S30: Dan Foley

[pennben]

 

He said he might have gotten some votes if he had made it to the end. Not enough to win but he said he wouldn't have gotten blow mouth

 

Forgive me ByaNose, but "blow mouth" (as it relates to Dan) might be my favorite typo ever! Bless you autocorrect!!

Edited May 14, 2015 by pennben

[BigRedCheese]

I think this will be a first for me, Surivivor boot interviews I'm not going to listen to. I don't know if I will stick to it, I need stuff to listen to at work, but certainly not listening right now based on what I just read. He apologized, and then took it back in a confessional, I just...I can't with this idiot.

[ProfCrash]

I don't see the Dan Interview on the EW site

[pennben]

I think it goes up first as a SirousXM radio(?) play.

[ByaNose]

Pennben, that was hysterical. Gotta love (non) auto correct. I actually listened to the interview live on Sirius. Usually, I'll listen to it from EW but I saw Dalton's tweet about it coming up. I ran to my car and sat in my driveway and listen to it. Yes, I have no life. I know there is a Sirius App but I don't know how to work it. Anyway, Dan was pretty adamant about his feelings on Sherrin & his edit. I still don't like him.

[peachmangosteen]

He said he waited a long time to get on the show and this was his time and Sherin had her time.

 

I feel like this is a big reason why so many of them hate Shirin. Tyler said exactly that ("You had your turn, now it's my turn!") at Ponderosa. She got air time and a good edit, they got bupkis. And like, I do get that. It would suck to watch the season and realize you were going to be hated and someone you were so sure was going to be hated is getting a hero-ish edit, but it still just comes off so sour grapes and jealousy based.

[ProfCrash]

I understood it with Tyler. Outside of one random comment Shirin made, Tyler's only really bad moment was not telling Will that he crossed the line. Shirin was taking Tyler's time.

 

Dan made a whole series of awful comments about women to a whole series of women. He angered Lindsey, Sierra, and Shirin in the show. His talking heads angered Hali and Jenn. It sure seems like his Ponderosa behavior annoyed Tyler and Jenn or they sure saw the game differently then Dan did. Dan's problem is that he lives in his own world and that he cannot see what everyone else sees. His comments in show are evidence that he saw himself differently then everyone else did, that is kind of understandable because he was in the heat of the game and he was in the majority alliance and he was getting votes so obviously he was a threat. He could not understand that many of those votes were because he was an ass (the original series) and then because he was at the bottom of his alliance.

 

The Ponderosa comments made by Jenn and Tyler make it clear that Dan was unable to see the game from their perspective and that he was not able to alter his poit of view.

 

The comments he made in the original interview by his local newspaper made it clear that he was going to blame editing.

 

Your comments about the Ross interview make it clear that he still doesn't get it. So he won't get it next week either.

[wonald]

Sigh.

 

http://parade.com/397351/joshwigler/survivor-contestant-dan-foley-i-went-out-on-my-own-terms/

[marys1000]

Wow.  He has got to be disappointed with how he came off in the show.  This video makes him look totally clueless re his social game and his claim to be a

"very self aware individual".

[ProfCrash]

Yeah, the "your mother joke" was stupid but, even out of context, made sense given the fact that there is an entire series of your momma jokes that people have used for many, many years. He conveniently skipped the Sierra mess and the adoption comment. He blames the editing and ignores his stupid comments and bad behavior.

 

Based on his awful apology to Sierra and this interview, I have a sneaking suspicion I know why Shirin didn't bother trying to mend fences. And that was before she saw his talking heads where he made some pretty amazingly stupid statements. He repeats his line "As a matter of fact, nobody got along with her throughout the whole show." when we can clearly see that was not the case. She developed a pretty good relationship with Max, Joe, Hali, Jenn, and Mike while playing. If Shirin is to be believed, she had a good relationship with Sierra in the game. In Dan's world, Shirin annoyed people and could be treated like shit and no one liked her.

