S35: Simone Nguyen

[Star Aristille]

Hi.  I'm a fan of Michaela because I like judging people like she did.

Honestly . . . a good number of her answers make me think she's not going to be with us for very long.  She could surprise, but . . . I'm doubting it. . . .

[LadyChatts]

I had high hopes for her, but after reading her bio and watching her vid, I'm not impressed.  If she winds up in the right alliance or gets on a winning tribe she could go far.  But maybe she'll come off smarter and more subtle.

Otherwise I think she'll rub people the wrong way.  Maybe this will be her audition for HvsV 2 if there is one.

Edited August 31, 2017 by LadyChatts

[Silver Raven]

She sounds like a manipulator, but I'm sure people will see through her and get her out quick.  If not first.

[LanceM]

I think she could be a fun villain if she sticks around. I do like this quote from her.

"There's a Vietnamese saying *deep breath* where, you know, you smile when they hurt you, you smile when they betray you--and, you keep smiling, you smile until you kill them, 'cause the moment that you stop smiling is the moment that they notice." 

[LadyChatts]

I was reading one of Katrina's interviews, and Simone's first impression of her was interesting.  Standing by my opinion that Simone probably isn't going to hold back on anything.  Whether that hurts her or not remains to be seen.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-season-35-player-profile-meet-katrina-radke-1035732

Quote

 

Simone Nguyen (Diversity Advocate, Hustlers Tribe): She's definitely a cancer survivor.

Josh Wigler (Reporter, THR): Interesting. Why do you think that?

Simone Nguyen (Diversity Advocate, Hustlers Tribe): She looks scared all the time. She's trying to prove something to herself, and her narrative is probably something like, "If I can beat cancer, I can beat anything." I definitely think that it's ... you see a lot of cancer survivors and a lot of people with medical conditions on the show. Honestly, what they go through is so much worse than what we go through here. In this case, I think that maybe suffering like this might not have been the best choice for her.

 

Edited September 9, 2017 by LadyChatts

[simplyme]

Hollywood Reporter's Simone Nguyen profile:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-season-35-player-profile-meet-simone-nguyen-1042157

I'm not sure how to phrase some of the things I'm feeling after reading that.  I guess this was a player profile where I read it and just overall was left with the impression that she has an uphill battle partly because she's an Asian woman (but not a gorgeous one) and there are some unconscious biases that may be in effect.

Not saying it isn't partially her personality, too, mind you. :) 

That said, I continue to be impressed by Ryan, Alan, and Roark's comments in general. Surfer boy Devon seems like an idiot. Cole seems to mostly be assessing people on how much he wants to hang out with them or hook up with them. So far, I cannot figure out how JP got cast. He's so bland he makes beige look exciting, and his powers of observation are summed up in this comment on Simone, "Just another girl. We'll see what happens with it all."

[azshadowwalker]

From that interview:

Quote

Ryan Ulrich (Bellhop, Hustlers Tribe): She's playing hard, man. She is really playing hard. Too hard, I think, at pregame. She's smiling at everybody, just so hard until you look back. Like, you cannot look away. She's smiling at logs, she's smiling at trees, just in hopes that they might be in the game, you know?

I laughed. It made me like Ryan. 

[LadyChatts]

3 hours ago, simplyme said:

Hollywood Reporter's Simone Nguyen profile:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-season-35-player-profile-meet-simone-nguyen-1042157

I'm not sure how to phrase some of the things I'm feeling after reading that.  I guess this was a player profile where I read it and just overall was left with the impression that she has an uphill battle partly because she's an Asian woman (but not a gorgeous one) and there are some unconscious biases that may be in effect.

Not saying it isn't partially her personality, too, mind you. :) 

That said, I continue to be impressed by Ryan, Alan, and Roark's comments in general. Surfer boy Devon seems like an idiot. Cole seems to mostly be assessing people on how much he wants to hang out with them or hook up with them. So far, I cannot figure out how JP got cast. He's so bland he makes beige look exciting, and his powers of observation are summed up in this comment on Simone, "Just another girl. We'll see what happens with it all."

