There's a full-blown modern adaptation of Animal Farm playing out on TV right now.The reality show Pirate Master (think Survivor on a pirate ship) features teams of "pirates" in a swashbuckling contest which will ultimately end in a million-dollar buried treasure. Smaller treasures are found each week, and the current Pirate Captain has the option of taking half the treasure for himself, which he is entitled to do, or dividing the money any other way he sees fit.
In the first weeks of the show, Captain Joe Don kept his half of the money, leaving the rest of the crew with little to nothing. He also behaved rather piggishly, lording his extra rations and posh living quarters over the rest of the crew. One other crew member, Louie, was particularly rankled by Joe Don's behavior. At first, he complained mostly about the unfairness of it all. Joe Don should be splitting the money evenly among the crew members. Everyone was working harder than Joe Don. Why should Joe Don get the best sleeping quarters and more food? But very quickly, Louie's somewhat reasonable objections became nothing more than a personal vendetta against Joe Don. When Joe Don's team inevitably lost and Louie became Captain, Louie proclaimed it his "mission in life" to get rid of Joe Don.
At first, Louie's reign on the ship was exactly as he promised. He split the money and the food evenly, and life on the ship was more lighthearted. But now Louie is quickly realizing that the treasures they find are not just prizes to be stored away until they go home. The money has definite uses on the ship. Contestants have used their gold to buy votes, bid on an official pardon (like the Immunity Idol in Survivor), and "hire" other players to spy on the crew. Joe Don is looking pretty smart for keeping that pile of doubloons.
So what is becoming of Louie the Liberator, who saved them all from the tyrannical Joe Don? "I gotta tell you," Louie says, "I will take more on the next round. The Captain does deserve more." He adds quickly, "But
if he takes more than two shares, he's greedy."
if he takes more than two shares, he's greedy."Apparently, some Pirates are more equal than others.
2 comments:
I haven't been watching...now I wish I had. The sound was so bad on that show that half the time I couldn't hear what people were saying.
It must be hard to get good sound with all the ocean noise interfering. Anyway, the show isn't that great. The game itself is far less interesting than Survivor, or the National Treasure show last summer (I can't remember the name of it right now) that was sort of like Amazing Race, but with historical puzzles. It also doesn't help that the people are not very appealing. The prize for Most Annoying goes to the guy who affects a bad British accent whenever he's the captain, but loses it when he's a lowly deckhand. Bizarre.
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