 

We saw what we saw, and I saw Shirin annoy folks but develop some good relationships with folks. I see that Shirin has good relationships with most of the people who made the merge except for Will and Dan. Perhaps if Dan opened his eyes and reflected on what is happening he would see that he made some seriously bad decisions and comments when playing and since then and maybe, just maybe, he needs to own up to his bad behavior and not blame editing

 

ETA: Listening to the Dalton Ross interview. The fact that the first thing he tries to explain is the Rodney mother joke is ridiculous. That got eye rolls and said that it was awful social game. But it is not on par with the crap he said to Sierra and Shirin. I get his comment about the use of an expression but it is that one thing in conjunction with 15 different things.

Edited May 14, 2015 by ProfCrash

[marys1000]

I do agree with what he says here.  While it was sort of awful to watch the secret scene where he talks about slapping - even at the time I understood what he was saying, mean was a rhetorical comment about her talking too much and didn't take that specific comment so much the wrong way like people just so happy to have something to run with.  It just seemed a little more awful because that was around the time with the scene with him in the water schooling her on the game and he just comes across as so overbearing...as he often does  If people on this forum had to answer to stuff they are saying about people they've never even met and which is far worse..............

From Dalton's interview

After being told it was probably not a great choice of words regardless:
“You know something, how many times have you said or anybody else out there in the world has said, ‘God I could just kill this person’? Do you go home and plot murder? It’s an expression, people! Get a grip! There wasn’t a single person on the entire season that didn’t say derogatory things about Shirin. How many times have we seen Jenn saying ‘God, will she just shut up?’ She was even doing that at Ponderosa! Tyler did it at Ponderosa. Everybody wanted her to shut up! Nobody wanted to listen to her anymore. If that many people are saying the same thing to you, are we all bullies, or should you reevaluate how you deal with people? Okay? I meant it as an expression. It was a metaphor. I am not promoting violence against women. Or anybody for that matter. It was merely a phrase.

 

And I am sick of the Shirin thing.  Enough already.

[BigRedCheese]

I haven't been able to make myself listen to his interview yet, but EW had some snippets in print, this one really jumped out.

 

"If that many people are saying the same thing to you, are we all bullies, or should you reevaluate how you deal with people?"

 

Wow, there were a handful of people that he heard say that, and all but two are friends or friendly with her now, and he has practically an entire nation of people saying that what he said was wrong and hateful, regardless of context. Gee Dan, maybe if that many people say that, then maybe you should do a little reevaluating yourself. Idiot!

 

This one too.

 

 "I’ve waited 14 years to get there. I’d like to talk about gameplay. I’d like to talk about the moves I’ve made in the game. At the risk of sounding conceited, Shirin got her week. This is my week and I’m not going to spend it talking about her.”

 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the quickest way to change the subject is just to admit you said some things you regret and apologize, end of story. You're the one dragging this out asshat.

[pennben]

 

Sigh.

 

Yup.

[ByaNose]

He said everyone hated Sherin and not just him. Apparently, she drove everyone crazy. I guess he thought the edit was going to be more about her being the crazy and annoying one. I'm not exactly sure how he thought he was going to be portrayed as a hero though. I guess he thought when Mike flaked in the food auction that Dan would be portrayed as the hero. Boy! Did he get a dose of reality or what?! He can blame editing all he wants but he did talk to Sherin like that and he also talked to Sierra (who are friends) like that when he gave the worst apology ever. I doubt he is going to change his stance on finale night either. Between Dan, Sherin & Will its gonna be an ugly reunion. This is one time I don't want to hear anyone talk especially Dan. Bring on Season 31!

[fishcakes]

Number two, my comment about the “slap Shirin,” okay? ... I had no idea about her past. None. Zero. And how could I?

 

Well, according to Dan she was out there "playing the victim" and talking about it all the damn time. So which is it? Did he have no idea or did everyone know because she talked about it incessantly? This is no different from him saying that he shouldn't be faulted for not stepping in when Will was screaming at her because he wasn't even there but also saying that she started it by calling Will a "fat, fucking piece of shit." Either he wasn't there or he was there and heard her say that, not both.

 

I’ve been having viewing parties every week, and I’ve had diehard feminists come up to me to say, “Listen, I heard what you said about Shirin. I have to tell you, I knew exactly what you meant by it. I knew that you just meant it metaphorically. I knew you meant it as a saying. I knew you didn’t mean it literally.”

