LAST EDITED ON 09-24-03 AT 02:35 AM (EST)

I can't help but really like this guy. I mean, most of us accept the reality presented us with fewer questions than he himself presents. The actresses and actors are all doing a great job for such a long-haul. Think about it though, they've had to practice for over a year to pull this off, and are continually running scared that Joe will delve into the controversy. Hey, the guy dropped out of law school, must have had something good going on in the noggin to get that far, mush have had some distaste for controversy to have gotten out. Hence, he didn't push Earl over the boxers, he didn't push Molly for details about her family, nor did he push Hutch about his NFL ignorance. He has a heart of gold, not like so many journalistic types I've seen who can only prod and probe. Further, he has done a bang-up job of being a team-player on every idiotic thing they present him with. I've heard others feel sorry for laughing at him, I don't get it. He's not just funny, he's halariously likeable, so I spend my time laughing with him. I only wonder when he'll start feeling guilty about having such a large room to himself whilst the others supposedly sleep like sardines...

• RE: Matt is cool,sstalpo, 06:17 PM, 09-23-03
  • Out of their control - WWW RAW Style,grubbmeister, 01:00 AM, 09-24-03
• RE: Matt is cool,Guppin1234, 09:40 PM, 09-23-03
  • RE: Matt is cool,erikman, 09:56 PM, 09-23-03
    • RE: Dr. Pat's hapless psychology,grubbmeister, 01:03 AM, 09-24-03
    • RE: Matt is cool,Guppin1234, 05:20 AM, 09-27-03
  • RE: Jungle Rot & Retreat to the Master Suite,grubbmeister, 00:31 AM, 09-24-03
  • RE: Matt is cool,Zume, 09:19 AM, 09-24-03
    • RE: Paid Friends & Feelings of Betrayal on the Horizon,grubbmeister, 11:26 AM, 09-24-03
      • RE: Paid Friends & Feelings of Betrayal on the Horizon,Zume, 01:06 PM, 09-24-03
        • RE: Paid Friends & Feelings of Betrayal on the Horizon,grubbmeister, 10:51 AM, 09-25-03
    • RE: Matt is cool,Neffer, 02:05 PM, 09-24-03
    • RE: Matt is cool,Guppin1234, 02:59 PM, 09-24-03
      • RE: Matt is cool,erikman, 11:45 AM, 09-25-03
        • RE: Matt is cool,grubbmeister, 01:08 PM, 09-25-03
      • RE: Matt is cool...nice cool H20,grubbmeister, 01:02 PM, 09-25-03
        • RE: Matt is cool...nice cool H20,Guppin1234, 01:54 PM, 09-25-03
          • RE: Matt is cool...nice cool H20,grubbmeister, 07:24 AM, 09-26-03
            • RE: Matt is cool...nice cool H20,Guppin1234, 04:09 PM, 09-27-03
              • RE: Punch Drunk Love,grubbmeister, 06:55 PM, 09-27-03

I'm with you! I REALLY like him too!

I'm so with him in this whole thing. You can see him questioning, but then in a 'group' game sometimes its not adventageous to question outloud.. and he does seem to be trying to 'go along'.. plus he seems to just plain really like these people.

I'd be his friend in an instant!

When I watch.. I'm watching from his standpoint and laughing with him. I'd NEVER laugh 'at' him..he's too nice, too much like all of US.. there is nothing to laugh AT him about anyway.

LAST EDITED ON 09-24-03 AT 02:36 AM (EST)

LAST EDITED ON 09-24-03 AT 01:09 AM (EST)

Yeah, I wish I had a friend like Matt-just hope he'd never knock me out ha ha
Seriously though, I've been in his no-win situation. It did amaze me how patheticly team 2 went about the Sumo wrestling. Joe yelled for Kip to roll Ashleigh on her back, so Ashleigh got up and rolled on her back. I think Kip was blocking Matt's view, though.
Matt just had them all whooped on Episode 4. Consider the debate--didn't Brian say they wanted Matt to win? I don't buy it. If so, then why did Brian "pull out" all the stops and show further evidence of his "moldy cheese" (as I think Hutch described it in Episode 1)? Brian looked desperate (in more ways than one) to keep Matt away from The Immunity Robe. Good last minute save with the $25K "surprise" option they threw Dr.Pat's way to keep Hutch around.

Yes, he is likable. He reminds of someone I know that I don't particularly care for, so my judgement is clouded a little.

He has enough sense to keep the bed to himself. Sleeping with Major General Foot Rot was a bit of a mind play for him. After all, you can only sail the tub boat in the DMZ.

girl makes him look like a fool and wants to be friends for life how rich

And people wonder why he hasn't caught on. Well obviously, too many things work on that show just like in real life.

You're going to have to explain that one.

Good point. What was up with that Jungle Rot on Earl, anyway? Was he really a soldier? They altered the speed of the M16 disassembly, but he looked a little clumsy. Any military types out there know whether he looked like a pro or not? The competition was rigged, so who knows what his high score really meant.

Even if Matt isn't giving up the room, he will probably rationalize his position there after giving away his vacation (and supposedly a whopping $25K).

