Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Interview with Jeff
EW: There’s no doubt that any difference can really stand out in Survivor and
Nina repeatedly referenced her hearing disability as a reason why her
tribe would not accept her. However, her tribe countered that she
was the one focused so much on that as opposed to them, and we saw this
play out at Tribal Council. You were out there and got a good feel for
them at the two Tribals. Were they ostracizing her because of that or
was she making too much of her own lack of hearing?
JEFF PROBST: This brings up two key points that any Survivor player must master if they have any chance to win: #1. You Must Be Self-Aware. You have to be have some sense of how the world sees you, how you come across to others. If you don’t possess #1 then you can’t get to #2 and #2 is the one that gets you voted out. #2. On The Island, Perception Is Reality. Period. So now let’s take the case of Nina, who I think is a really devoted mom and wife and probably has a beautiful life–off the island. But what I witnessed during casting and on the show is that Nina is not aware of how she comes across to others. Lack of self-awareness. Nina does complain a lot. You can make the argument that “you’d complain too if this happened to you” and that’s a fair statement. But on Survivor that complaining is read by others as being a pain in the ass. And worse, she placed her need to complain on the shoulders of her tribemates for not doing a better job of dealing with her hearing issues.
From what I saw of the tribe they did try to accommodate Nina initially…but there was a point where they started to see her as more of a victim. And whether or not that is true, is unfortunately irrelevant. It’s point #2—On The Island, Perception Is Reality. Once they saw her that way, her game was over. Personally, I felt for Nina because I think she really wanted to fit in and be a part of the tribe and I think we saw how tough that is for her to do. And it did make me ask myself—given the same challenge—”How would I do?” It’s very easy to critique from the sidelines and say, “Oh, just deal with it.” It’s another to be the one actually having to deal with it. I applaud Nina for coming on the show and giving it a shot.
I love your big epic challenges, but I also like it sometimes when you just keep it simple, and tonight’s contest was a perfect example as teams had to race back with giant buckets of water—however, with holes in the bucket that needed to be plugged along the way, making teamwork a key component. Tell me your thoughts on these sorts of challenges as well as what you were thinking when you saw No Collar sending Nina away, thereby leaving more holes completely unplugged?
I love these types of challenges where there is a mixture of physical with strategy under the umbrella of teamwork. Okay, my truth about what I think happened with Nina. I think that as a group, the No Collars are pretty caring humans. I also think they’re pretty bright. When you look at that challenge, so much of the communication is happening without players looking at each other. You’re plugging holes, stepping over obstacles, standing under gushing water—you really have to scream and be able to hear each other scream in order to be effective. Again, this is just my personal opinion and nothing more—but I think they felt she was going to be a liability because of her hearing—but they couldn’t say that for fear of being seen as discriminatory. So they blamed it on vague answers that really made no sense. I felt for both sides. It’s a tough call. There is a million dollar check for ONE winner. It forces you to make decisions that sometimes you aren’t proud of—and that’s what I think happened in this case.
I don’t think you have ever had a season where varying definitions of work ethic have not created some major strife between contestants, and we saw some blow-ups on the Blue Collar tribe this week between Mike and Rodney and Mike and Lindsey. Did it surprise you to see this happen on the tribe defined by their physical hard-working life-style, or is that exactly what you expected to happen here? Plus, who really is to blame for those fights?
My initial reaction was surprise—I didn’t expect to see such emotion in every aspect of their game. But then I started thinking of our reality crews that shoot the tribes on their beaches. Those people are definitely “No Collars”: They live a life on their own terms for sure—BUT…when it comes to working that beach, they are 100% blue collar. They bust their ASS every day to get the shots and sounds we need to tell the stories of our contestants. It’s humbling how dedicated they are. And when I think about them after work is over, it’s the same. Whether they are drinking beer or playing darts—they are doing it with the same vigor that they have on the beach. They laugh so loud they wake up the rest of the crew. And if an argument breaks out over which Football/Rugby team is better—it can get heated and even more people are awakened! In other words, they do everything they do with total investment. That was really enlightening for me to make that connection. Blue Collars don’t just work hard, they do everything with intensity. I’m not the first to say it, but without blue collars, ‘merica doesn’t exist. They are the back bone of everything. As to who is to blame for the arguments— who knows. For this I say refer back to question #1.
