S38: Julia Carter

[Whimsy]

Meet Julia

Age: 24

Hometown: Hazleton, Pennsylvania

Current Residence: Bethesda, Maryland

Occupation: Medical Assistant

Personal Claim to Fame: I definitely feel proud to be the first in the family to graduate college and pave the way for my younger sister and family members.

Hobbies: Traveling, shopping, and eating.

Pet Peeves: Being ignored, loud chewing, and when people document EVERYTHING on social media.

If You Could Have 3 Things on the Island What Would They Be and Why? Pen and paper to document my thoughts, stories and strategy. A radio or something to play music because music keep my going. Picture of my family. Everything I do is for them. This would help me get through rough times in the game.

SURVIVOR Contestant You Are Most Like: Jeremy! He was a physical beast, but he was strategic in his use of idols, loyal to his alliance and overall honest and personable in his gameplay. He was a well-rounded player. 

https://ew.com/tv/survivor-edge-of-extinction-cast-gallery/#julia-carter

[Bryce Lynch]

She is very likable, bright, humble and pretty.  Therefore, she will probably be one of the first 3 out, though I hope I am wrong.   

[himela]

My winner pick, I hope she does good 🙂

[Bryce Lynch]

Julia, who has done nothing, on a tribe that gets no attention because it hasn't gone to TC, is publicly whining about a lack of confessionals and playing the race card.  Grow up.  

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2019/03/survivor-is-ignoring-julia-carter/

[peachmangosteen]

2 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

Julia, who has done nothing ...

You only think she's done nothing because she's not been shown doing anything and we know not being shown doesn't actually mean someone has 'done nothing'

If we trust the edit, she has done at least one thing: align with Ron/Gavin/Eric/Victoria/Julie.

[Bryce Lynch]

21 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

You only think she's done nothing because she's not been shown doing anything and we know not being shown doesn't actually mean someone has 'done nothing'

If we trust the edit, she has done at least one thing: align with Ron/Gavin/Eric/Victoria/Julie.

She hasn't done anything like find and idol or advantage like Aubry and Ron.   

Ron found a brand new advantage, and led the tribe in dance number and he only has 2, both in episode one.  One was him talking about he didn't want to set a bad example for his students, but they know Survivor is a game and the other when he found the advantage.  

The whole Kama tribe only has 26 of 98 confessionals.  There just isn't much to talk about with that tribe yet.   It is not shocking that a newcomer, in a season with returnees, who has been UTR and whose tribe has not been to TC, has no confessionals.

Plus, the leader in confessionals is a Latina, Wendy with 13 and Keith is third with 9.   But, of course, Julia having zero confessionals is racially motivated.  

It seems like she has been experiencing an uneventful game (which is a good thing), so far, and hasn't done or said anything particularly brilliant or stupid to draw the attention of the editors.   

Does anyone honestly think they are leaving her scintillating confessionals on the cutting room floor, because she is black?

[Bryce Lynch]

On 2/11/2019 at 8:11 AM, Whimsy said:

Pet Peeves: Being ignored

[LadyChatts]

If it's any consolation I only remember the other people on her tribe for the wrong reasons (or because they are Joe and Aubry),  I forgot there was a Julie, and I keep thinking Gavin is named Nick, even though he reminds me of Donathan from the way he looks.  I don't like how the article is titled "...Ignoring One of Their Two Black Cast Members..."  Race doesn't have anything to do with it.  Maybe she's just that boring.  I've watched bonus clips of her TH, and I can't say she's overly exciting.  Not saying I don't feel for her, however.

Also, getting ignored isn't always the worst thing in the world.  They could show her as some hapless follower who is indecisive and looks clueless about the decisions being made around her.  Or like Victoria, who I know best for not looking for idols and telling Joe to his face while she had her back to him that she was voting him out.  

Edited March 8, 2019 by LadyChatts

[peachmangosteen]

I didn't think she was 'playing the race card,' which my goodness what a gross/tired phrase. From her tweets, it sounds like Jeff was selling her some 'You'll be so inspirational!' bullshit (which he undoubtedly does with everyone), she bought it, and now she sees it was bullshit and she's not going to get any airtime and she's disappointed. She comes off naive to have believed whatever bullshit Jeff was selling her. 

Edited March 8, 2019 by peachmangosteen

[LadyChatts]

7 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I didn't think she was 'playing the race card,' which my goodness what a gross/tired phrase. From her tweets, it sounds like Jeff was selling her some "You'll be so inspirational!" bullshit (which he undoubtedly does with everyone), she bought it, and now she sees it was bullshit and she's not going to get any airtime and she's disappointed. She comes off naive to have believed whatever bullshit Jeff was selling her. 

