
I am a “MasterChef” survivor - lisper
https://www.salon.com/2018/02/17/i-am-a-master-chef-survivor/
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hitekker
> “... send me those final forms, it seems we don’t have your signed
> contract.”

> “I'm really not at all wild about that idea,” I wrote back.

> More forcefully she wrote back: “I’m having legal call you to straighten
> this out.” “Feel free to email.”

> They never contacted me again

A hidden lesson in asking for demands in writing. If she had said, “feel free
to call”, they would have tried to intimidated her over the phone, with near-
violent threats that likely would not stand up in a court of law. But her
saying “email” showed to these vultures that she knew the power of the paper
trail. So they disappeared, rather than risk exposure.

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malvosenior
Well that was fascinating, distressing and I guess not all that surprising.
It's really interesting to see how much overt psychological manipulation goes
into making the show. Being interviewed by psychiatrists before and after the
show and being asked if the contestant harbors murderous feelings towards the
judges (or themselves) after losing is pretty intense.

On a meta-note it was interesting to read such dark subject matter about
exploitation in the name of advertising while salon.com did their best to
exploit me as a reader. I've never had such a bizarre experience on what I
thought was a mainstream site. I was hijacked mid-article to go to a punch the
monkey type ad, chunks of text would load only after I viewed mid article ads,
my browser never stopped loading as I read. The tone of the article and the
reading experience combined to really create a nefarious vibe.

If anyone would like to skip the existential crisis, I put the article text on
pastebin to make it actually readable:

[https://pastebin.com/dPVUnKS8](https://pastebin.com/dPVUnKS8)

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Confiks
> I put the article text on pastebin to make it actually readable:

Which is kind gesture, but this has already been automated. It's called an ad-
blocker.

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cdkee
They have an ad-block gate

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billrobertson42
I didn't have to go thru it

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fybe
I knew that reality TV was fabricated (at least the US shows) but to read such
detail about psychologists, 'wranglers' and legal shenanigans was really
shocking.

15% of all earnings? Giving up all rights, background and medical checks?
Scary stuff. But again, not surprising seeing how big and lucrative this
segment of industry is.

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hndamien
It is worth noting that I think Survivor treats their cast very differently.
It is hard to know exactly, as I have never seen directly, but I have spent
time with the crew from Survivor, and spent some time on location while they
were shooting. They treated me with amazing grace and I am forever grateful
for their time and hospitality. I imagine that their record may not be
perfect, but I think their approach to this is more like a sport with athlete,
than a prison guard in the Stanford Prison Experiment.

~~~
sandebert
I don't know if it's a factor, but it might be worth noting that Survivor
originated from Sweden. (Where it was called Expedition Robinson, after
Robinson Crusoe.)

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wodenokoto
I believe one of the first contestant to be voted home - ever - committed
suicide shortly after [1].

It was a big deal in Scandinavia 20 years ago, and I'm surprised that shows to
this day apparently don't ask contestant to take therapy to prevent such
outcomes.

In the grand scheme of things, that is pretty cheap, and even a penny
pinching, greedy, neo capitalist, TV-produce would presumably see the benefit
in avoiding these kind of things.

[1] [https://www.vg.no/rampelys/tv/begikk-selvmord-etter-
deltakel...](https://www.vg.no/rampelys/tv/begikk-selvmord-etter-
deltakelse/a/36705/)

~~~
sandebert
Yep, completely true. And if memory serves me right, I read in the newspapers
that he had a history of mental issues. Not entirely sure about it though.
What I do know for sure was that it turned into a MAJOR thing in media in
Sweden. The show was called "bullying tv", and the producers instantly
declared they would re-cut all the episodes before showing them. They did,
people hated it for the first few episodes, but by the end of season one
pretty much everybody was hooked. The success was a fact.

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Angostura
It would be interesting to know how this compares with the BBC Masterchef.

