S37: Angelina Keeley

[Bryce Lynch]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

I think it's a decent comparison to some extent, but I'd say that Angelina is worse than Chris and that's why she invited more hate.  I recall Chris being hated plenty around here, and perhaps with good reason.  He was very arrogant.  But he put himself out there.  He and Dom got into a tiff and it was very clear that the battle lines were drawn and it was his alliance vs. Dom's alliance.  He also did well in challenges.

I don't recall him being as mean spirited or nasty or manipulative, however.  To me he seemed like just an overly self-centered guy.  That's where I see a difference with Angelina.  She was mean spirited and manipulative.  She tasked Natalie with acquiring either Nick or Lyrsa's jacket just because SHE was cold and implied that one of them was going home so might as well give her their coat.  Of course she made sure to have Natalie do it because Natalie was already abrasive and she didn't want her own reputation to suffer. 

Then of course the fake idol where she was all gleeful in her confessional about letting Alison find it and hoping she would use it and get embarrassed on TV.  Above all, she then proceeded to lie about it during final tribal where she told Alison the purpose wasn't to embarrass her and Nick just shook his head and said she wanted to embarrass her.  I was very impressed with Nick that he didn't elaborate further and explain in detail what she had said.

Chris is arrogant but I don't think he is a particularly bright person and he will just view himself as confident and strong.  He's a harmless meathead.

Angelina is arrogant but she is obviously a very intelligent individual (as she has clearly mentioned she went to Stanford and Yale) so that adds another level to her arrogance.  Not only is she arrogant but she is manipulative.  And to me, that makes for a very ugly personality.  The worst part is that she doesn't even see it.  She attributes her behaviour to being tired and cold and hungry and having to come up with "creative" solutions.  She will forever go through life thinking that her shit don't stank and that haters gonna hate, all because she is a "strong woman".  *eyeroll*

Good post.  I agree that there was a lot more to dislike about Angelina and she had a mean streak, to go along with the arrogant and clueless streak that she and Chris share.  

If she had been more effective in the game, I think I would have hated her a lot more.  But, since she never really accomplished anything, I enjoyed her as an often hilarious, hapless cartoon villain like Elmer Fudd or Wile E. Coyote.   Someone else here compared her to the Wet Bandits from "Home Alone".  

[LadyChatts]

2 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

Good post.  I agree that there was a lot more to dislike about Angelina and she had a mean streak, to go along with the arrogant and clueless streak that she and Chris share.  

If she had been more effective in the game, I think I would have hated her a lot more.  But, since she never really accomplished anything, I enjoyed her as an often hilarious, hapless cartoon villain like Elmer Fudd or Wile E. Coyote.   Someone else here compared her to the Wet Bandits from "Home Alone".  

So is she Harry and Mike Marv?

I'll continue to think that Angelina is an entitled, egotistical mean girl who throws a hissy fit when she doesn't get her own way, talks big but doesn't deliver, and believes she is much better at the game in every way then she really is.  I also believe that Jeff likes Angelina not for the reasons he said, but he put on this big "she's such a strong woman" to further feed her ego.  The women were kind of a weak group this season overall, but if anything I'd argue Kara was probably the best out of all them.

[Eolivet]

I wonder if opinions of Angelina boil down to one's opinion of humor. Is asking for a jacket clueless or arrogant? Is bringing up rice as the reason one should go on a reward hilarious or entitled? I personally didn't find Angelina's behavior funny in the same way I found Chris Noble's behavior funny, so I couldn't enjoy Angelina as a hilarious goofball. But as the old boards always said: YMMV.

Others have made really good points, but it's made me realize my personal closest comparator to Angelina is Taylor on Millennials vs Gen X. Both clearly edited as over-the-top characters we were supposed to find entertaining, but I didn't like his food-stealing behavior in the same way I didn't like her calculated begging behavior. I don't think it's right to think you're entitled to food when everyone is starving or you're entitled to a jacket when everyone is cold or a reward when everyone is hungry. At least Chris Noble didn't think he was entitled to anything but a rap career.

But in the grand scheme of things, is taking food out of mason jars or manipulating someone for a jacket or claiming you're entitled to a reward all that terrible? No. But I consider both the nadir of seasons where there were a lot of likable and nice characters otherwise.

[Mark2]

Just prefacing this on the fact that if I ran into a name from a different season, I tried to skip over that section.  To the matter at hand (Angelina's 15 minutes):

22 hours ago, KimberStormer said:

...people apparently still need to find someone to absolutely seethingly hate?  To call "that trash" and suchlike dehumanizing language?  About Angelina, of all people...Surely there's some better target for this ire out there in the world that you could think of without the slightest difficulty.  I mean, I spend an unusual amount of time thinking about Survivor, but jeez, it's just a game show, man.

There definitely are people to truly despise elsewhere in this world...you know, like terrorists and mass shooters.  I see little true hatred of characters than I see commentary on behavior.  Sure, often with judgement on that behavior. 

Talking about the foibles and great moves on a reality show is a lot less prone to give one an ulcer worrying about all the evils in the world that are truly worth one's ire.

To me, Natalie, Elizabeth and Lyrsa were a little annoying to watch, but generally I liked the tribe post-merge.  Certainly nobody to truly hate-on.

 

22 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

The last person who started a non-profit charity, with a Christian spin, who played on Survivor..... Mike Skupin. 

Angelina ... be careful where you go with this.

http://markmaynard.com/2013/12/michigans-michael-skupin-survivor-turned-christian-con-man/

And of course the most well known player who went to prison.

 

17 hours ago, Jextella said:

I also agree about Angelina.  To me, she is just as you describe - "a harmless goof that everyone in the actual game seems to have liked just fine".  In fact, more than fine.  Based on social media posts and interviews, Mike, Nick, Davie, and Jon like her a lot.  In his jury video, Dan says if he had to vote based on who was the nicest to him, it would be Angelina every day of the week.  I really enjoyed Angelina, and from what we were shown, she strikes me as someone who doesn't have a bad bone in her body and is a genuinely kind and good person.  I think she comes off as a little clueless sometimes because she's not a natural shark.  To me she's more of a natural "overachiever" (if there is such a thing!), but a nice one, and she played the game as such.  IMO, this is what made her game a little clunky and it is also what rubbed people the wrong way.  For me, on the other hand, it is what was most entertaining - and somewhat endearing.

Given that player sentiment, I would say 'goof' is a little harsh.  In fact, at this point I think even more so that she's a victim of the editors (except the whole sexism schtick).  She's probably the one they could pull the goofiest off-the-wall answers from, who also fit a given archetype they ran with.

[cooksdelight]

2 hours ago, Mark2 said:

And of course the most well known player who went to prison.

With the lameass excuse that he thought CBS was going to pay his taxes on the prize money.