Hall of Shame Moment: JoAnna Ward's Idol Thoughts and Vicious Attack

We are going to begin this Hall of Shame Moment with a little quiz. If you have a Master's degree in being a school guidance counselor and you work as a school guidance counselor, and you overhear part of a conversation in which somebody appears to be saying you are "stupid," what should you do? A) Ignore it and then ask them or the person they were talking to about it privately later. B) Walk over and point out that you really don't like being called names and that if the person has anything to say, they should say it to your face. C) Storm over and scream like a banshee at the person who said it, including various threats and sticking your hand in their face.

Of course, this quiz question has been brought to you by the actions of JoAnna Ward on the second episode of Survivor: The Amazon. But that's only the half of it. Let's start from the beginning.

In the first episode, when Jeff Probst was showing the immunity idol around and asking everybody to touch it so they'd know what it's like, JoAnna stood in the back and made a face. Okay, a bit odd, but whatever.

A couple days later, the reason for that face became obvious as she turned into Holy Roller JoAnna. She didn't like the fact that the idol was in camp. Why? Because the Bible says not to pray to false idols. Okay, but unless there was some pretty danged significant editing, nobody was doing that! It was just sitting there - which is pretty much all it ever does. But she decided to go on and on about it, pushing her rather bizarre opinion on others who, frankly, just wanted to get some sleep. Indeed, even after somebody asked her to keep it down, she said she was going to go on all night. Is that really the best way to spread the word of the Lord, even if she was right?!

And I do mean "if" - at the time of this writing, I have not gotten a single e-mail from anybody agreeing with JoAnna. Instead, I've gotten e-mails like the one from a Born-Again Christian who said they had an overwhelming desire to knock people like JoAnna upside the head. This person went on to note that JoAnna was the only one attributing power to the idol, as she claimed their possession of the idol was the reason it rained. Yes, it rained in a rainforest - obviously an act of an angry God! One wonders where this angry God was when Survivor was in Africa - after all, they had an immunity idol there as well, and in every other edition.

This brings up the question of whether JoAnna had ever even seen previous shows. A couple people have e-mailed me to say that they have seen mention that she actually didn't. If this is the case, then it brings a whole new sort of shame - the shame of going into something without having the foggiest idea what you're doing. As another representative e-mailer noted, "The whole show, from the first season on, has revolved around winning the immunity idol to gain … tribal protection. … I cannot understand why she would even apply to be on the show."

The behavior described so far would have been borderline for mention in the Hall of Shame. Her follow-up sealed the deal.

As alluded to in the quiz question that began this article, Christy was talking to Jeanne and had asked her to bring her up to date on what went on that night since, of course, she is deaf and when the sun goes down, she can't lip-read anymore. Jeanne told her about JoAnna's ranting. Christy, without first looking around to make sure nobody else was nearby, exclaimed to Janet later that it was "stupid." And she's right.

Well, JoAnna the guidance counselor couldn't just let that go by. She came right over and started yelling at her. Whenever Christy would dare try to say something, JoAnna would shut her down. It was, quite frankly, an out and out attack. As the Born-Again Christian who had e-mailed me wondered, what happened to "do unto others as you would have them do to you"? Christy wondered the same thing as she pointed out later that JoAnna was not exactly acting like a vessel of Christ.

JoAnna even got to the point that she was giving her the hand - sticking it up in front of her face in a "stop" gesture. This is bad form under normal circumstances, but to do it to a deaf person who can only read lips? Utterly shameful.

Then JoAnna turned into a five-year-old. Christy made another attempt to calm the situation down and noted that they had both made mistakes. JoAnna basically gave her the equivalent of, "You started it! Nyah!" by saying that Christy had made her mistake first. Hell, I don't accept that kind of behavior from my four-year-old.

Furthermore, JoAnna warned Christy not to get in her face. Excuse me? Who came charging into whose conversation? Her body language was such that she even looked somewhat threatening - like a bully staring down a smaller person, which is, really, what was going on.

And then, to top it all off, when she voted for Christy at Tribal Council, she had the nerve to say that Christy's attitude stinks!

Mind you, this is all from a person whose Survivor website page says, "She considers her greatest achievement to be when she became a born-again Christian which she feels changed her into a better person." A better person?! Jeez, I'd hate to see what she was like before! She also noted, "One of my most enjoyable hobbies is lifting up the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in pure praise and worship." Hmm. I wonder if going on and on about the immunity idol when people are trying to sleep and then screaming at another one who disagreed is considered "lifting up the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in pure praise and worship."

What we have here in the case of JoAnna is somebody who spouts out "hallelujah" and thanks God at every opportunity (when they got back to the oar, when the caught a fish, when they won a challenge, ad nauseum), but who actually behaves in what most people would consider to be a "Christian" manner only when it suits her.

She should either be on Survivor to play the game, or to set an example. But what kind of example is she setting - both as an educator and as somebody who supposedly wants to preach the gospel? Plus, she sure as hell isn't playing the game well!

Whether as a person or a player, she deserves this Hall of Shame Moment. If she keeps up this behavior, she may well qualify for a full induction. As another e-mailer noted, "She has Jerri's nasty streak, Vecepia's religious hypocrisy, and Ghandia's instability." The fact is that she should be ashamed of herself, and better realize what she's doing and turn it around fast, or she will find herself voted out of the game and right into a full Hall of Shame induction.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of the Reality TV Hall of Shame, and can be reached at rno@pobox.com.

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