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UnReality TV Minute
Thursday = Survivor Day. After last week's episode of Survivor: All-Stars, Just Playin asked: "Will Sue sue?" For those of you who didn't see it, Professor Yin has a detailed summary of the episode, but surprisingly he doesn't address the potential legal questions it raised.
But while Professor Yin was sympathetic to Sue, Salon's Heather Havrilesky weighed in with a scathing denunciation:
How much more pathetic could this season be? Sue chose to squeeze past Richard in the Balance Beam challenge instead of taking an unobstructed route, despite the fact that he was naked, he's insane, and he hates her. Richard flapped his genitalia in her direction and now she can't sleep at night, because she's been humiliated and abused and harassed and demeaned and whatever other words she screeched at Jeff Probst. Unhinged outbursts like hers give victims of real abuse a bad name.
And if that doesn't make it clear enough where Havrilesky stands on this burning question, she goes on to say:
Context is pretty important here, I'd say. Yet, the question remains: Will Sue sue? If she were going to, wouldn't she have done so by now? These and more burning questions next time on: UnReality TV Minute!
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Posted while listening to: The Dog-End of a Day Gone By from the album "Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven" by Love And Rockets
Posted March 11, 2004 07:22 AM | life generally
Hey AI, I didn't feel like looking up a bunch of caselaw on sexual harassment, especially since I don't teach that subject here in Iowa. So what follows is based on my foggy recollection of the law from my days of practicing. . . .
I don't think it matters that Sue chose to confront Richard on the particular balance beam. It would have been longer to go the other way, and she had a right to choose the same beam he was on.
True, Sue did taunt Richard, and perhaps that should be taken into account. But this smacks a little bit of "blame the victim," doesn't it? Had he responded to her with a verbal taunt of his own, I don't think there's much she could complain about.
Finally, does Sue have some serious issues that need to be worked out? Hey, I'm not a shrink, but my layman's guess is, heck yeah. But does that mean that she wasn't wronged in some way? Not that I think she would win a lawsuit, mind you, but just as to the question of whether something bad was done to her.
Posted by: Tung Yin at March 11, 2004 03:38 PM
If Sue's reaction was not tailored to an attempt to get some $ out of CBS or Richard Hatch, then I definitely think she has some major issues she needs to address. And as I think I alluded to last week, I wouldn't be surprised if one of her problems is her husband. She went on and on about how he was going to be upset or pissed or mad. Too strange to me.
ai - I posted today about last night's show - just for you! :)
Posted by: Kelly at March 12, 2004 11:02 AM