 

My guess is that in Dan's world a "diehard feminist" is a woman who wears pants or voted one time.

Edited May 14, 2015 by fishcakes

[BigRedCheese]

I tried to listen to Dan's EW interview, but I had to turn it off, just so delusional, right, you're going to take the high road, and by the way, Shirin isn't complete as a person. I finally turned it off when he started dictating to Dalton Ross on how to conduct his interview, I wish Dalton had just ended the interview at that point. I don't see why some reality show contestant gets to dictate what he's asked about when it's show related, and really, Dan's game play wasn't compelling enough to talk much about anyway.

[ProfCrash]

I get what he is saying about the comment itself. I don't think anyone here thought he was going to hit anyone. The reason why he is getting flack for that statement is because at that point in time he had gotten into it with Kelly, Lindsey, and Sierra over the shelter. He had spent a bunch of time berating Sierra after voting Lindsey out. He had his wonderful comment about how to talk to women. He had the worlds worst apology to Sierra. He had spent how much time berating Shirin for her awful game play. Then he says that someone needs to hit her.

 

Then to make matters worse, after the target is off of him and on Will, the idiot goes to compare his adoption with Shirin's abuse.

 

He refuses to see that the problem is his overall treatment of women and his total lack of self awareness that is the problem. His comments about wanting to be on the show for ages and the miles he drove to be cast and his love of the game just reinforce that he is upset that there were other Super Fans who were called that by the folks playing the game and Probst and he was never included.

 

I am not surprised by his lack of self awareness.

[escatefromny]

My guess is that in Dan's world a "diehard feminist" is a woman who wears pants or voted one time.

You win!

[backformore]

Fishcakes:    My guess is that in Dan's world a "diehard feminist" is a woman who wears pants or voted one time.

 

My guess is that "diehard feminist"  means any woman who has had the audacity to disagree with Dan at any time, or has refused to acknowledge his superior intellect. 

[Lingo]

Sigh.

 

http://parade.com/397351/joshwigler/survivor-contestant-dan-foley-i-went-out-on-my-own-terms/

 

Well that explains why he used his extra vote last night at least.  It appears he thought Will flipped on him and was going to vote with Mike and Carolyn.

 

Dan, I don't care that your "slap" comment was "just a metaphor." Just making a "joke" about violence against women helps perpetuate the notion that violence against women is okay. I don't think it's equivalent to complaining about "killing" a person because it feels more specific and graphic to me, and yes because it's a comment about a woman.

[scowl]

My guess is that "diehard feminist"  means any woman who has had the audacity to disagree with Dan at any time, or has refused to acknowledge his superior intellect. 

Or maybe it's a woman who doesn't suck at life.

[Special K]

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pMgYQd7iVw

 

Dan's Day After Video.  Sigh.  There is something off about this guy.  He is talking about his kids hugging him and being grateful for what he has in life, and yet I still want badly (BADLY!) to punch him in the face.  

[ProfCrash]

LOL His dignity is intact which is more then he can say for some of the people in this game.

 

I could forgive a lot of it if there was any sign that he is looking back and has seen that he screwed up pretty badly. But instead we are getting the editing bullshit.

 

(sigh)

[LadyChatts]

Oh Dan.  Well, you didn't let us down.  I had hoped he'd at least attempt to spin an apology or own up to his behavior.  Reading/listening to his interviews, I don't think it was the bad editing.  On the one hand, I do have to feel bad that the drama and Shirin has hijacked a lot of the moment for these castoffs.  They should have their time, and while it'd be wrong to ignore it completely, I can see where it's annoying that it is taking up a chunk of your own experience that you'd rather talk about.  Dan probably figured he'd get a toast for applying to this show since season 2, and finally making it on.  Being the fat bald guy doomed for an early exit and making it all the way to the final 6, and apparently being enough of a threat to continually get votes.  On the other hand, we are in season 30.  Big Brother, The Amazing Race, The Bachelor, etc, are all series in their teens and twenties.  Editing may play a huge part in how some people get portrayed, but people should know the that game by now.  If you don't want to get portrayed a certain way, maybe don't say or act a certain way.  Unless it's part of being a memorable character that you think everyone will love and beg to see return again and again like Boston Rob or Rupert.  Dan will just ride off into the sunset, and only be remembered for being a miserable clueless sexist oaf.

