LAST EDITED ON 10-13-14 AT 09:00 PM (EST)Michel ...
I've read quite a bit of material at SS. But not the thread that you've mentioned. So, I'll begin my response with some basic observations with which I think you'll agree:
1) Not every natural (biological) parent who plays the Game is portrayed within it as a parental character - Father or Mother.
2) Not every individual who is portrayed within the Game as a parental figure is - biologically - a parent.
3) Not every paternal or maternal character within the Game is given a counterpart - mother or father - and/or a family - sons or daughters.
4) Not every player who the audience may - via edit - come to identify as a 'mother' or 'father' or 'son' or 'daughter' is an exemplar of the stereotype's most positive - or most recognizable - traits.
In other words:
It seems to me that not every Survivor 'mother' is nest-making or nest-tending. Or nice. Not every Survivor 'father' is protective. Or successful. Not every Survivor 'son' is competitive. Or striving. And not every Survivor 'daughter' is fun. Or likeable. And while I realize that I'm stating the obvious (or, at least, I think that I am ... ) , I've said these things to point out that neither the editorial selection nor the editorial treatment of the Game's familial character types is uniform | boilerplate from Season to Season. Nor is the audience's impression of them.
For instance: In post-Cagayan Finale interviews, castmembers (including, Trish and Tony) indicated their surprise that Tony's edit revealed so little of his extraordinary efforts to provde for his tribe | alliance. And others of the cast expressed their surprise that Trish was edited as 'nurturing'. So, what are we to conclude about the two? Were Trish and Tony - editorially - a 'mother' and/or a 'father'? Were we meant to think of them as a parental 'couple'?
So, while I think that the definitions of the roles that you've cited are helpful and certainly applicable to some individuals in some Seasons, I also think that even if one could take Lady V’s profiles to the bank- every single Season – I would still be confused by your characterization of the edited relationship of Keith and Josh as that of a father and son. Because, not in his brief encounter with Keith on Exile Island or anywhere in the Season as a whole, do I remember any behavior or dialogue that would indicate that Josh’s character is “Someone who is concerned with ensuring self is treated as an adult, competitive with father figures, friendly with mother figures, struggling to prove competence. Competitive with sibling.”
ETA: I don't think that John Rocker was edited as a father figure. But that's a whole 'nuther post.
Quite the opposite: I see Josh as Coyopa's harmony - provider. A consensus – taker. A secrets - collector. A tribal - nucleus who, from its beginning, the majority of its residents have gone to for information, guidance and a voice in the conduct of village affairs. A leader.
But certainly not a forthright, upfront, make-no-bones-about-it father figure. Rather, a far more emotionally-invested, intuitive, manipulative and cynical – sketchier – parental figure who is not always particularly trustworthy but who, at least initially and often paradoxically, inspires trust.
Some other examples:
James (Miller), Danni, Jaime, GC, JT, Cirie, Trish, Sophie, Dawn Meehan and Spencer.
So, although you know that I have my own criteria for establishing a player’s inclination to adopt a maternal role, I am the first to admit that certainly not everyone so identified ultimately appears in the part. In fact, the majority don’t. And more than a few who don’t appear on my list of most likely candidates are cast as ‘Mom’. But, if the edit tells us early in the Season (in confession or in conversation or in deed), that this is the person who ‘everyone goes to’ - as opposed to the person who 'everyone follows' - then I am fairly certain that we’re seeing that Season's - or one of that Season's - 'Mother(s)’.
Too, I don’t see the “odd couples” with whom you and others have compared Keith and Josh (Rudy | Hatch and JT | Stephen) as Father and Son teams. Do you?
Thank you, again, for doing this for us,
G