"FYI, they both lived in the same town at that time...." @candyagain
Thank you for that info @candyagain . All the talk about Richard and Rudy sent me down a bit of a rabbit's hole as I started thinking about season one and how interesting the players were. It turns out Richard and Rudy were friends until Rudy's death at age 91 in 2019. There's a lot of information about them out there.
Here is a tweet from Richard on Rudy's passing ~
"Ours was an interesting bond, Dear Rudy! You and I helped open minds and undermine prejudices. While your time here has passed, you will remain loved and iconic, dear friend!"
When Richard talks about opening minds and undermining prejudices I guarantee he's not talking about the prejudice of being undressed. If anyone claims they actually believe that I'm more than happy to say let's agree to disagree.
If you read about Rudy you'd know that he cared very much that Richard was gay. He didn't like it, he made gay slurs both on tv and to his family (he talked about this in interviews). There were things Richard didn't like about Rudy as well but they got past it, learned to respect each other, and had a great friendship in spite of their differences.
When you think about it Survivor hasn't really changed all that much in the way that they highlighted players backstories on the show even back then. They only way I see that as being objectionable is if you truly just have no interest in other people and, if so, why are you watching a show that in a big way is about the people on it?
I find it funny that we learned so much about Mike Turner, the 58 yr old retired firefighter (I think he said 57 on the show) and how he worked 26 yrs on the job as the first Puerto Rican battalion chief in Hoboken yet not one complaint about that. We learned he came from the projects and ran the streets. His father was rough and his mother was handicapped but it all made him who he is today. Should I be concerned that Hollywood is shaming me for not growing up poor and pulling myself up by my bootstraps to become a public servant? Are they trying to sneak that past without us noticing?
We also learned a great deal about Daniel, the contestant who overcame childhood leukemia. He has a wonderful story that I won't go into since the point has been made that Hollywood Survivor has already told us many stories about this season's players and there will surely be more going forward.
Again, if you don't have an interest in people, or care to hear their stories, then Survivor isn't going to please you but feeling the need to inject your pejorative term for good people who simply believe we all deserve the same rights and opportunities is just sad. Hopefully we can all share our opinions without the need for insults.
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