Survivor wades into #MeToo, breaking the fourth wall...

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as a contestant and Hollywood talent manager is warned for inappropriate touching

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/li...oversy-1254554

Survivor's official Twitter account announced it wouldn't live-tweet Wednesday's episode because it tackled a "serious topic." The Island of the Idols episode showed a rare instance of a producer responding to a contestant, Kellee Kim, off-camera after her harassment complaints. Kim had repeatedly accused fellow contestant Dan Spilo -- a Hollywood talent manager who represents Joey King, Jared Padalecki and Kal Penn -- of being touchy and violating her personal space. The complaints prompted producers to meet with the players and with Spilo individually to give him a warning. As host and executive producer Jeff Probst explains: "We gathered all the players together and reminded them about personal boundaries and the need to respect them at all times. We covered everything from inappropriate jokes to respecting bathroom breaks, privacy to change clothes and touching in any way, including seemingly little things like brushing sand off someone's face. We were very clear in reminding them that they are our number one concern and we want them to be able to play the game without ever feeling compromised or unsafe in any way. We then met with them individually, and a number of the players made it clear to us that they knew we were referring to Dan, even though we had never singled out any one player. Those same players acknowledged that they did not feel the need for any intervention from production. We then met privately with Dan and told him that this was an official warning. He seemed surprised by the warning but replied that he understood." Probst adds: "Our players are monitored 24 hours a day for 39 days. There is never a moment when there is not a producer or camera crew with them. Our producers always check in with the players during their private confessional interviews. In addition, players are regularly checked by our medical team, who also inquire how they are handling the elements and the lack of food and sleep. We are constantly assessing how they are doing, both emotionally and physically. Beyond that, all producers on both beaches have daily downloads, so every producer is up to speed on every player. Finally, I am updated throughout the day on everything that is going on." ALSO: Survivor fans on Twitter slammed the show for its handling of sexual harassment

Survivor should've responded to the inappropriate touching controversy by removing Dan Spilo from the game

Survivor cameras showed Dan Spilo repeatedly touching women's bodies, which led to him getting an official warning after contestant Kellee Kim complained and after she and contestant Missy Byrd recounted their experiences with him to each other. By not removing Spilo, Survivor, Jeff Probst, and CBS "failed Kellee and the other contestants, especially because, when they didn’t act, Dan’s behavior got swept into the game," says Andy Dehnart. "What if what Missy described happens to her again? What if it happens to someone else? Will they be too shamed into silence to say anything? Will the show just issue another warning? Instead, the game went on."

ALSO:

• CBS and MGM release a joint statement in response to the backlash over last night's episode
  Survivor seemingly put the onus on the players to take action against unwanted touching, creating power/risk issues
  Kellee Kim tweets responds to the controversy on Twitter: "Hi everyone, I'm hurting and very sad watching this last episode too, but please try to be kind and understanding. No one deserves threats or shaming, and we can talk about this in a way that we are all better for it."

This week's Survivor was a microcosm of the real world -- in the most negative sense possible

"This season, there’s been open-minded discussions about culture, race, and gender," says Jodi Walker. "And what’s been most heartening when those issues have arisen, is that the people on the receiving end of negative feedback — namely, Jack and Jamal — have thoughtfully listened and learned where it would have been much easier to become defensive. But on Wednesday night, that progressive growth hit a wall. At the end of the two-hour episode, as I sat in a state of stunned silence, feeling numb, cheeks wet from watching a Tribal Council that struck me full of so much pain for the two women who had spoken out in truth only to be hung out to dry by nearly everyone who led them to believe that they would be supported. I realized with dawning horror that no meaningful reflection of Kellee and Janet’s awful experience was to come. Indeed, this episode was a microcosm of our society, but this time, in the most negative sense possible: just a sheet of two-way glass through which to witness with discouraging clarity the frequent injustice and disappointment of reality." ALSO: Survivor's Aaron Meredith posts a tearful apology video after watching last night's episode.