I thought JP was bland from his photo.  I haven't gotten to his interviews yet, but glad he's living up to expectations.  Maybe he'll be the designated contestant at the reunion this year that everyone asks 'whose that?' 

 Simone is coming across as already playing too hard, too soon, and I think that might be her undoing.  She may end up tanking her own game.  I liked her pre-show, but than I started reading her interviews and watching her vids, and I'm not digging her as much.  She comes across as trying to be a villain a little too early for my liking. 

I'm liking Ryan and Roark more than I was expecting.  I'm still on the fence with Roark.  As long as she's not some geeked out super fan playing a character and trying too hard to spout random Survivor facts (like she did in this interview), then I'm good.  The same can apply to Ryan. 

[KimberStormer]

8 hours ago, simplyme said:

she has an uphill battle partly because she's an Asian woman (but not a gorgeous one) and there are some unconscious biases that may be in effect.

Wait Simone is not gorgeous?  This girl right here?

[peachmangosteen]

On 9/23/2017 at 4:12 PM, simplyme said:

... she's an Asian woman (but not a gorgeous one) ....

 

On 9/24/2017 at 0:41 AM, KimberStormer said:

Wait Simone is not gorgeous? 

Right! That was my first thought, too.

Edited September 25, 2017 by peachmangosteen

[simplyme]

Hey, I think she's pretty smokin', but given that this is a cast made up of incredibly ripped people AND the guys around her age aren't noticing her but are salivating over several of the other women, I'm saying she's apparently not a knockout in their eyes.

That's why I said "not gorgeous" instead of "not attractive" or "not good-looking," because to me she clearly is attractive. I just don't know that she's hot/gorgeous in a way that will benefit her.

My point was that I'm seeing her accrue some of the possibly negative Asian woman stereotype words in these comments like she's smart, she's a follower or useless, she's sneaky (or "got something up her sleeves"), and she isn't getting much real warmth back. A few women thought she was pretty, but no real guy reactions of "Whoooo!" like some of the other women. A couple people said sweet. It's really the only interview I read where I had a weird feeling in my stomach when I was done because things like "smart" kept coming up so often. Which as Liz from Russell Hantz's first season said, is nice but can be a double-edged sword. 

Of course, it also sounds like she's playing way too hard... but it was hard for me not to notice comments that seemed like big racial assumptions. Some of the "smart" comments gave a solid reason, like Dr. Mike, some didn't, but the comment that jumped out to me was Lauren's follower comment. Maybe that's because she's smiling at everything, but I would have phrased it differently.

[LanceM]

I am very surprised that we didn't get at least one confessional from Simone tonight.  This may be a good sign for her longevity though as we have seen in the past players that last deep into the game sometimes get minimal content in the pre-merge. I hope that is the case with her.  She said in her interview with Josh Wigler that her strategy was to be the little sister of the tribe and to play under the radar at the start of the game.  This could be why we didn't see much of her at all tonight.

[LadyChatts]

Had Ryan not found the super idol I don't think we would have seen much of the Hustler tribe at all.  So I'm not too surprised she was absent from any footage. 

She did not look happy when the Hustlers finally made it to shore after marooning.

[LanceM]

In case anyone wants to hear her thoughts since we heard ntohing from her tonight. Sounds much different than when she was talking to Josh.

 

Edited September 28, 2017 by LanceM

[KimberStormer]

On ‎9‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 4:28 PM, simplyme said:

Hey, I think she's pretty smokin', but given that this is a cast made up of incredibly ripped people AND the guys around her age aren't noticing her but are salivating over several of the other women, I'm saying she's apparently not a knockout in their eyes.

That's why I said "not gorgeous" instead of "not attractive" or "not good-looking," because to me she clearly is attractive. I just don't know that she's hot/gorgeous in a way that will benefit her.

