It was fairly small potatoes, as celebrity visits go, compared with the major movie stars who were in town all summer. But if you're as big a fan as I am of the popular reality TV series/phenomenon known as Survivor, then the 29-year-old Zohn's trip to The Peg (to take part in a fundraising soccer camp for kids) was a noteworthy event.
Unlike the majority of Zohn's admirers, though, I couldn't care less about his Richard Gere-like looks, his professional soccer player's physique, or his adorably floppy hair. No sir.
For me, there is but one reason why an encounter with Zohn is more exciting than having the entire cast of "Shall We Dance" over for Shabbes dinner. It's the simple fact that Zohn is the first and only Survivor contestant (never mind winner) who also happens to be a Member Of The Tribe.
I suppose that part of my admiration for Zohn stems from the fact that we are a people obsessed with our brethren's celebrity. (Heck, Adam Sandler's popular "Chanukah Song" is really just a three-minute tribute to famous Jews in Hollywood.) But the main reason why I hold Ethan Zohn in high regard is that he's already achieved my dream.
As anyone who knows me will attest, there's no point in calling me on Thursday evenings. I don't answer my phone, the door - even questions from fellow viewers in the same room - while I'm watching Survivor. You see, I'm mysteriously intrigued by the televised interactions of strangers in the wilderness who are summarily starved, forced to complete ludicrous obstacle courses for scraps of food, and then goaded into voting one another out of the game until there's just one person left.
My obsession with the show - and continual fantasy of competing in it - is quite ironic when you consider that I'm not really a "camper" per se. In fact, you could count on one hand the number of times I've actually slept in a tent. And even then, it wasn't about the joy of camping, but rather a convenient and affordable way to attend a three-day outdoor concert at the Gimli Motorsport Park. (Yes, I'm referring to Sunfest, you child of the 90's, you!)
Perhaps my love of Survivor taps into fond childhood memories of summers spent at Camp Massad in the early '80s. The recall is a bit fuzzy, but I do seem to recollect sporting-type competitions, barely edible "food", and some kind of exposure to the elements. Come to think of it, we were divided into groups, and popularity (or lack thereof) often came into play in that environment, too. Maybe no one was voted out of the cabin, but interpersonal skills certainly helped determine the likelihood of one receiving a "snuggie".
Of course, my days at summer camp have come and gone. And something tells me I won't be seeing the inside of a tent anytime soon. But come next month, I will be glued to my TV set on Thursday nights, watching a bunch of young adults (and a few older ones) battle the elements and each other for supremacy plus a million bucks. All the while, I'll be fantasizing that it's me out there competing on Survivor, instead of sitting on my couch.
Hey, don't laugh. If Ethan Zohn can do it, why not another young Jewish adult? In fact, I know of one who managed to outwit, outplay, and outlast his fellow cabinmates at Camp Massad in the summer of 1981. Rumor has it he was the only one who managed to avoid finding himself on the receiving end of a snuggie* that year.
Sounds like a real Survivor to me.
Kevin Rosen is a Winnipeg-based freelance writer. He can be reached at .
*Kevin Rosen's "snuggie" involved older, larger campers hanging him on a hook by the waistband of his Fruit of The Looms. "Escape normally results when the waistband rips under the strain, producing a sensation aptly described as 'snug'," he writes.
- EDITOR.
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