Opinion
Reality TV favourite Survivor is usually known for its plotting and scheming, as well as starving contestants and zany physical challenges.
But after only two episodes on air, the latest season of the hit show has become much more notable for something else – the leering cameras that relentlessly zero in on naked male flesh, notably often cutting out the poor blokes’ heads in a frenzied quest to get the money shot of rippling naked muscles.
Lingering on exposed abs and pecs and chasing bare male buttocks like a crazed pervert lingering in the sand hills at a nudist beach, binoculars in one hand, and I don’t want to think about what else, this show has a hunger for male nudity that has gone from cheeky fun to sleazy and gross.
Last night’s episode, which featured an extended, leering examination of the hunkier male contestants as they stood nude, backs to camera, in the surf, sparked a frenzy on Twitter, with thirsty fans commenting excitedly on which of the men got pixelated, because their frontal assets were apparently so prominent that they were dropping into view from behind.
The frenzy of raunchy comments from viewers could be seen as just a bit of naughty fun – or it could be viewed as demeaning and hypocritical in a climate that now routinely calls out the male gaze on women’s bodies.
Look, I love a bit of nudity as much as the next viewer, but there’s a time, a place, and such a thing as restraint and subtlety. And I don’t think I can ‘survive’ much more of this hormone-crazed butt-chasing and pec perving.
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