Bonus question! Just curious: Would you stand there and watch two howler monkeys have sex and then offer a detailed play-by-play account for your friends?
Uh, no. I might watch them— that could be fascinating for a minute. But no, I’m not that interested in then sharing every detail with the tribe. I love that Shirin does those kinds of things. I have NO idea if she is 100% authentic or just a really crafty player who is “playing” a bit of a role. Doesn’t matter, so long as she…is self-aware and knows that perception is reality! Is this getting through yet?! :)
No Collar is on the ropes and it looks like we have some more drama at Blue Collar coming up. What can you tease for next week’s episode?
I can’t tease it hard enough—next week is awesome. Dare I say the best ep of the season? So much good stuff including a Survivor/medical moment. AND…next week we are giving you TWO EPISODES! Two! Back to back! And in the second episode we have more amazing Survivor moments including a Survivor/wildlife moment. I’m really not hyping it—it’s a great two-hour block.
JEFF PROBST: This brings up two key points that any Survivor player must master if they have any chance to win: #1. You Must Be Self-Aware. You have to be have some sense of how the world sees you, how you come across to others. If you don’t possess #1 then you can’t get to #2 and #2 is the one that gets you voted out. #2. On The Island, Perception Is Reality. Period. So now let’s take the case of Nina, who I think is a really devoted mom and wife and probably has a beautiful life–off the island. But what I witnessed during casting and on the show is that Nina is not aware of how she comes across to others. Lack of self-awareness. Nina does complain a lot. You can make the argument that “you’d complain too if this happened to you” and that’s a fair statement. But on Survivor that complaining is read by others as being a pain in the ass. And worse, she placed her need to complain on the shoulders of her tribemates for not doing a better job of dealing with her hearing issues.
From what I saw of the tribe they did try to accommodate Nina initially…but there was a point where they started to see her as more of a victim. And whether or not that is true, is unfortunately irrelevant. It’s point #2—On The Island, Perception Is Reality. Once they saw her that way, her game was over. Personally, I felt for Nina because I think she really wanted to fit in and be a part of the tribe and I think we saw how tough that is for her to do. And it did make me ask myself—given the same challenge—”How would I do?” It’s very easy to critique from the sidelines and say, “Oh, just deal with it.” It’s another to be the one actually having to deal with it. I applaud Nina for coming on the show and giving it a shot.
I love your big epic challenges, but I also like it sometimes when you just keep it simple, and tonight’s contest was a perfect example as teams had to race back with giant buckets of water—however, with holes in the bucket that needed to be plugged along the way, making teamwork a key component. Tell me your thoughts on these sorts of challenges as well as what you were thinking when you saw No Collar sending Nina away, thereby leaving more holes completely unplugged?
I love these types of challenges where there is a mixture of physical with strategy under the umbrella of teamwork. Okay, my truth about what I think happened with Nina. I think that as a group, the No Collars are pretty caring humans. I also think they’re pretty bright. When you look at that challenge, so much of the communication is happening without players looking at each other. You’re plugging holes, stepping over obstacles, standing under gushing water—you really have to scream and be able to hear each other scream in order to be effective. Again, this is just my personal opinion and nothing more—but I think they felt she was going to be a liability because of her hearing—but they couldn’t say that for fear of being seen as discriminatory. So they blamed it on vague answers that really made no sense. I felt for both sides. It’s a tough call. There is a million dollar check for ONE winner. It forces you to make decisions that sometimes you aren’t proud of—and that’s what I think happened in this case.
I don’t think you have ever had a season where varying definitions of work ethic have not created some major strife between contestants, and we saw some blow-ups on the Blue Collar tribe this week between Mike and Rodney and Mike and Lindsey. Did it surprise you to see this happen on the tribe defined by their physical hard-working life-style, or is that exactly what you expected to happen here? Plus, who really is to blame for those fights?