Yeah, listening to Jeff is always a bad idea.  Listen to all of his pre-cast assessments every season and it is the same thing every time.  But maybe she thought that was a ringing endorsement at being a Probst fave.  I was more annoyed at the title of the article saying that Survivor was ignoring one of the two black castaways this season, as if race had anything to do with it.  I don't think she herself was playing the race card.

[peachmangosteen]

30 minutes ago, LadyChatts said:

I was more annoyed at the title of the article saying that Survivor was ignoring one of the two black castaways this season, as if race had anything to do with it. 

When you only cast 2 black people and then 1 of them is completely invisible, you're gonna get some questions. And maybe you should.

Edited March 9, 2019 by peachmangosteen

[LadyChatts]

I just think there's a logical reason Julia hasn't had any air time, the biggest one being that Kama hasn't lost any challenges yet.  And their one loss, the chicken reward, was still better drama at the Manu camp because of Wendy's ankle and her hypocritical desire to let the food loose.

At Kama, you have Joe and Aubry, but it's not like many other people have gotten a ton of airtime.  I remember Victoria for being bad at strategizing and idol hunting, and Eric and Gavin for wanting to make big resume moves and get rid of a returning player.  Why they haven't given her one confessional I don't know, but again, she might not be all that interesting or had anything to contribute with what we've had so far.  Last season was way more balanced with editing, so I'm not sure the difference with this season (returning players aside).

[LadyChatts]

http://ontheislandpodcast.com/castaway-davie-rickenbacker-saves-the-show-week-4-survivor-edge-of-extinction/

Here's a podcast Davie did where they touch on the controversy over no Julia confessionals (starts around the 20 minute mark).  While I kind of think this is getting overblown, I do think some good points were made (mainly that Julia was totally ignored in her role over searching Joe's back pack, and Aubry/Julia being ignored in favor of Ron over the reaction to Chris being voted off).  Davie said he doesn't like that people are using this to say Survivor is racist (which he doesn't believe), but says he'd be stinking up Twitter a lot more if he were in Julia's shoes.

[blackwing]

I'd be more sympathetic if there was any actual evidence that the fact that she is black has played any role at all in ignoring her.  I didn't fully read her rants but does she also explain why the dark haired woman (Julie?) and the Virginia Madsen-ish blonde (apparently named Aurora) have also been ignored?

She has been on the winning tribe every week so there is never as much focus on the winning tribe.  The fox faced kid Gavin hasn't said much, nor has that alpha male looking one.  Maybe she's just boring.  JP the firefighter from a few seasons back did well in challenges but he never got many confessionals or said much at tribal because he apparently didn't talk much.  There was that other woman from two seasons ago (can't think of her name... auburnish hair) that was really really mute and was an enigma even though she advanced pretty far.

Which would she prefer?  At this point in the game, would she rather get an invisible edit or would she rather get a negative edit?  At this point in the game last year, a black woman named Natalie was rather reviled already.  Would she rather be like Natalie?  This Julia is not getting airtime because she really hasn't said or done anything worth noting.

[Bryce Lynch]

21 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I'd be more sympathetic if there was any actual evidence that the fact that she is black has played any role at all in ignoring her.  I didn't fully read her rants but does she also explain why the dark haired woman (Julie?) and the Virginia Madsen-ish blonde (apparently named Aurora) have also been ignored?

She has been on the winning tribe every week so there is never as much focus on the winning tribe.  The fox faced kid Gavin hasn't said much, nor has that alpha male looking one.  Maybe she's just boring.  JP the firefighter from a few seasons back did well in challenges but he never got many confessionals or said much at tribal because he apparently didn't talk much.  There was that other woman from two seasons ago (can't think of her name... auburnish hair) that was really really mute and was an enigma even though she advanced pretty far.

Which would she prefer?  At this point in the game, would she rather get an invisible edit or would she rather get a negative edit?  At this point in the game last year, a black woman named Natalie was rather reviled already.  Would she rather be like Natalie?  This Julia is not getting airtime because she really hasn't said or done anything worth noting.

I totally agree.  It seems like she hasn't gotten a whole lot of airtime, because she hasn't been even close to being in danger of being eliminated, hasn't had to decide who to vote out and hasn't done anything that remarkable, either positively or negatively.   The type of game she has played puts her in a pretty good position, much better than that of most who have had a high confessional count.  

[ProfCrash]

Maybe it puts her in a good position, maybe it means that she is too under the radar and does ok in the game and has no chance of winning. We have no way of knowing.

