S31.E05: I'm a Bird, I'm a Plane, I'm on The Amazing Race! / S31.E06: Who Wants a Rolex

[green]

6 hours ago, eliot90000 said:

To all the people who think they can sort out “fame whores” from “non-fame whores” on a show that only exists because everybody agrees to being on camera all the time, good luck with that.  It’s like sorting out who is “mugging for the camera.”  The answer to both of those questions is everybody on the show.  

The difference is one group are regular people applying to be on a show they love wanting the experience of traveling the world and having a chance to win a million dollars besides.  The thrill of being on national TV is there too but that 15 minutes of fame alone doesn't make them into fame whores which is more a career thing.

The other group -- aka mactors and such -- usually have agents and look to get on any reality show to gain exposure for their "careers" or, as Rachel termed it, "brand" hoping to make a career out of being on reality and game shows and secretly hoping to be discovered by Hollywood even.

If a regular team gets called back for another season I don't think that automatically makes them into fame whores.  I think it was because they made a mark one way or other on the first race.

Now if said regular people do change and get into the whole agents and celebrity thing and go to all the reality show events and lobby to get back on said show or others then they have crossed over into mactor territory.

Mactors = models or actor wannabes who seek reality shows to further their careers.

Someone like Rachel didn't start out as a mactor that I know of.  But she became a reality fame whore once she was on one season which is basically trying to make a living by appearing on these shows and game shows and stuff as at least a semi-career.

Edited May 31, 2019 by green

[spanana]

Just now, green said:

The difference is one group are regular people applying to be on a show they love wanting the experience of traveling the world and having a chance to win a million dollars besides.

The other group -- aka mactors -- usually have agents and look to get on any reality show to gain exposure for their "careers" or, as Rachel termed it, "brand" hoping to make a career out of being on reality and game shows and secretly hoping to be discovered by Hollywood even.

If a regular team gets called back for another season I don't think that automatically makes them into famewhores.  I think it was because they made a mark one way or other on the first race.

Now if said regular people do change and get into the whole agents and celebrity thing and go to all the reality show events and lobby to get back on said show or others then they have crossed over into mactor territory.

I'd argue it's just likely semantics.  All these teams have signed up to be on reality television more than once.  I don't really suscribe to the Amazing Race teams are more pure or something because they have never lowered themselves to Survivor or Big Brother or anything else.  Different types of reality shows appeal to different types.

If people like a team, they will defend them.  If they don't, they won't and they are the biggest famewhores in existence.  I could make a case for all of them, but I don't buy the pure Amazing Race teams have nobler intentions about being on tv versus the others.  They all want the money and the experience and have signed up for tv exposure.  Did I mention they want the money?  Nothing wrong with that but it's a little different than just going on vacation and seeing the world.

[fishcakes]

With the kind of fame that being a reality show contestant might result in, "famewhore" is almost an outdated concept now. I think about the first season of Survivor, which blew up in a way no one expected, and led to almost everyone on the cast getting opportunities in more mainstream TV shows and even movies (Rob Schneider movies, but still). Even into the second season, some people ended up with reasonably successful show business careers (Elisabeth Hasselback, most notably, but even Colby Donaldson lasted a few years as an actor). But then "reality TV show star" quickly became a thing in itself: Kardashians, Real Housewives, Duggers, etc. And now even YouTube or Instagram star is a thing. So I don't know that people who want to live in front of the camera are necessarily famewhores, so much as they view that as a viable career, which incidentally involves fame, or really "fame," since while there's a significant number of strangers who know who they are, there's a much larger number of people who are like, "um, is she supposed to be somebody?"

For the most part, I think people who apply to be on TAR or Survivor or any of the adventure-based/cash prize shows are there first and foremost for the game/race/experience. Some of them catch fire with the audience and they end up as reality show staples, but I don't think most people start out looking for that. It's just that they get invitations to return or to be on other reality shows and it seems like an easy way to make a buck and more fun than whatever normal job they had before, so they run with it.

Edited May 31, 2019 by fishcakes

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, spanana said:

All these teams have signed up to be on reality television more than once.

I have always said that the major reason for me not to go on TAR (apart from not being eligible) would be that I'd have to be on camera -- which I would have.  If by some strange agency I was to participate in the race, it would be despite the cameras, not because of them.

Fame-whore:  A contestant who enters the race to get on TV, and not to enjoy the race itself; who would not enter the race if they were told there would be no cameras and that they would not be seen on TV.

[spanana]

51 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Fame-whore:  A contestant who enters the race to get on TV, and not to enjoy the race itself; who would not enter the race if they were told there would be no cameras and that they would not be seen on TV.

Yes, we get the definition in part.  But first of all it's sort of a misogynistic means of looking at things, since the whole whore aspect (and I'm just as guilty of using the word as anyone else), and it's very subjective as who the label gets applied to since none if us actually know who would really do the race sans the cameras.  As I alluded to above, often it just gets said about the teams people don't like and since liking a team is subjective, people can't even agree on that.

Nobody can definitely with any sort of factual basis decide where it applies and where it doesn't.

Though to fishcakes point, I also think where it gets a little muddled these days is not even so much where folks are being recruited from other reality shows, but rather from their careers as youtubers and such.  Wasn't there a whole season about that?  Or someone like Tyler who had a social media following before doing the show. 

[Netfoot]

4 minutes ago, spanana said:

Nobody can definitely with any sort of factual basis decide where it applies and where it doesn't.