My initial reaction was surprise—I didn’t expect to see such emotion in every aspect of their game. But then I started thinking of our reality crews that shoot the tribes on their beaches. Those people are definitely “No Collars”: They live a life on their own terms for sure—BUT…when it comes to working that beach, they are 100% blue collar. They bust their ASS every day to get the shots and sounds we need to tell the stories of our contestants. It’s humbling how dedicated they are. And when I think about them after work is over, it’s the same. Whether they are drinking beer or playing darts—they are doing it with the same vigor that they have on the beach. They laugh so loud they wake up the rest of the crew. And if an argument breaks out over which Football/Rugby team is better—it can get heated and even more people are awakened! In other words, they do everything they do with total investment. That was really enlightening for me to make that connection. Blue Collars don’t just work hard, they do everything with intensity. I’m not the first to say it, but without blue collars, ‘merica doesn’t exist. They are the back bone of everything. As to who is to blame for the arguments— who knows. For this I say refer back to question #1.
Bonus question! Just curious: Would you stand there and watch two howler monkeys have sex and then offer a detailed play-by-play account for your friends?
Uh, no. I might watch them— that could be fascinating for a minute. But no, I’m not that interested in then sharing every detail with the tribe. I love that Shirin does those kinds of things. I have NO idea if she is 100% authentic or just a really crafty player who is “playing” a bit of a role. Doesn’t matter, so long as she…is self-aware and knows that perception is reality! Is this getting through yet?! :)
No Collar is on the ropes and it looks like we have some more drama at Blue Collar coming up. What can you tease for next week’s episode?
I can’t tease it hard enough—next week is awesome. Dare I say the best ep of the season? So much good stuff including a Survivor/medical moment. AND…next week we are giving you TWO EPISODES! Two! Back to back! And in the second episode we have more amazing Survivor moments including a Survivor/wildlife moment. I’m really not hyping it—it’s a great two-hour block.
Nina Interview
Tom Santilli, Survivor Examiner: Hello Nina! Sorry to see you go!
Nina Poersch: Oh thank you! I'm sorry to see me go too!
Tom Santilli: First, I wanted to clear something up from last week. When I spoke to Vince, he told me with confidence and clarity that you had an Immunity Idol and that he saw it, but you were never shown finding one. So did you have an Idol in your possession or not?
Nina: I did not have an Idol. Vince and I had talked, and I had been getting asked by the whole tribe over and over again if I had found one. Jenn even asked me and I told her no and she said, well, you've been out searching for a long time, so I think that you have an Idol. I was like, well, you can think what you want but I don't have an Idol. Of course, I wouldn't have told her anyways if I did. But I told Vince, they all think I have an Idol, maybe we should just let them think I have one and let them split the vote. So I let Vince think that he came up with the idea, whatever. As long as we can make it work for us, I'm game. But no they thought I had an Idol, but I didn't.
Tom Santilli: OK, well that clears that up, not sure what Vince was talking about. So anyways, about your hearing. You seemed deeply affected by your tribe's reaction to your hearing loss. But going into the game, you had to know that it would come up and would need to be addressed. What reaction did you hope for? What were your expectations?
Nina: Going into the game, I knew it was going to be hard. I knew also that I would have some struggles being one of the oldest ones there. But honestly, when I look at myself, I don't see a deaf person. Yeah, I'm deaf, I have cochlear implants and I don't hear perfect like you or anyone else who hears normal. But I really didn't expect it to play a part in my game at all. I kind of just expected people to say, oh OK, she can't hear that well, that's fine, we're good. And that's not how it went down. I can tell you when I first got to the beach, Joe asked me if I was going to be able to do challenges. I looked at him and said, yeah, why? He said, well, because you can't hear. I was like, how was that going to make any difference? I was very confident that I was going to be able to do the challenges. So I knew right then and there on Day One that Joe had planted the seed that he had doubted me because of my hearing, and I was really bummed by that. Vince told me over and over that the girls didn't like me because I couldn't hear. So I had a lot of things being said to me about my hearing, and I knew because of that, that this was going to suck.
Tom Santilli: Many of your tribe mates though, said that it was you, not them, who continued to talk about it and make it an issue. Is there any validity to that?
Nina: I really don't. I know it looked that way, and it may have seemed that way for them, but the fact of the matter is, they were bothered by the fact that I couldn't hear. They did think I wasn't going to be able to perform because I couldn't hear. The vibes that I got off of them was that they didn't want me there because I couldn't hear. The vibes that I got is that they wish they would have had someone else on their tribe, but they got, quote-unquote "stuck" with me. I guess with them being young, they just really don't know how to deal with someone who has a disability. I think they didn't want to come across as being bullies, which they weren't, I never thought of them as bullies. But they didn't want to come across as, you know, being politically incorrect that they didn't want to be with a hearing impaired person. But I never one time said to them that I couldn't do something because of my hearing.