We know that she is working with Ron. Ron approached her and let her know that he was going to distract Joe for long enough that Julia could search Joe's bag. That implies that she has a good relationship with Ron.

We also know that Ron is either blind, and idiot, or a strategic mastermind. He either didn't see Joe nearby, collecting mussels, when Victoria and Ron were discussing voting out the returnees. Or he saw Joe and thought it was ok to discuss voting out Joe with Joe potentially in hearing range. Or he saw Joe and figured he could put a huge target on Victoria's back by allowing her to continue discussing voting Joe out when Joe was in hearing range.

So I am not certain that aligning with Ron is the best for anyone's game.

[LadyChatts]

Oh, I totally agree with all the above (that’s why I said I think this is getting overblown).  I do think the podcast made some good points, but it’s not strictly related to this season only.

Being on a winning tribe and in a majority alliance that has a boring predictable plan of booting the returnees isn’t exactly a winning combination for airtime either.  Aubry mentioned in one of her interviews I posted that she tried to get a feel for Julia but Julia wanted nothing to do with her.  And then there’s Victoria, who isn’t exactly getting an intelligent edit despite saying she’s done the opposite of her edit.  Or Wardog, whose already feuding with Johnny FairPlay and getting into fights with other former Survivors.

So yeah, it could be a lot worse 🙂  This week is a two hour episode, so if Julia gets little to no airtime or any strategic confessionals, she’s either that boring or did something to piss of production.

Edited March 18, 2019 by LadyChatts

[Special K]

3 hours ago, blackwing said:

There was that other woman from two seasons ago (can't think of her name... auburnish hair) that was really really mute and was an enigma even though she advanced pretty far.

I love it when you guys describe a previous contestant so specifically and my brain is all......<crickets>. 

I think there's a part of my brain devoted to Survivor that is like a white board that just keeps getting erased.  🙂

[Lamb18]

4 hours ago, blackwing said:

There was that other woman from two seasons ago (can't think of her name... auburnish hair) that was really really mute and was an enigma even though she advanced pretty far.

I remember her, but not her name. She ended up being Sebastien's girlfriend after they left Fiji.

[MissEwa]

1 hour ago, Lamb18 said:

I remember her, but not her name. She ended up being Sebastien's girlfriend after they left Fiji.

I think that was Jenna? She was blonde. Chelsea is the auburn-haired one who got no screentime. 

I have no idea why I remember any of this. 

ETA. I didn't know there was a Julia until this last episode. I read that she thought she wasn't getting screentime because she was black and thought 'Wait, there's a black woman on this season?' - there are others on her tribe whose names I didn 't know (Etsy storeholder, blonde, redhead) but she's the only one I felt like I hadn't seen at all. So IDK - I think she has a point. 

Edited March 18, 2019 by MissEwa

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, MissEwa said:

I read that she thought she wasn't getting screentime because she was black ...

She actually really didn't say she thought she was getting no screen time because she's black. Some people are attributing that to her but it isn't true. You can read her tweets in the article posted above if you wanna know what she actually said.

But again I'll say, when you cast only 2 black people and then you make 1 of them straight-up invisible you're gonna get questioned and you should get questioned.

Edited March 18, 2019 by peachmangosteen

[blackwing]

13 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

She actually really didn't say she thought she was getting no screen time because she's black. Some people are attributing that to her but it isn't true. You can read her tweets in the article posted above if you wanna know what she actually said.

But again I'll say, when you cast only 2 black people and then you make 1 of them straight-up invisible you're gonna get questioned and you should[]/i] get questioned.

The first tweet in the realityblurred article posted above has her saying "As Jeff Probst said, I went on #Survivor knowing I may be a role model & inspire someone to play despite NOT fitting the archetype. Therefore, in S38, in which there are only 2 Black castaways, it’s disheartening to see the lack of equitable airtime defeating my goal."

She is the one that mentioned the fact that she is black.  I don't know if you are trying to say there is a distinction between "I'm not getting airtime because I am black" (which I think is what you are saying most everyone is erroneously saying) or "I'm black and I'm not getting airtime and that's unfair".  To me there isn't much of a difference.  It seems clear to me reading her tweet that she seems to believe that she thinks that she's not getting her share of airtime, she is black, and that's discriminatory.  But I know that mileage varies.

Frankly I think that if you are on the show and you don't get any airtime (like the auburn woman apparently named Chelsea from two seasons ago), I think that sucks for everyone.  Regardless of race.  She could called attention to the fact that she isn't getting any airtime and she was promised by Jeff that she would be a role model, and that sucks.  She could have done that without saying the "only 2 black castaways" part.  The fact that she brought her race into it is why people are saying she's complaining that the producers are unfair towards black contestants.