 

In regards to Shirin, I think there's a different between people being annoyed by her and being downright vicious.  Jenn, Hali, and Joe all seemed annoyed but didn't outright hate her.  I think this is what might make Shirin an early target next season, is if she hasn't changed and hasn't dialed it down, no one will want to deal with the drama or having their own time upstaged.

Edited May 14, 2015 by LadyChatts

[ProfCrash]

For real fun, listen to the Rob Has a Podcast interview.

 

http://robhasawebsite.com/survivor-2015-worlds-apart-exit-interview-dan-foley-voted-off/

 

He starts off with the editing didn't show him crying on day 2 and then he knew that he was screwed because they didn't want people to sympathize with him.

[BigRedCheese]

The thing is, there's nothing compelling about Dan other than his sexist behavior, he didn't play a good game, he was just generally kind of an oaf that said dumb things. There's just not really anything else of interest to ask him about regarding his experience on Survivor, maybe pretending to lose his manties or whatever, but after that, it's pretty much, um. so what's Mike really like?

[Skeeter22]

He actually uses the word misandry in his interview with Rob. Amazing.

He seems to be claiming that he was purposely trying to make Mike crazy by denying that people were plotting against him. That doesn't explain why Dan said Mike was wrong in his talking heads. It also doesn't make any sense when Dan was still going on about Mike being a flipper and backstabber. If everyone, including Dan, were always against Mike, then he can't flip on them.

[ProfCrash]

He has being reading various boards and have seen people make that same argument.

 

I loved that he claims that Sierra saying that he doesn't take direction well is a personal attack.

 

Dude is just not able to understand why people are upset with him. He even listened to Rob's podcasts and he doesn't get what the problem is. He tried to put it all on editing.

 

Just ugggghhhh

[Special K]

The thing is, there's nothing compelling about Dan other than his sexist behavior, he didn't play a good game, he was just generally kind of an oaf that said dumb things. There's just not really anything else of interest to ask him about regarding his experience on Survivor, maybe pretending to lose his manties or whatever, but after that, it's pretty much, um. so what's Mike really like?

 

Wouldn't that be the ultimate irony.  It's like a Faustian bargain:

 

Dan:  Thanks so much Satan for getting me on Survivor.  I didn't think my late model jalopy could handle those 25,000 miles going to all those auditions!  My life dream has now come true.  But all I want now is to be remembered.  Remembered for the good upstanding moral family man that I am. 

Satan:  You are so greedy!  I already granted your one wish and have claimed your soul.  But, OK. You will be remembered.  But maybe not in the way you expect.

Dan:  That's fine, this is America, any press is good press, right?

Satan:  Uh, yeah sure.  See you on Twitter...

Edited May 14, 2015 by Special K

[pennben]

 

For real fun,

 

I don't think you mean that!

[LadyChatts]

I think it's damage control.  I don't think he should be getting death threats, if he's being sincere about that (he could be lying or taking some hate filled spew as a death threat when it's not).  But having to basically sit on his hands all season over his portrayal, and any time he did speak out he made it worse, and now to have moment hijacked, it's got to have him bursting at the seams.  And he knew a lot of the conversation was going to center around Shirin and the comments he made.  Even past Survivors have been dissing him all season and saying how horrible and worthless he is.

 

His big issue with Mike seemed to center around the auction.  Let it go dude. It's called playing the game.  I wish Mike hadn't backed down.  Sorry he thought of it first.  Was Dan the only one allowed to do anything strategically?  Also, in that EW interview, I liked how he said he was hoping the reunion would focus on his 14 year plight to get on the show and all the awesome moves he made.  Well, Jeff could at least spend 2 minutes talking about his attempts to get on the show.  Not sure what moves he would be able to show.  Other than using his advantage and getting himself booted.

[Special K]

All of these people complaining about "their Survivor moment" not going at they planned.  They do know that they are mere pawns in a corporate-entertainment juggernaut, right?  This isn't Pee-Wee Football.