Tom Santilli: You were also the oldest person on your tribe. Do you think that and/or other factors more than just your hearing, played into your inability to really fit in with them?
Nina: I don't really feel like my age played a factor for me, I feel like my age played a factor for all of them. They looked at me like this older woman. I was old enough to be all of their moms except for Will. I have a 31-year-old son, Vince is 32. They just didn't like that. For me, I can blend in and hang out with my son and have a blast. I hang out with young people all the time and have a blast. But for them, maybe it was just too weird to hang out with an older person and try to have some fun.
Tom Santilli: If you don't mind, I know that a lot of fans are curious about your condition. You weren't born deaf, you became deaf at a certain point. Explain to me, if you will, what your cochlear implants do, how they work, and what it's like for you to hear and carry on with your every-day life.
Nina: With the cochlear implants you have a device that is implanted in your cochlea, and then you wear an external speech processor, that sort of looks like a hearing aid but it doesn't go in your ear canal. All of the voices and everything go through that speech processor and communicates with the computer chip that's inside your head, and that's how you can hear. Now, my hearing range is much smaller than a normal person's so because of that, sometimes we miss certain sounds when we're talking to people. Some can hear men's voices better than women's. For me I hear women better than men. Whispering is a little bit harder. In my every-day life, I function fine. One of the main things I need though, is when I do talk to people, I need them to face me. I am not a great lip-reader at all. But when you can hear what someone is saying and see their lips moving, it makes it a whole lot easier to hear. Other than that I live a completely normal life, I mean look, here we are talking on the phone.
Tom Santilli: Almost everybody who plays Survivor says they'd play again in a heartbeat if asked. But in your day-after CBS.com interview, you said that you would not play again. Tell my why you wouldn't play again.
Nina: When we did that interview that was right after the game ended, and I was still very emotional that I got voted out and about how I felt about it all. So back then sure, there was no way I was playing again. But if you ask me that today or last month or a few months ago now that I've been back home and have had a chance to really absorb my whole experience, I would say yes, I would totally play again. I would play again and I would play a totally different game. I think I would go into it a bit more headstrong and much more aggressive.
Tom Santilli: Let's talk about that last challenge. What was Joe's strategy all about (not including you in it), and do you have any regrets for going along with it?
Nina: I do 100% regret going along with his decision and wish that I would not have. Because if I did participate I really think we could have won that challenge. Joe did not give me a reason in the beginning. He didn't explain things until we got back to camp. And he said Nina, we really just thought you would get in our way. You tripped on the high step in the first challenge and we thought that you would trip up there and that you would bring us down. Which is, you know, stupid. That was a dumb reason to sideline me in that challenge. We would have totally won.
Nina Poersch: Oh thank you! I'm sorry to see me go too!
Tom Santilli: First, I wanted to clear something up from last week. When I spoke to Vince, he told me with confidence and clarity that you had an Immunity Idol and that he saw it, but you were never shown finding one. So did you have an Idol in your possession or not?
Nina: I did not have an Idol. Vince and I had talked, and I had been getting asked by the whole tribe over and over again if I had found one. Jenn even asked me and I told her no and she said, well, you've been out searching for a long time, so I think that you have an Idol. I was like, well, you can think what you want but I don't have an Idol. Of course, I wouldn't have told her anyways if I did. But I told Vince, they all think I have an Idol, maybe we should just let them think I have one and let them split the vote. So I let Vince think that he came up with the idea, whatever. As long as we can make it work for us, I'm game. But no they thought I had an Idol, but I didn't.
Tom Santilli: OK, well that clears that up, not sure what Vince was talking about. So anyways, about your hearing. You seemed deeply affected by your tribe's reaction to your hearing loss. But going into the game, you had to know that it would come up and would need to be addressed. What reaction did you hope for? What were your expectations?