How would you feel if you found out that your mother had paid your friends to be nice to you?

Even though Joe thinks he is in a contest with these people he still feels that his relationships with them are genuine. If I was him I would be extremely pissed/hurt at the end and not want to have anything to do with anyone associated with it.

Even though your friends might genuinely like you, the fact that they are being paid invalidates the friendship and make you feel like the loser.

Yeah, maybe that is one more reason he didn't want to go into therapy (many have commented that a psychologist is like friend for hire, but only at the appointed times). In any case, I think he'll get really ticked to have given away the vacation to someone who got hurt because they were only acting like they were playing--unless they give him one of those also. You know the resort is getting ten times the advertisement value with all the attention this generated.

Interesting scenario you mentioned, mother actually hiring child's friends. I've heard of siblings hiring boyfriends & girlfriends for each other- but even in middle school, it sounded like the stuff of urban legends. My wife told my mom she was being paid to be her friend, and it shook her up well enough, even though entirely false. Did this actually happen to you or someone you know (not a friend of a friend)? And just as a joke; I need money, I need friends, how can I get in on a deal like that?

You're probably right, that's sick. Matt never acts like money is more important than people, but then again, I've never seen him try to vote himself off, either... I think Dr. Pat's contradictory ramblings about friends and money will further convince him she's a fruitcake, and even haunt him well after the "joke" is over.

I've definately heard people say that it worries them that they feel like their therapist is their best friend when the therapist is getting paid to be there. The fact that the therapist is getting paid doesn't mean that they don't like you, it just means that you never feel in your heart that you've earned that like. I bet Matt now feels the same way.

Yeah, I have to wonder how much people feel helped when it ends with the stab in the back that this was only a professional & therapeutic relationship, sometimes limited to a certain number of meetings, with a price on it. Probably not as bad a stab as those who do become "involved" or "exploited" on a non-professional level. Thus, perhaps the intensity of the non-therapeutic rusings on the show will hurt him. Check out how guilty everyone felt when he was crying over Earl's departure. Maybe Matt will move on and the others either harden themselves or be stricken with remorse. Maybe not.

Just like some of the others here have said, "I'd be Matt's friend in an instant" (no money down, no payments due).

Even though your friends might genuinely like you, the fact that they are being paid invalidates the friendship and make you feel like the loser.

How many movies/TV episodes have had a premise centered on that point? Every kid in America learns from an early age that a relationship based on anything but the free will of both participants is hollow. The "but I started to like you for real" thing just doesn't work in real life. The whole relationship has to be scrapped and begun again from square one.

Regardless of how these actors "truly" feel afterwards, trust is damaged.

The nature of this "experiment", as the director puts it, dehumanizes the subject. I feel awful that Matt, when it's all said and done, will likely feel robbed of the opportunity to carry forward the friendships he thinks he's made. I can't see anything but a bitter end for the show. (Assuming he doesn't know, which I still believe).

-Neffer

So true!

but what's being said in the confessionals reveal that they are coming around.

It's like hazing the nerd in high school, then later on in life the cheerleaders and football stars turn out to be losers who beg for a job with the rich nerd.

I had this high school typing teacher who was an absolute witch. Never should have been allowed around kids. Later on, my best friend handed out an application to her, the ex-witch of a teacher was applying for her old job after my friend got a promotion. Gotta love it!

dude at sucks who talked to matt before the show 1st aired. said that matt told him none of the actors had gotten up with him after the show except earl and earl had left his watch and he wondered if matt took it. so no thise guys are not his friends.

>dude at (survivor sucks) who talked to matt before
>the show 1st aired. said that matt told him none of
>the actors had gotten up with him after the show except
>earl (who) had left his watch and he wondered if matt
>took it. so no (these) guys are not his friends.

Thanks, I'm new to the forum so I missed that. I wonder if
they are staying clear for contractual reasons, out of self-loathing, out of the arrogance others believe, or is it some combination?

>It's like hazing the nerd in high school, then later on
>in life the cheerleaders and football stars turn out to
>be losers who beg for a job with the rich nerd.

Yeah, I've got "The Waterboy" playing in a little window (new feature for WMP ver.9), and the parallels are striking.

Is that with Adam Sandler?

LAST EDITED ON 09-26-03 AT 08:41 AM (EST)

the one and only

You've got me interested, so I'll have to rent it now. I think that's the one with his hair all slicked down on his face.

Punch Drunk Love was very bizarre, left a bad taste, but I'm sure life in LA isn't too far removed from that movie... which reminds me that I've been getting a lot of strange e-mail since joining this forum and my profile was only accessible for a short period of time. Beware if your screen name is suddenly a BCC on some obscure e-mail and don't send it out or reply to it unless reporting it. FYI.

Must confess, this is the first I heard of that movie. Many have commented that Adam Sandler only has one character, and he uses it over and over again. The best "reincarnation" appears to be Bobby Buscher of "The Waterboy". I don't yet plan to see Punch Drunk Love based on your brief description, but "The Waterboy" is a keeper. Interesting note about the email address. I guess you're warning me to revise my profile. Thanx.