KIMBERLY LUSTE MARAN

or 13 weeks this past summer I, along with millions of other Americans, watched contestants on a deserted island maneuver, connive, lie, and exert themselves physically and mentally to try to “outwit, outplay, outlast” their island counterparts to win one million dollars in the TV game show Survivor.1 At first my husband and I wanted to see what the show was about, having heard the hype for weeks. Then after the first couple of episodes we were hooked. And so was the rest of America.2 We watched ukelele-playing Sonja booted off, demanding B.B. shown the door, Jenna sent home to her twin daughters, quickly emaciated Dirk kicked back to his dairy farm, and . . . one by one cast members disappeared until the final four—a voting alliance from the beginning—sat before the tribal council.3 To get there, three of the four had lied and betrayed each other. One stayed true to himself—and the others—and kept his word. That one was the cantankerous, politically incorrect Rudy.4 While Rudy didn’t win the jackpot, he became America’s favorite. In polls conducted by both Newsweek and the Washington Post, the ex-Navy Seal with his opinionated, coarse verbiage and unwavering character appealed to many.5 One morning show radio personality claimed his appeal came from the fact that Rudy said what everyone else was thinking but afraid to say. In addition to Rudy’s candor, it was apparent that he was a man of his word. While most everyone else on the island was trying to “outwit, outplay, and outlast” by using “any means necessary,” Rudy played simply and honestly—he strategically joined a voting alliance and stuck with it, right to his final vote. In “What Men Live By,” Christopher Morley writes: “We are all afraid of truth: we keep a battalion of our pet prejudices and precautions ready to throw into the argument as shock troops, rather than let our fortress of Truth be stormed.” Rudy’s appeal wasn’t so much in what he said (some of which I disagreed with) but that he meant what he said and stuck by what he said. Rudy wasn’t afraid of truth and let everyone see through the windows of his truth fortress. He was honest, yet never cruel. And while it hasn’t been said whether or not he’s a religious man, Rudy seemed to live the words of Proverbs 3:3, 4: “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.” When I am tempted to play life’s games, I hope I remember that integrity and kindness will get me farther than subterfuge and deception. When I am tempted to give empty compliments just to get ahead, I hope to remember that sincere appreciation expressed works better. And if I begin to analyze and plot in “Snaky-Rich” style,6 I hope to turn the tide and become more Rudyesque. _________________________ 1 On this summer’s hit TV show on CBS, 16 people were “marooned” on an island in the South China Sea. Each castaway kept one luxury item. Several opted for razors or toothbrushes, while one contestant, Dirk, voted off early, opted for his Bible. 2 According to ratings reported in the September 4 Newsweek magazine, 51.7 million viewers tuned in, making Survivor second only to the Super Bowl as the year’s biggest TV event. 3 At the end of each weekly show members of the two tribes, Tagi and Pagong, were voted off at an evening tribal council meeting until there were 10 castaways left. The merged tribe, named Rattana, then voted participants off each week. Those voted off at that point became a jury that would decide which of the last two people would win the money. 4 Rudy Boesch, a 72-year-old retired Navy Seal from Virginia Beach, Virginia, was very candid throughout the show, blatantly giving his stance on homosexuals, having children out of wedlock, and many other issues that emerged on the island. 5 August 28 Newsweek poll: 62 percent thought Rudy would win. Washington Post online poll, August 23: 51.1 percent thought Rudy would win and wanted him to. Rudy also garnered the most votes on the favorite moment of the show, 67.5 percent, when during an immunity challenge he answered each question with “I dunno.” 6 In closing comments, castaway Susan Hawk lambasted the final two players, calling ultimate winner Richard Hatch a snake and Kelly Wiglesworth, the runner-up, a rat. _________________________ Kimberly Luste Maran is an assistant editor of the Adventist Review.