Reality TV Hall of Shame!

Hall of Shame Moment: Jon Dalton’s Despicable Lie

by David Bloomberg -- 12/04/2003

You knew it was coming – though not everybody agrees with it. Jon Dalton made up a lie about his own grandmother dying to get ahead on Survivor: Pearl Islands. We address both the view that it was a strategically brilliant move and also explain why it definitely belongs in the Hall of Shame.

Most entries into the Reality TV Hall of Shame, whether full inductions or Hall of Shame Moments, have almost universal acceptance. OK, we’ll say 99% acceptance, in general. However, this Hall of Shame Moment is not like that. Here we recognize one of the slimiest acts ever perpetrated on reality TV, and also – in some eyes – one of the most brilliant as far as game play is concerned. Feelings run strong on both sides. We have gotten many e-mails suggesting that this move be “recognized” here, and many saying it should not be because it was a good move.

We are, of course, talking about Jon Dalton, of Survivor: Pearl Islands, making up a story about his grandmother having died while he was on the show so he could use that to a tactical advantage in the game. And obviously, because you’re reading this article, we have decided to recognize this as a Hall of Shame Moment. First we’ll discuss what he did and then we’ll talk about why we came to this decision.

Jon has been one of the most obnoxious Survivor players ever. He may yet end up with a full induction here, but we’ll wait to find out how all of this ends before making that decision. But no matter how obnoxious he was, he outdid himself in Episode 11. When the “loved ones” showed up to participate in a reward challenge, Jon asked his pal how Jon’s grandmother was doing. His pal reported that she had, alas, died. Jon made sure everybody knew this and played it up for sympathy in order to win the reward.

But that’s not all. He also used it to help convince Sandra and Christa that he was telling the truth in his attempt to sway them to vote out Tijuana – he swore on his grandmother, and they both knew how much that meant.

As they say in those TV commercials: Wait! There’s more! He continued to play the sympathy card at Tribal Council, where he talked about how a few days ago, he’d have stabbed people in the back, but not now. No, Jon was a changed man. Jon would never do that now. You can trust Jon.

Gag.

Of course, Jon’s grandmother is just fine. As he said when all the others were away, she was probably at home watching TV. He planned this all ahead of time with his pal so he could play on the sympathy of others. He used the supposed death of a loved one to get an advantage in a game. That, frankly, is disgusting.

Even most of those who e-mailed to say he should not be put into the Hall of Shame admitted that Jon is a scumbag. But, they said, his play was brilliant (though we’ll address that claim as well). Some sample statements and my comments on them:

“Here is one of the few players in the history of the game [who] started planning moves before he actually left the U.S.! … He is playing the game very, very hard from a strategic point. … Is he playing fair? Absolutely. You often write that this is a game, not real life, and so it was okay for Lill to lie. Why not Jon? Jon simply took advantage of knowing that loved ones come to the show each series and took advantage of that knowledge.”

And another:

“These people all knew what they signed up for, and should not expect any less than backstabbing and foul play.”

And another one:

“Survivor is … a game that has continued to evolve and, quite simply, Jon was the first to take advantage of that fact and move one step ahead of what everyone else considered "part of the game." Remember that, at first, people thought Richard getting to people vote as a bloc ("alliance") was unfair… Then people took voting in an alliance to be "fair" (mainly because it worked), but lying about WHICH alliance you were voting for was outside the game and was unethical. Then, once everybody started lying about which alliance they were in, the act of actually switching alliances became "unfair." … Each step of the "evolution" of strategy involved somebody or a group of people willing to think "outside the box" and stretch the envelope as far as what was, and what was not, "part of the game."

Yes, Jon is playing the game very hard and people should expect backstabbing. And yes, he is playing it within the rules, so you could even say he’s playing fair. However, there is quite a bit of difference between a lie within the game and one about things that are “real.” While the third commenter here claims that lying about votes or switching alliances was once considered unfair or outside the game, I have to disagree. Oh, sure, it might have been considered unfair by some people, but not by students of the game. All of those things took place within the game. Telling somebody that you’re voting with them is part of the game. Telling them that your grandmother died is a whole different level. Think about it this way – in poker, it’s quite legitimate to bluff. However, have you ever seen poker players say in the middle of the game that a loved one had died so you should hand over the pot?

On the other hand, we’ve had many comments in favor of Jon being put into the Hall of Shame. I’ve addressed most of the points already, but here are a few more:

“I am still trying to control my emotions over his despicable and from an objective strategic view totally unnecessary trick. … He should be thanking the Good Lord that he has not had to suffer the kind of losses others have.”

And:

“A game can be played without stooping to such cruel lies.”

And another:

“That's disgusting. Not only is it distasteful, but extremely disrespectful to two people: Tanya and Jenna. Sure, Tanya was voted out before her father died, but he still died while she was away. Also, even though it just happened, it's really sad to have read that Jenna's mom died of cancer.”

These illustrate some of the reasons Jon is being mentioned here. The game can be played without bringing supposed tragedies from real life into it – and, I would argue, should be played that way.

One more quote sums it up pretty well:

“It was brilliant. Unethical, underhanded, morally wrong. But brilliant.”

Yes, it could be considered brilliant, but let’s look at that claim as well. It’s definitely clever, but was it worth the gamble? Yes, gamble. If anybody ever finds out about his lie while the game is going on, he is dead meat. He will be thrown out so fast it will make his head spin. So the reward is a day alone with his pal and that maybe a few of his tribemates will think differently of him (until he backstabs them again, of course). The risk is the entire game if anybody finds out. So how could they find out? Well, once you lie, you have to make sure the lie stays consistent. Jon seems pretty adept at lying, so let’s presume for the moment that he can do that. The other way people could find out is that host Jeff Probst could ask pointed questions at Tribal Council. If Jon is such a student of the game, he has to know that the first alliance, with Rich Hatch, was outed by Probst at Tribal Councils. I screamed and railed against Probst doing it at the time, saying it was interfering in the game, but he did it then and could do it again – and that's something Jon should have known about.

Of course, beyond all of that, it was also just plain wrong.

So, with all of this said, why did he end up with a Hall of Shame Moment? In the introductory article for the Hall of Shame, I noted, “Some people have taken actions that show themselves either extremely foolish or total jerks (or both). To fully acknowledge these people, and to make sure their antics are never forgotten, they will be inducted into the Hall of Shame. … They must do something extraordinarily stupid, shameful, or painful to watch in order to get this honor.” We have given people Hall of Shame Moments before for stupid play even though they are nice people, such as Colby’s decision on who to take to the Final 2. There is no reason not to do the reverse – and that is what we have here. It may be a great play, but it’s absolutely horrible in terms of being human.

And so, we “recognize” Jon in giving him this Hall of Shame Moment. He truly is scum. He may be smart scum, and maybe even million-dollar scum, but scum nevertheless.

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

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