Nina: Going into the game, I knew it was going to be hard. I knew also that I would have some struggles being one of the oldest ones there. But honestly, when I look at myself, I don't see a deaf person. Yeah, I'm deaf, I have cochlear implants and I don't hear perfect like you or anyone else who hears normal. But I really didn't expect it to play a part in my game at all. I kind of just expected people to say, oh OK, she can't hear that well, that's fine, we're good. And that's not how it went down. I can tell you when I first got to the beach, Joe asked me if I was going to be able to do challenges. I looked at him and said, yeah, why? He said, well, because you can't hear. I was like, how was that going to make any difference? I was very confident that I was going to be able to do the challenges. So I knew right then and there on Day One that Joe had planted the seed that he had doubted me because of my hearing, and I was really bummed by that. Vince told me over and over that the girls didn't like me because I couldn't hear. So I had a lot of things being said to me about my hearing, and I knew because of that, that this was going to suck.
Tom Santilli: Many of your tribe mates though, said that it was you, not them, who continued to talk about it and make it an issue. Is there any validity to that?
Nina: I really don't. I know it looked that way, and it may have seemed that way for them, but the fact of the matter is, they were bothered by the fact that I couldn't hear. They did think I wasn't going to be able to perform because I couldn't hear. The vibes that I got off of them was that they didn't want me there because I couldn't hear. The vibes that I got is that they wish they would have had someone else on their tribe, but they got, quote-unquote "stuck" with me. I guess with them being young, they just really don't know how to deal with someone who has a disability. I think they didn't want to come across as being bullies, which they weren't, I never thought of them as bullies. But they didn't want to come across as, you know, being politically incorrect that they didn't want to be with a hearing impaired person. But I never one time said to them that I couldn't do something because of my hearing.
Tom Santilli: You were also the oldest person on your tribe. Do you think that and/or other factors more than just your hearing, played into your inability to really fit in with them?
Nina: I don't really feel like my age played a factor for me, I feel like my age played a factor for all of them. They looked at me like this older woman. I was old enough to be all of their moms except for Will. I have a 31-year-old son, Vince is 32. They just didn't like that. For me, I can blend in and hang out with my son and have a blast. I hang out with young people all the time and have a blast. But for them, maybe it was just too weird to hang out with an older person and try to have some fun.
Tom Santilli: If you don't mind, I know that a lot of fans are curious about your condition. You weren't born deaf, you became deaf at a certain point. Explain to me, if you will, what your cochlear implants do, how they work, and what it's like for you to hear and carry on with your every-day life.
Nina: With the cochlear implants you have a device that is implanted in your cochlea, and then you wear an external speech processor, that sort of looks like a hearing aid but it doesn't go in your ear canal. All of the voices and everything go through that speech processor and communicates with the computer chip that's inside your head, and that's how you can hear. Now, my hearing range is much smaller than a normal person's so because of that, sometimes we miss certain sounds when we're talking to people. Some can hear men's voices better than women's. For me I hear women better than men. Whispering is a little bit harder. In my every-day life, I function fine. One of the main things I need though, is when I do talk to people, I need them to face me. I am not a great lip-reader at all. But when you can hear what someone is saying and see their lips moving, it makes it a whole lot easier to hear. Other than that I live a completely normal life, I mean look, here we are talking on the phone.
Tom Santilli: Almost everybody who plays Survivor says they'd play again in a heartbeat if asked. But in your day-after CBS.com interview, you said that you would not play again. Tell my why you wouldn't play again.
Nina: When we did that interview that was right after the game ended, and I was still very emotional that I got voted out and about how I felt about it all. So back then sure, there was no way I was playing again. But if you ask me that today or last month or a few months ago now that I've been back home and have had a chance to really absorb my whole experience, I would say yes, I would totally play again. I would play again and I would play a totally different game. I think I would go into it a bit more headstrong and much more aggressive.
Tom Santilli: Let's talk about that last challenge. What was Joe's strategy all about (not including you in it), and do you have any regrets for going along with it?
Nina: I do 100% regret going along with his decision and wish that I would not have. Because if I did participate I really think we could have won that challenge. Joe did not give me a reason in the beginning. He didn't explain things until we got back to camp. And he said Nina, we really just thought you would get in our way. You tripped on the high step in the first challenge and we thought that you would trip up there and that you would bring us down. Which is, you know, stupid. That was a dumb reason to sideline me in that challenge. We would have totally won.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
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