[dakert]

If someone is touching you and you don't want to be touched tell the person "Please don't touch me" or "don't touch me" Don't keep things bottled up inside, communication is the key for resolving issues.

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Survivor protected the game rather than its players in handling its "#MeToo moment"

"Over the past three weeks, Survivor’s 39th season has leaned into its place in contemporary discourses surrounding race and gender, a conscious campaign to convince us of its capacity to reckon with racial insensitivity and sexual harassment," says Miles McNutt. "But given how these efforts played out in this week’s two-parter, 'We Made It To The Merge!,' the series’ current approach is incapable of reckoning with moments where meaningful dialogues intersect with a game of individual survival where outplaying your fellow castaways outweighs all over priorities. The result is a disastrous reach for a '#MeToo moment' that proves Survivor’s ability to reflect social realities, but in all the wrong ways, and with a truly toxic moral for those watching at home." In Wednesday's episode, Survivor's transparency over its handling of Dan Spilo's inappropriate touching of Kellee Kim is mistaken for accountability, says McNutt. "Why was Dan not warned by production when his inappropriate touching began, and production documented Kellee inventing a germophobia to escape it?" he asks. "Did none of the camera operators who observed his wandering hands in the shelter alert production to what they were seeing? Why was it the responsibility of the players to bring this issue to the attention of producers when there are cameras around recording everything that’s happening?" McNutt adds: "Survivor actually creates an even worse environment than the real world when it comes to allegations of this nature. Survivor takes the neoliberal mantras of personal responsibility that pervade society and presents them as the very nature of our existence. Like many competition reality programs, it balances elements of cooperation with an ethos of individualism, encouraging collaboration but ultimately teaching players that the only way to truly survive (read: win) is to look out for yourself. It’s this very ideology that encourages people to ignore when women (or men) speak out about sexual harassment, because that would mean sticking your neck out for someone else, and taking a moral stand in an environment where such morality is perceived as either a threat, a weakness, or both. And while this exists in workplaces and social groups and even families, Survivor reduces every waking hour of its 39 days to this type of thinking."

ALSO:

• Will reality TV ever learn how to handle misconduct allegations?: "As this week’s Survivor proved, reality shows can resemble the 'real' world a bit too much—like when a woman comes forward with harassment allegations and is punished for it," says Laura Bradley. She adds that like Bachelor in Paradise in 2017, Survivor producers would rather engage in "a** covering" by starting a conversation than directly tackle harassment on the show.
  Survivor had its most upsetting episode ever, but it showed how sexual harassment can be so difficult to address: "This episode—and indeed this entire season—won’t deliver the type of pulpy entertainment Survivor is known for, and for that it will be seen as a failure," says Riley McAtee. "But the legacy of this episode is also that it provided a clear look at how sexual harassment can be so difficult for groups of people to reckon with and address. No matter how uncomfortable and depressing Wednesday’s episode of Survivor was, it was also as real as television gets."

Survivor glossing over its sexual harassment controversy isn’t just astonishing, it’s downright insulting

Watching this week's episode, "you’d never know that the show’s currently muscling its way through one of the biggest, ugliest controversies of its 20-year run," says Caroline Framke, noting that the CBS reality show seemed to quickly move on from last week's Dan Spilo inappropriate touching controversy. It was, says Framke, "a baffling display of the show’s inability to grasp the gravity of what happened on its watch." Framke adds: "On Survivor and in the 'real world' alike, talking about and addressing sexual harassment is vital, but it’s far from 'the most important thing.' It’s the bare minimum, and it’s frankly ridiculous that (Jeff) Probst and the producers expect accolades for doing it. The most important thing would be acknowledging the truth of the situation, and better yet, actually doing something about it. Botching this so badly is a wildly disappointing black mark on a show that has made a lot of noise in recent years about being progressive, and no amount of ignoring it in the weeks to come will change that."