Sexual Politics Play Out on 'Survivor: The Amazon's' Finale - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Brett Ferino · 05-12-2003, 07:17 AM

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - While the battle of the sexes set up by "Survivor: The Amazon" has led to some interesting gender observations -- the women's passive-aggressive inability to get a proper camp up and running, the men's egos getting in their way during immunity challenges -- what it's really taught us is that all things have a way of evening out in the end.

Returning from voting out Heidi at tribal council on night 36, the remaining four castaways -- Butch, Jenna, Mad Matt and Rob -- are in good spirits.

Jenna says that as the last remaining woman she's glad she's gotten this far and that she's accomplished all of her goals and then some. She tells the men that while she knows that they will vote her off next she's happy that she will get to spend her last couple of days with them.

Then she keeps saying it, causing a bell to go off in our head that hmmm ... maybe the lady doth protest too much.

Not much time is wasted getting to the first immunity challenge of the two-hour finale. The group is sent through a maze blindfolded. Using only etched markers they each must find four necklaces, each representing one of the elements: earth, wind, water and fire. Once they have found all the necklaces they must return to the middle of the maze.

Off they go and both Mad Matt and Butch "accidentally" grope Jenna at various points when their paths cross. She gets past this adversity though and wins the all-important challenge, throwing a serious kink into the boys' plans.

Damage control goes into major overdrive with Rob scrambling to stay in the game. Butch goes to Jenna, feels her out, urges her to vote with him for Rob since Rob screwed Jenna's friends Alex and Heidi over, and pointing out that it would be "neat" if it ended up being the two of them at the end -- the oldest and the youngest player.

Rob is babbling to Matt who says that he'll take care of the situation. Mad Matt then goes to Jenna and offers her a secret alliance. He asks her to vote with him and Rob to get rid of Butch. As an added bonus, he makes a deal with her that if either of them wins the final immunity challenge, they will take the other with them before the jury.

Jenna goes along with this and they vote off Butch at a short tribal council that is notable mostly for Heidi's "date night in the Amazon" mini-skirt outfit, hair extensions and garish makeup.

The next day the uneasy trio kills some time weighing themselves and learning that they have each lost between 20 and 30 pounds. Jeff then shows up at camp and sends them all off to get decked out in war paint and pretty beads as a way of preparing themselves of the final immunity challenge which Mad Matt is considering throwing so that he won't have to decide who to take with him since he's pretty sure that both Jenna and Rob will pick him.

The last challenge is held in front of the jury and is the usual endurance contest. Perched on narrow wooden posts, they must hold crowns above their heads. The crowns have a string of wooden beads attached to them so that they can't move too far in any one direction. If they fall off the post, or touch the crown or beads to any part of their body they will be disqualified.

Mateo is the first to go, admitting later that he did indeed throw it. Rob immediately tries to make a deal with Jenna, saying that if she drops out he'll take her with him. She says "no" she'd really rather win fairly, which she does.

For those keeping track at home, this brings Jenna's tally of individual immunity wins up to four out of eight. The only person to have ever won more was Colby Donaldson from "Survivor: The Australian Outback." Oh, and for the record, she is also the only person to have ever given up immunity to another player.

Jenna honors her pact with Matt and sends Rob, who Jeff calls "the smartest player to have never won 'Survivor,'" over to the jury.

In short order, the outnumbered Jenna has dispatched two-thirds of her competition. She and Matt spend their last day at camp painting the names of all the others on a wooden box and given their camp a Viking funeral by piling everything into the big boat, setting it on fire and pushing it out on the water.

Per usual, one of the best parts of any "Survivor," is the final tribal council the jury gets to ask them a question apiece.

Rob pits them against each other by asking why they think the other doesn't deserve to win. Matt says Jenna hasn't contributed much and Jenna says that Matt didn't start playing until late in the game, doesn't need the money and doesn't care about the people.

Heidi asks who they think really deserves to be in the final two. They both say Rob, even though Heidi tries to get Jenna to say her until Jeff cuts her off.

Christy wants to know what Matt thought when he found out she was deaf. He says he was surprised, and had just thought she had a "funky accent." She then tells Jenna that she was offended when Jenna that she was handicapped because she's beautiful. Jenna swears she didn't mean it that way. She insists that she meant that being young and a swimsuit model meant that people were going to look at her as less capable coming into the game.

Rocket scientist Dave brings it all home by asking what modern influential leader they have emulated and using what qualities. Matt says Colin Powell's versatility is inspirational, while Jenna goes with the old standby of her parents, especially her mother.

In "Survivor's" first landslide, underdog Jenna wins the million dollar prize with six of the seven votes cast (only Butch votes for Matt), making her, at 21, the youngest winner ever as well and giving swimsuit models around the world another reason to hold their heads high.

Did you see that coming? Did Jenna deserve to win? Talk about it on the Zap2it message boards
(http://tvbb.zap2it.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi

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BotchieB · 05-12-2003, 06:24 PM

I would say she played the game well, even though I didn't want her to win. She used her sex appeal to take her far, which is a good assett to have in the game(the show imitating life), and then got the imunities at the end when they were most crucial. Matt rode Rob's coattails through much of the game and I don't think the jury appreciated that and voted more on how Matt and Jenna played the game mentally more than physically, with Matt being the physical workhorse, but not knowing how to play the game that well, and Jenna kind of spoiled and less helpful at camp, but knowingly using her sex appeal to get her far. Whether she was deserving or not, it depends upon how you look at it and what characteristics you judge on.

Something I noticed during the reunion show, was Matt and Jenna in a arm lock embrace, holding hands almost through the whole reunion show, did they hook up or something?