Keith is black and he has gotten plenty of airtime.  Even while he is on EoE.  I stand by my belief that she has gotten little airtime because she hasn't done anything notable.

With respect to your assertion that when only 2 black people are on the show and one is invisible and therefore the producers should get questioned... does that apply to everyone else too then?  Should the blonde named Aurora start questioning the producers?  "I came on Survivor to show everyone that blondes that look like Virginia Madsen aren't all airheads and the fact that I am getting no airtime is defeating my goal."  What about the brunette named Julie?  Should she start questioning the producers?  "Jewish women don't have a good track record on this show.  The last one was that nasty Corinne Kaplan (twice).  I want to show the world that a Jewish woman can be a good person on this show and the fact that I am getting no airtime is discriminatory towards Jewish women."

At least Julia is on the show.  Even if it is as the token black female contestant.  At least she's there.  Should we be questioning the producers every season as to where all the Asian, Hispanic and Middle Eastern male contestants are?  In some seasons we might get the token Asian female (crying Gabby from last season), Hispanic female (Big Wendy) or Middle Eastern female (Shirin) but the seasons with males of these races are few and far between.

My point I suppose is that she opened up the discussion to race so I don't think it is unfair that we are criticising her for looking like she is complaining that she is getting no airtime because she is black.

[peachmangosteen]

2 minutes ago, blackwing said:

Should we be questioning the producers every season as to where all the Asian, Hispanic and Middle Eastern male contestants are? 

For sure.

[MissEwa]

2 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

She actually really didn't say she thought she was getting no screen time because she's black. Some people are attributing that to her but it isn't true. You can read her tweets in the article posted above if you wanna know what she actually said.

But again I'll say, when you cast only 2 black people and then you make 1 of them straight-up invisible you're gonna get questioned and you should get questioned.

Okay - thanks. I have only really followed it here and not seen the initial tweets. And ITA.

[Bryce Lynch]

14 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

She actually really didn't say she thought she was getting no screen time because she's black. Some people are attributing that to her but it isn't true. You can read her tweets in the article posted above if you wanna know what she actually said.

But again I'll say, when you cast only 2 black people and then you make 1 of them straight-up invisible you're gonna get questioned and you should get questioned.

She strongly implied it was racial:

"Therefore, in S38, in which there are only 2 Black castaways, it’s disheartening to see the lack of equitable airtime defeating my goal."

I like Julia, but this sort of nonsense is misguided and counterproductive.  It wouldn't be fair to others, but I could see production, either knowingly or subconsciously, becoming more reluctant to cast black players, if they are going to get accused of "racism" for editing the show the way it always has been done, to show much more of the players who are in danger of getting voted out, or who are interesting for some other reason, rather than having airtime and confessional quotas that will make the show less watchable.

I also wish people would drop this "role model" crap.  If you want to be a role model, Survivor is not the best outlet.  The game almost always requires lies, deception and backstabbing to win.  If you are playing to win, you are probably going to show some of the worst in you.   

Also, if she wanted to be a "role model", maybe she shouldn't have rifled through another man's personal belongings in front of millions of viewers.  I get that it's all in the game.  But, that is my point.  Survivor is a no place for would be "role models".  

And why do people need her to inspire them to play?  Shouldn't the million dollars, their love of the game, and the experience be enough inspiration?  

Ron Clark had the right idea.  He was worried about being a bad role model for his students, but said that he hopes they understand it is just a game.   

I think she should have a talk with Charles Barkley.  

[Special K]

1 hour ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I also wish people would drop this "role model" crap.  If you want to be a role model, Survivor is not the best outlet.  The game almost always requires lies, deception and backstabbing to win.  If you are playing to win, you are probably going to show some of the worst in you.   

Also, if she wanted to be a "role model", maybe she shouldn't have rifled through another man's personal belongings in front of millions of viewers.  I get that it's all in the game.  But, that is my point.  Survivor is a no place for would be "role models". 

People need to get over themselves with this "role model" business.  It's up to other people whether they see you as a role model and want to emulate you.  It's not up to you to decide that people should emulate you.

[ByaNose]

I just want to see how far she goes without a confessional. I don't know what the record is but she's up to Episode 5 without one, right?

[LadyChatts]

2 hours ago, ByaNose said:

I just want to see how far she goes without a confessional. I don't know what the record is but she's up to Episode 5 without one, right?

