S34.E09: Vamos a la Playa

[blackwing]

On 11/18/2022 at 12:30 AM, Skooma said:

I've seen every single episode of TAR and as a vegetarian I'm super keyed into a situation like that and I never remember it happening.  What they have done is make one side of a detour about meat eating and the other not so the team has no choice which detour to take which is a penalty in and of itself narrowing their options.

With roadblocks there have been some that involved eating meat but in those cases the producers knew in advance if there was a team of 2 vegetarians or even vegans or just one member.  If both were then those roadblock types never appeared in that season.  If one member was and one wasn't (like the BB couple here) then yes the RB could/would be in that season since the one non-veggie partner could do it.  TAR producers aren't ever going to force a choice of having to violate one's lifelong spiritual principles or not after all.

And yes us vegetarians (and vegans even) are just as much entitled to be on TAR as meat eaters are or only fish eaters etc etc, thank you.  We too are part of the human race.  Live and let live for everybody.

(Side note: There was one fast forward that involved drinking animal blood in Season 6 so if a team were veggies they would have had to punt on that one but there is no penalty for punting a FF other than making up time lost trying for it.  But wrestler Bolo and his wife were not veggies and drank the blood with gusto as I recall).

On 11/18/2022 at 6:39 PM, Hera said:

It could be a liability thing. As others have noted, if the required food has an ingredient that someone is allergic to (or something like celiac where the food triggers an autoimmune reaction), then they literally can't do it and the show would end up discriminating against people with certain health conditions. And it might be that someone is allergic to something but doesn't find out because the first time they encounter the trigger is on the race. It could also be cultural sensitivity thing—these challenges are based on the premise that the unfamiliar food will be disgusting for the contestants and hard to eat, which is potentially offensive to people from the culture where the food comes from.

I would agree that if there are food allergies involved, like a nut or seafood allergy, and the task involves eating those foods, then that is a bit unfair to those who are allergic.  If it was a Roadblock then that team would be forced to take a penalty.  If it was a Detour then that team would be forced to do the other option.

However, sorry, but I see vegetarian/vegan as a personal choice.  So I would have no issues if there are meat eating tasks.  The task that Rob Mariano got several teams to take the 4 hour penalty on was to eat an enormous amount of meat, I wonder what vegetarians would have done?  There have also been plenty of meat eating tasks in the past.  On Fast Forwards there was Chris and Alex (Season 2) eating a meat pie, and Nat and Kat eating a sheep's head.  There have also been tasks like eating a bowl of Hungarian goulash and eating sausage.

What if somebody doesn't like fish and there was a fish eating task?  Or if somebody doesn't like mushrooms and there was a mushroom eating task?  Would these tasks be ok because it's not meat, or are they also unacceptable?  Wasn't there a task that involved eating some maggot cheese with actual live maggots still in it?  What if someone really hates cheese, or maggots, or both?

I miss the eating challenges because to me, one of the things that is special about TAR is that it highlights local culture.  And so much of local culture is about food.  I love seeing what people eat in other countries.

I would hate to think that the show has eliminated eating challenges to appease vegetarians.  I think an eating task (assuming no allergies are involved) should be no different than any other task.  Each team comes with their own strengths and weaknesses.  I recall the team of two women that struggled on the task that was like a carnival game where they had to ring the bell with the mallet.  They just weren't strong enough.  But there have also been teams of two strong guys that lacked brain power and would struggle with puzzles or mental tasks.

I would liken being vegetarian to being afraid of heights.  Unless there is some documented medical reason for them not doing the task, at some point, the teams have to decide how much they want that million dollars.

On 11/18/2022 at 8:12 AM, North of Eden said:

Two revelations tonight both involving Aubrey.

I didn't know she was philipino....I thought she was a latina.

Second for some reason I never noticed before but she seems like a complete dimbulb. I had no confidence in her at the Picaso challenge.

I was kind of surprised when she said she was Filipino.  To me she looks Hispanic, she doesn't look Filipino to me at all.  Maybe she is half-Hispanic and half-Filipino.

[millennium]

During the Picasso challenge it occurred to me that some band should cover Sonny and Cher's "I Got You, Babe," but change the words to "You Got This, Babe."