05-12-2003, 07:17 AM	#1
Brett Ferino Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jul 18, 2000 Location: PA Posts: 3,782	Sexual Politics Play Out on 'Survivor: The Amazon's' Finale LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - While the battle of the sexes set up by "Survivor: The Amazon" has led to some interesting gender observations -- the women's passive-aggressive inability to get a proper camp up and running, the men's egos getting in their way during immunity challenges -- what it's really taught us is that all things have a way of evening out in the end. Returning from voting out Heidi at tribal council on night 36, the remaining four castaways -- Butch, Jenna, Mad Matt and Rob -- are in good spirits. Jenna says that as the last remaining woman she's glad she's gotten this far and that she's accomplished all of her goals and then some. She tells the men that while she knows that they will vote her off next she's happy that she will get to spend her last couple of days with them. Then she keeps saying it, causing a bell to go off in our head that hmmm ... maybe the lady doth protest too much. Not much time is wasted getting to the first immunity challenge of the two-hour finale. The group is sent through a maze blindfolded. Using only etched markers they each must find four necklaces, each representing one of the elements: earth, wind, water and fire. Once they have found all the necklaces they must return to the middle of the maze. Off they go and both Mad Matt and Butch "accidentally" grope Jenna at various points when their paths cross. She gets past this adversity though and wins the all-important challenge, throwing a serious kink into the boys' plans. Damage control goes into major overdrive with Rob scrambling to stay in the game. Butch goes to Jenna, feels her out, urges her to vote with him for Rob since Rob screwed Jenna's friends Alex and Heidi over, and pointing out that it would be "neat" if it ended up being the two of them at the end -- the oldest and the youngest player. Rob is babbling to Matt who says that he'll take care of the situation. Mad Matt then goes to Jenna and offers her a secret alliance. He asks her to vote with him and Rob to get rid of Butch. As an added bonus, he makes a deal with her that if either of them wins the final immunity challenge, they will take the other with them before the jury. Jenna goes along with this and they vote off Butch at a short tribal council that is notable mostly for Heidi's "date night in the Amazon" mini-skirt outfit, hair extensions and garish makeup. The next day the uneasy trio kills some time weighing themselves and learning that they have each lost between 20 and 30 pounds. Jeff then shows up at camp and sends them all off to get decked out in war paint and pretty beads as a way of preparing themselves of the final immunity challenge which Mad Matt is considering throwing so that he won't have to decide who to take with him since he's pretty sure that both Jenna and Rob will pick him. The last challenge is held in front of the jury and is the usual endurance contest. Perched on narrow wooden posts, they must hold crowns above their heads. The crowns have a string of wooden beads attached to them so that they can't move too far in any one direction. If they fall off the post, or touch the crown or beads to any part of their body they will be disqualified. Mateo is the first to go, admitting later that he did indeed throw it. Rob immediately tries to make a deal with Jenna, saying that if she drops out he'll take her with him. She says "no" she'd really rather win fairly, which she does. For those keeping track at home, this brings Jenna's tally of individual immunity wins up to four out of eight. The only person to have ever won more was Colby Donaldson from "Survivor: The Australian Outback." Oh, and for the record, she is also the only person to have ever given up immunity to another player. Jenna honors her pact with Matt and sends Rob, who Jeff calls "the smartest player to have never won 'Survivor,'" over to the jury. In short order, the outnumbered Jenna has dispatched two-thirds of her competition. She and Matt spend their last day at camp painting the names of all the others on a wooden box and given their camp a Viking funeral by piling everything into the big boat, setting it on fire and pushing it out on the water. Per usual, one of the best parts of any "Survivor," is the final tribal council the jury gets to ask them a question apiece. Rob pits them against each other by asking why they think the other doesn't deserve to win. Matt says Jenna hasn't contributed much and Jenna says that Matt didn't start playing until late in the game, doesn't need the money and doesn't care about the people. Heidi asks who they think really deserves to be in the final two. They both say Rob, even though Heidi tries to get Jenna to say her until Jeff cuts her off. Christy wants to know what Matt thought when he found out she was deaf. He says he was surprised, and had just thought she had a "funky accent." She then tells Jenna that she was offended when Jenna that she was handicapped because she's beautiful. Jenna swears she didn't mean it that way. She insists that she meant that being young and a swimsuit model meant that people were going to look at her as less capable coming into the game. Rocket scientist Dave brings it all home by asking what modern influential leader they have emulated and using what qualities. Matt says Colin Powell's versatility is inspirational, while Jenna goes with the old standby of her parents, especially her mother. In "Survivor's" first landslide, underdog Jenna wins the million dollar prize with six of the seven votes cast (only Butch votes for Matt), making her, at 21, the youngest winner ever as well and giving swimsuit models around the world another reason to hold their heads high. Did you see that coming? Did Jenna deserve to win? Talk about it on the Zap2it message boards (http://tvbb.zap2it.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

05-12-2003, 06:24 PM	#2
BotchieB Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Apr 29, 2003 Posts: 27	I would say she played the game well, even though I didn't want her to win. She used her sex appeal to take her far, which is a good assett to have in the game(the show imitating life), and then got the imunities at the end when they were most crucial. Matt rode Rob's coattails through much of the game and I don't think the jury appreciated that and voted more on how Matt and Jenna played the game mentally more than physically, with Matt being the physical workhorse, but not knowing how to play the game that well, and Jenna kind of spoiled and less helpful at camp, but knowingly using her sex appeal to get her far. Whether she was deserving or not, it depends upon how you look at it and what characteristics you judge on. Something I noticed during the reunion show, was Matt and Jenna in a arm lock embrace, holding hands almost through the whole reunion show, did they hook up or something?