I think JP, Chelsea, and Jenna from GI went until the merge without a confessional?  I can't remember with JP, other than he didn't get much airtime.  But I remember nothing of the other two.  Jenna didn't seem to get any airtime until her boot episode.  Her and Seabass were mad that their relationship wasn't showcased more.

As for Julia-I do think valid points are made about representation and airtime.  The podcast made a good point that Probst went to Ron for his reaction to Chris over the two girls.  Now it's editing, but why show him being asked and not the two who gave the biggest surprised faces?  And that Reem seems like a typical overbearing older woman mom type that we've seen many times before.  However, I agree that going on a show like Survivor to be a role model, and everyone falling back on you being a med school student doesn't mean you deserve airtime (or means you'll make good airtime).  Julia wound up on a tribe that hasn't lost, a tribe that seems boring (at least compared to Manu), and in a boring majority alliance where they decided the two returning players and their one ally is going first.  And even now with the tribe split, it seems it's 3 against 2.  Lesu at least is dysfunctional.  And NuManu has Wendy, and they might try and shake things up rather than get rid of her as an easy vote off.  

So if/when Kama finally loses, we'll see what (if anything) they give her.  We already saw Ron talking about targeting Joe while playing both sides, so my guess is he'll be seen as the  mastermind and Julie/Julia his followers.  I'm wondering if, because last season was better balanced with editing and story lines, that this seasons cast is disappointed their season isn't more like that.  That could be what they were expecting.

Edited March 19, 2019 by LadyChatts

[ByaNose]

1 hour ago, LadyChatts said:

I think JP, Chelsea, and Jenna from GI went until the merge without a confessional?  I can't remember with JP, other than he didn't get much airtime.  But I remember nothing of the other two.  Jenna didn't seem to get any airtime until her boot episode.  Her and Seabass were mad that their relationship wasn't showcased more.

As for Julia-I do think valid points are made about representation and airtime.  The podcast made a good point that Probst went to Ron for his reaction to Chris over the two girls.  Now it's editing, but why show him being asked and not the two who gave the biggest surprised faces?  And that Reem seems like a typical overbearing older woman mom type that we've seen many times before.  However, I agree that going on a show like Survivor to be a role model, and everyone falling back on you being a med school student doesn't mean you deserve airtime (or means you'll make good airtime).  Julia wound up on a tribe that hasn't lost, a tribe that seems boring (at least compared to Manu), and in a boring majority alliance where they decided the two returning players and their one ally is going first.  And even now with the tribe split, it seems it's 3 against 2.  Lesu at least is dysfunctional.  And NuManu has Wendy, and they might try and shake things up rather than get rid of her as an easy vote off.  

So if/when Kama finally loses, we'll see what (if anything) they give her.  We already saw Ron talking about targeting Joe while playing both sides, so my guess is he'll be seen as the  mastermind and Julie/Julia his followers.  I'm wondering if, because last season was better balanced with editing and story lines, that this seasons cast is disappointed their season isn't more like that.  That could be what they were expecting.

The 4 returnees & Extinction Island has eaten up of a lot confessionals that several people like Julia, Gavin & Aurora might have gotten in a normal season. Of course, they might be boring confession people, too. One never truly knows why some get more than others. Some are good storytellers and others make it far into the game. The next 2 epodes will be interesting just for the fact that “technically” there are “only” 14 people left in the game. The confession pool is getting smaller. They gotta throw them a bone, right? Doubt it. LOL!!!! 

[LanceM]

Aurora could make a case like Julia for being a member of an under represented group on Survivor given that she is as far as I know the only LGBT person playing this season. But she has a different view than Julia. She tweeted the following last week:

"People asking me if I’m upset I haven’t had tv stardom time. Still in the game! Sign up for the game or fandom. I chose GAME! Be a fan or be forgotten."

[bunnyface]

I don't have any knowledge of the inner workings of the show.  Heck, I'm not even fully aware of the inner workings of my own show.  But I'm pretty sure if you are white or black or purple or have three eyes or no toes or whatever, you aren't getting a confessional if you aren't interesting or don't further the overall narrative of the storyline.  Sometimes people get confessionals because one of the overall narratives is "this person is annoying as hell."  Sometimes it's "this person can say what others are thinking."  And sometimes it's nothing more than "see the pretty."  And that can be male or female.  But if you're not actually providing one of the interesting factors, you are going to be invisible.  They cast people with the thought ALL of them are going to be interesting, but sometimes that's not the case.  Them's the breaks, as we say.

[Lamb18]

Spoiler alert!!

Spoiler

Julia has a confessional tonight!