[BigRedCheese]

Of course he shouldn't be getting death threats, although he said people talk about killing people all the time and don't mean it, so it's no big deal, so I'm not sure why that bothers him so much anyway since they're probably not actually going to do it. That last bit was sarcasm by the way, in case Dan is reading this.

[scowl]

I hope the reunion replays his faux-apology to Sierra so the audience can laugh while Dan looks shocked and confused by people's audacity and unmitigated gall.

[escatefromny]

I think it's damage control.  I don't think he should be getting death threats, if he's being sincere about that (he could be lying or taking some hate filled spew as a death threat when it's not).  But having to basically sit on his hands all season over his portrayal, and any time he did speak out he made it worse, and now to have moment hijacked, it's got to have him bursting at the seams.  And he knew a lot of the conversation was going to center around Shirin and the comments he made.  Even past Survivors have been dissing him all season and saying how horrible and worthless he is.

So, the death threats" on Twitter are real and not hyperbole but wanting to slap Shirin is "just an expression" that people say all time?!?!

He should appreciate that he has the diversion of his misogyny, without that, the only question he'd be getting is "why are you so fucking stupid?"

[backformore]

I do think that Dan, watching the show, is upset that two other contestants were said to be"Survivor  superfans", and he was the one who had to bring up that HE was the "superfan".  I think he wanted the "tried for 14 years to get on the show, finally succeeded"  to be his legacy.  Instead he got "pompous guy who thinks he's the smartest person on the island"  edit. 

[Special K]

  Instead he got "pompous guy who thinks he's the smartest person on the island"  edit. 

 

Well, he is merry.

[wonald]

You know that famous quote from As Good as It Gets? “I think of a man and I take away reason and accountability." That "man" is Dan in a nutshell. Nothing is ever his fault. And don't bother trying to criticize him because that's unfair. It's only fair if he criticize you.

[fishcakes]

About the death threats, obviously that should never happen, but it seems to be SOP now for reality show contestants who come off badly and get a lot of social media blowback to claim their lives have been threatened, and yet no one has ever produced an actual threat. Dawn after Caramoans, the Country Girls after the last all-star TAR, and the runner-up from the last Masterchef have all made that claim and yet no one else has seen these alleged threats. It's not as if we all can't see exactly what they see on Facebook or twitter or boards like these (as well as more lawless places like Survivor Sucks); if they were there, or had been there and deleted, there would still be screencaps all over the place. And presumably if there were specific threats, they would be getting law enforcement involved, but I've never heard anything about that either.

 

I have seen people say terrible things to them on social media, like "why don't you kill yourself?" or "I hope you get cancer," and the worst thing I saw was people telling a really abrasive woman who had a young son that they hoped her son would get AIDS, and all of that is awful enough in itself, but even so it's a far cry from being a death threat. That's just people being assholes. I might have some sympathy for even utter creeps like Dan and Will for getting messages like that, but when they exaggerate what's happening -- even play the victim (oh noooeeees) -- then I think even less of them, which doesn't even seem possible, but there it is.

 

I don't think it's impossible that some reality show contestant has at some point received a death threat from a viewer, but I've heard it so often now that I'm firmly in the "pics or it didn't happen" camp.

[ElleryAnne]

Dan's interviews are cringe-worthy.  He is a master of self-deception.  

 

I think all the years of wanting to be on Survivor led him to cement a picture in his head of how the entire experience - from the game itself, to the way he'd be perceived afterward - was supposed to go.  He would be the season's Everyman hero and the whole country would root for him, and afterward they'd talk glowingly about him as the guy who played the game with integrity.  In reality, he did it all wrong of course.

 

• He wanted to play as a "hero" but he treated everyone he didn't like as a villain, which just made him come across as an arrogant jackass.
• He wanted to play with dignity but pretended to coddle people's feelings while laughing about it in his talking heads, and while getting offended when others considered strategies that would be in their own best interests instead of meekly accepting his alliance's preferred boot order.
• He wanted to come across as a fan of the game but his TH's were alternately pompous and shallow and filled with awkward sound-bytes that probably sounded much cooler in his head.
• He wanted to be a memorable character, but even as the recipient of a new advantage in the game he played a safe and boring path to a mid-jury spot with no noteworthy moves. 
• He wanted to be the big-hearted guy who missed his wife back home, but he's mentioned more than once how the show didn't include those scenes of him crying on Day 2 about missing their anniversary and he just sounds like he's mad that his big scene was cut.

