's get the obvious out of the way - this isn't sociological experimentation. People are people. There will be plenty of inner tribal disputes and fighting. Sharing a race line has nothing to do with how pissed you'll get when someone on the island doesn't pull their weight.

Also, the tribes are "American." If it were authentically steeped in race, the Asian tribe would originate from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam etc... I'm sure this will most likely be a generic panel of American contestants who have some Asian roots.

Same goes for the Hispanic tribe. After all, it didn't announce an El Salvadoran tribe or Mexican tribe or Puerto Rican tribe.

Is this a cheap production trick on the part of Survivor? Absolutely.

Can it be fun to watch? Maybe.

Is it another small reminder that race is and always will be a part of our social fabric that requires our attention? I hope so.

Because whether you watch it or not, like the idea or hate it, if it gets you thinking about race for a minute and/or talking about it, I can't find the bad in that.