True.  But I can have an opinion as to who fits into that category, and I'm allowed to express that opinion.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

@fishcakes I agree that reality tv has become a profession in itself (much to my dismay). Now one appearance on a tv show can be enough to launch a career. Interestingly, I think a lot of people forget about the contestants on the early seasons of The Real World/Road Rules. The very first season of TRW featured several cast members who were had nascent careers in music/modeling (Becky was a folk singer, Andre was in a band, Heather was a rapper, Eric was a model, and Julie was an aspiring dancer). No one new that the show would become as popular as it did, but I think most of them were not opposed to getting some exposure on MTV. Eric was the one who was able to parlay the publicity into the most industry related opportunities (hosting The Grind, putting out workout videos, etc).

Once the first season aired and the potential for becoming famous was apparent, there was an increased number of people applying for the show who clearly wanted to use it as a jumping off point. Tami Roman from S2 is now Tami of Basketball Wives. Jacinda Barrett the actress was Jacinda the model on S4.

S1 of Road Rules featured Kit Hoover who went on to host Access Hollywood. Her Road Rules castmate famously was originally considered for S3 of The Real World when Puck got kicked out. Before David Giuntoli starred on Grimm, he was on Road Rules: Semester at Sea.

I think the main difference is that some of those cast member were using reality tv to gain exposure so that they could further their careers whereas some of the people in more recent years have used the shows to create careers as repeat contestants on more reality shows (I partly blame The Challenge for the expectation that you can keep coming back). Adding cash and prizes just adds to their motivation to want to be a repeat contestant.

[Charlesman]

On 5/23/2019 at 5:56 AM, green said:

What TAR did was showcase the problem in Uganda and showed gays winning the leg there.  And it is a TV series that is seen in most countries in Africa (and everywhere else) so it actually made a positive, helpful contribution, however minor, to the problem.  People there who never knowingly met a gay person before but only hear them demonized see something different on their screens now and it starts them thinking. You have to talk and even show to open channels and minds if you want change.  Not shun.

Maybe I read too deeply into things, but, I couldn't help but notice after all the talk of the LGBTQ+ issues in Uganda... the detour task was to assemble a bundle of sticks...

I don't know if Production was thinking everything through.

[greyhorse]

Just got caught up on these two episodes.

I have a huge dislike for Rachel.  She can't leave my tv soon enough.  All the emotional crying in the taxi on the way to the zip line, the ugly cry face during the actual ziplining, the breaking down at the mat, etc.  This is her third time on the show already when thousands of other hopefuls have never had a chance.  She even said she's been around the world twice with her husband.  And we're supposed to feel bad for her that her race might be coming to an end?  Puhleeze.

Janelle was an idiot and deserved to go home.  

So why can Brittney not help Janelle and point her in the right direction for the roadblock, but during the head to head, the partner can help the one moving the boxes in terms of where to put them?  Why not just allow both teammates to work on the puzzle?  Doesn't make sense.

I don't like the head to heads because it basically gives the last place team a fighting chance when Janelle clearly didn't deserve to advance.

My TAR memory fades fast.  What happened to the Fast Forwards?  Is that just not a thing anymore?

[SVNBob]

13 hours ago, greyhorse said:

So why can Brittney not help Janelle and point her in the right direction for the roadblock, but during the head to head, the partner can help the one moving the boxes in terms of where to put them?  Why not just allow both teammates to work on the puzzle?  Doesn't make sense.

"A Roadblock is a task that only one person may perform."  By the rules of the Race, once it was decided Janelle was doing that Roadblock, Brittney could not help with the task in any way, shape, or form.  If she had, they would have received a time penalty of 30 minutes, and would possibly still have been eliminated.

Head-to-Heads are not Roadblocks, so like every other task in TAR, both members of a team are allowed to participate as much or as little as necessary, but also depending on the specific rules of the competition.  The rules of this particular HtH said that only one person could actively work on the puzzle per heat.  That did not exclude the others from observing and/or making suggestions.  Team Fun talks about the HtH in their recap of the episode.

[Lemons]

On 5/22/2019 at 10:10 PM, PaperTree said:

Poof!  We are now in crazy homophobic Uganda.  Zero airport drama.  Why go there race?

Qatar is no better,  homosexuality is illegal and can result in jail or death.  Awfully hypocritical for them to love glitzy Dubai. 

[PaperTree]

1 minute ago, Lemons said:

Qatar is no better,  homosexuality is illegal and can result in jail or death.  Awfully hypocritical for them to love glitzy Dubai. 

Indeed!

[biakbiak]

15 hours ago, Lemons said:

Qatar is no better,  homosexuality is illegal and can result in jail or death.  Awfully hypocritical for them to love glitzy Dubai. 

T/K explained in an interview that the security briefing really played up the concerns in Uganda not Dubai. Probably because in Uganda they were there during the day and in a crowded marketplace vs Dubai where they barely came across anyone not arranged for by the show.

[lexington11]

23 hours ago, biakbiak said:

T/K explained in an interview that the security briefing really played up the concerns in Uganda not Dubai. Probably because in Uganda they were there during the day and in a crowded marketplace vs Dubai where they barely came across anyone not arranged for by the show.

That's true, because I remember not only Korey mentioning that, but so did Britney, because she mentioned how she was terrified while being alone in the marketplace waiting for Janelle to do the roadblock.

Edited June 7, 2019 by lexington11

[HawaiiTVGuy]

On 6/5/2019 at 3:53 PM, Lemons said:

Qatar is no better,  homosexuality is illegal and can result in jail or death.  Awfully hypocritical for them to love glitzy Dubai. 

Isn't Dubai in the UAE and not Qatar?

[Lemons]

1 hour ago, HawaiiTVGuy said:

Isn't Dubai in the UAE and not Qatar?

Yes I mixed them up.  Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and all of UAE including Dubai.