 

But none of that matters to him.  He's not going to let reality change the script in his own mind.

[BigRedCheese]

I broke down and listened to the Rob interview, I knew that one would be interesting because of Rob's female perspective interview. Dan talked about how he wanted to be accepted in the Survivor community, and he's gotten a lot of hate from past Survivors. Well Dan, if everybody is saying it, then there must be something to it, right? Seems like I've heard that somewhere before.

[Lingo]

Dan's Day After Video.  Sigh.  There is something off about this guy.  He is talking about his kids hugging him and being grateful for what he has in life, and yet I still want badly (BADLY!) to punch him in the face.  

 

But I'm sure you just mean that metaphorically, right?

[LadyChatts]

I broke down and listened to the Rob interview, I knew that one would be interesting because of Rob's female perspective interview. Dan talked about how he wanted to be accepted in the Survivor community, and he's gotten a lot of hate from past Survivors. Well Dan, if everybody is saying it, then there must be something to it, right? Seems like I've heard that somewhere before.

 

Some of my favorites came from Spencer  and Parvati.  I still love Spencer saying in a final 3 of Will/Dan/Rodney the TC stools would win.

[Miss Scarlet]

I haven't listened to the interview yet, but I love how the summary of it says "Rob attempts to ask Dan about the following questions". Hahahaha!

Edited May 14, 2015 by wudpixie

[MarquisDeCarabas]

Yeah the first thing he said to Rob was I thought the former survivors would have my back more then they do cause they understand what happens with editing.  And yeah they do, but they also understand that they can't add stuff that wasn't there, and if you got the jerk edit it's cause they recognise that you did enough jerky stuff that it's not worth softening the blow.

[ByaNose]

His exit with Gordon Holmes is even worse. He wants to get into with him and then says they don't have time (time crunch) but then Dan goes into this long winded answer using up all the time. I think he wanted a confrontation but didn't want to deal with the reality of it. He didn't want to be called on the carpet by Holmes. He takes one step forward but then takes 10 steps backwards with his answers. He's his own worst enemy.

[LadyChatts]

Yeah the first thing he said to Rob was I thought the former survivors would have my back more then they do cause they understand what happens with editing.  And yeah they do, but they also understand that they can't add stuff that wasn't there, and if you got the jerk edit it's cause they recognise that you did enough jerky stuff that it's not worth softening the blow.

 

It's wrong that I'm loving this so much.  Poor Dan.  Wonder if he still wishes he went on to be remembered?  He's had so much time to prepare and know what's coming, and you'd think he's being blindsided by the topic of conversation.

Edited May 14, 2015 by LadyChatts

[Special K]

Against my better judgement, I listened to RHAP.  Despite the fact that they clearly don't like each other, they played nice.  Dan is on his apology tour, clearly, wanting to provide every tiny contextual detail that surrounded every instance of his bad behavior.   As if it matters.  Doesn't he know the "she made me hit her" defense doesn't work?  I wish Rob had been able to get out of the weeds and talk about Dan's overall behavior.

 

I do think it is illustrative, as someone else said, that he was upset they didn't show him crying "half the day" over his anniversary because of what he supposed it says about the producers' low opinion of him, not because of the actual emotion involved. Newsflash to Dan: Seeing you crying like that would not have elevated my opinion of you.  What long-married adult person cries "half the day" over an anniversary, unless, like your spouse is in combat or something?

[Miss Scarlet]

I actually think we should be grateful to Dan and that he was good TV - for a PSA that explains "Why we still need feminism". 

[LadyChatts]

The whole crying thing would have been day 2.  Everyone would have forgotten about that by now, if they had shown it.  And it wouldn't have made any sort of impact, imo.  Even listening to his extra vids on CBS, the guy is delusional.  It's a case of he gets himself, but he sees nothing wrong with how he played the game and doesn't understand why no one else sees it his way.  Just like Jenn was saying in the Ponderosa vid.  Dan is too set in his ways to open his mind up.