I understand what you mean now, but it is weird because I thought she was the prettiest person on the island except possibly Ali!  (Chrissy's very pretty too...but I don't feel like this is a particularly attractive cast, personally.)

[Bryce Lynch]

Based upon episode 1, I think Simone's power of invisibility will make her a big threat.  

[TVFan1]

I think once she starts getting a lot of airtime, she will be as good as gone. I hope she can manage to go far, though.

[LanceM]

On 9/28/2017 at 11:04 AM, TVFan1 said:

I think once she starts getting a lot of airtime, she will be as good as gone. I hope she can manage to go far, though.

Good call.

Here is Simone the day after for those that have CBS all access.

http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/video/k_9HC_5sJD_kV4_e8DJTKrFxKx3GgVi9/simone-the-day-after/

[simplyme]

And here's Simone's post-game interview with Josh Wigler on THR:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-simone-nguyen-exit-interview-1045997

I really liked her in this interview. She was very gracious and good-natured, imo.

[TVFan1]

22 hours ago, LanceM said:

Good call.

Here is Simone the day after for those that have CBS all access.

http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/video/k_9HC_5sJD_kV4_e8DJTKrFxKx3GgVi9/simone-the-day-after/

I'm not a member of CBS All Access. Is there any other way to view Simone's Day After Video?

[ProfCrash]

She might be bright but it is hard to hear that when every other word is like. Listening to her RHAP interview is painful.

[Bryce Lynch]

6 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

She might be bright but it is hard to hear that when every other word is like. Listening to her RHAP interview is painful.

She uses "like" and "like, like" so much that when Rob legitimately used the word like, I reflexively cringed.  

Edited October 6, 2017 by Bryce Lynch

[LanceM]

I guess it depends on who she is talking to. She seemed overly excited to talk to Rob. lol But here she is calm, articulate and very well spoken.

 

[Bryce Lynch]

18 hours ago, LanceM said:

I guess it depends on who she is talking to. She seemed overly excited to talk to Rob. lol But here she is calm, articulate and very well spoken.

 

In that clip she use a lot of "you knows" and long pauses.  I suspect that the producers told her to watch the likes.

She sounded very self conscious about what she was saying in the beginning and then loosened up.

I am thinking that maybe she can control the likes in more formal settings and she treated the podcast more like a talk with friends.

It seems ironic that an Asian American law firm would have a Diversity Advocate, unless her role is help transform the firm in simply an American law firm.

[Guest]

It's not a law firm.  She said "the Asian American Bar Association".   They as a group advocate solely for Asian Americans, it sounds like. 

I'm  surprised Kaoh Rong was her first time hearing the bamboo/strength analogy, especially given that "bamboo is my Vietnamese name" thing.  

[simplyme]

6 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

It seems ironic that an Asian American law firm would have a Diversity Advocate, unless her role is help transform the firm in simply an American law firm.

As @Winston9-DT3 said, you misunderstood. She works for the Asian American Bar Association and advocates for greater diversity in legal fields, in her case especially for Asian Americans.

Since law is one of the least diverse professions with 88% of lawyers being white* there's a reason such jobs exist.

*source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/05/27/law-is-the-least-diverse-profession-in-the-nation-and-lawyers-arent-doing-enough-to-change-that/?utm_term=.8067514cac37

[Jextella]

On 10/8/2017 at 1:11 PM, simplyme said:

As @Winston9-DT3 said, you misunderstood. She works for the Asian American Bar Association and advocates for greater diversity in legal fields, in her case especially for Asian Americans.

Since law is one of the least diverse professions with 88% of lawyers being white* there's a reason such jobs exist.

*source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/05/27/law-is-the-least-diverse-profession-in-the-nation-and-lawyers-arent-doing-enough-to-change-that/?utm_term=.8067514cac37

I just saw a job posting for a diversity specialist for our state bar association.  They are looking for very high-end credentials for a very serious position.