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I was never a big Cliff fan, but Top Chef got it wrong in this scenario, and they've gotten it wrong before. Cliff being dismissed left a bad taste in my mouth (although he had no right to lay hands on someone), but only because he carried the entire blame. As far as I could see, the entire group was a part of the assault on Marcel--assault is never just physical. That Cliff was dismissed and the others rewarded with a trip to Hawaii made me sick.
The show is supposed to be about acheiving through merit. Yet they allow sabotage to influence decisions. The other black chef, Mia, was pressured to quit, set up to be the fall guy. The judges should never have allowed that. I remember during the first season a cast member wanted to quit--the vegetarian cook--so that another chef could stay, and the judges refused to accept it. But they seemed to have no problem with Mia's resignation.
On another reality show, Bad Girls, I've noticed that the two black women on the show, both whom have tried to join in and attend clubs with their white housemates, have been excluded. They were left behind because one of the girls said that the black women didn't want to go. Now the black women go to black clubs and the white women to white clubs. When a new housemate asked why the black women don't join in, she was told that "well, they've been distancing themselves all along."
Well, these are reality shows, after all. And the racial issues do reflect reality. I've always had a cultural array of friends, but few white friends who would go to a primarily black club with me.
