51 replies to this topic

[Pin]

Hi. I survived Iraq. And I feel that I'm most like Rupert.

First part of that? Awesome. He'll know what the game requires if he could go through that. The second part? If he shows himself to be anything like him, I'm prepared to shudder.

[Isuzu]

I was annoyed when he said Rupert conducted himself with honor (or integrity, whatevs), because 1) it's not true (Rupert thought he was entitled to win, threw huge tamper tantrums (including some we didn't see) and was physically aggressive towards Jon) and 2) it has nothing whatsoever to do with the game. That being said, I understand him when he said Rupert has worked with his community and troubled youth as he himself is doing. So in that respect I get what he means.

[Oholibamah]

Cosign on the above, but also, "civilians who lack passion and enthusiasm about their jobs?" Gee, I'm sorry that some "normal folk" get stuck in dead end jobs, can't find anything in their field, are forced to take jobs below their qualifications, or aren't able to make a living doing what they love. Respect to him for serving his country, but I think he's a douchebag.

[ratherbereading]

I half loathe him and half like him.

I like him and respect him for serving our country. I also like and respect him for having a passion to give back to the community.

I loathe him for reasons already iterated by Isuzu and Oholibamah. I won't be crying much if he goes early. (Although I hope he outlasts Hantz and Phillip)

[BDArizona]

I don't buy being in the military as a de facto honorable pursuit, so I don't have any feelings about him for that. I do like that he talks a lot about commitment to social justice and community. I just don't think that has much to do with Survivor.

Edited by BDArizona, Jan 27, 2013 @ 9:20 PM.

[ratherbereading]

So I see after the first episode that I still half like him and half hate him.

Sitting around while the rest of the tribe gets the camp together? Hate.

Comments about breaking the wrist? Really hate. (and I don't buy the "pull them apart Jeff")

Did like him stepping up to get fire. And wow, dude is super flexible. And does seem to realize he comes off as a jerk.

[KimberStormer]

Comments about breaking the wrist? Really hate.

I laughed when Courtney said "break her shoulder!" in HvV, and that was probably worse since it sort of happened. I don't see why Jeff made such a big deal about it, it's the kind of thing people seem to yell at challenges.

Edited by KimberStormer, Feb 14, 2013 @ 1:31 AM.

[Trek]

Despite them not being alike in any possible way, I kept being reminded of "Heavy Metal" Billy from Cook Island whenever I see this guy for no apparent reason.

[Oholibamah]

He came across abysmally in his preshow interview, and the first episode didn't do a whole lot to improve that. Yeesh. Has a player ever had such a pathetic first episode? I guess maybe Shannon.

His "heroic" moment of starting the fire was completely lost on me. He purposely set it up instead of just being helpful from the jump. I think he's disgusting and I hope he goes home ASAP. I don't need any more comments about lunchmeat, decimation or breaking of joints.

[JudyObscure]

I wonder if Shamar is waiting for a Lieutenant to come and give him orders.

I also wonder about the theory that you can save yourself for the challenges by lying around. People on restricted diets burn calories from stored fat. If they go at a slow but steady pace they don't burn many more calories than if they stayed in bed. What they will do by staying in bed, is cause very quick muscle atrophy and dizziness upon standing.

[WillyBCoyote]

Shamar video

http://abcnews.go.co...ory?id=14764163

[riley702]

Damn, that was the first time I've liked him. Also, the video makes his "Shut up!"s on the island look fairly tame.

[Muscade]

So was he recruited (more that 750,000 views), or is he really a fan?
If he's really a fan, is he deliberately playing the goat?

Edited by Muscade, Feb 25, 2013 @ 9:27 AM.

[kishoph]

When I saw the video when it first came out I had respect for him (even though, I was waiting for him to be tazed), but his actions on Survivor have been anything but honorable. I also question is he really a fan of the show or someone they brought along because of his popularity from the video.

[ByaNose]

I'm sure Shamar will blame the edit card. He'll also say it was only the first few days that He was actually in the shelter & not ninteen hours like Allie said. Of course, he did admit it to Jeff at Tribal Council but I'm sure he'll down play it all. I am curious to see how far he can go with his current weight. I can't recall someone so big/heavy as him and it would be interesting how much weight he loses. That being said, I wouldn't mind if he was voted off next.

[kikaha]

He comes across to me as a total asshole. Still, getting the fire going was impressive, and he can definitely be an asset in challenges. I bet Hope goes before he does.

[sissykay]

Don't like him at all. He's a bully.

[Psychomom]

I just watched the video - talk about two different people in one body. In the first two episodes all he seems to be showing is that he is a lazy ass. If he was worried about the sun why didn't he bring an appropriate head cover? Not for nothing it's not like he was never in that kind of environment. If he is a fan didn't he realize they are always in a hot environment, sometimes very wet, but also very warm. There is not a lot of food and if your 300 pounds did he not prepare even a little for this. Sheesh - All i keep thinking is that he wants to be the goat...

[DegenrateMU]

Psychomom

All i keep thinking is that he wants to be the goat...

Well I have the exact same thoughts, and by the looks of it that plan is working. Sherri apparently wants him to be "her Phillip" and by the way she was defending him its obvious her main strategy is to keep him around as a second vote.

Though I still cant believe that Matt and Michael fell for her very unconvincing plea to keep Shamar around, it would have been in their best interests to keep playing both sides as Shamar was never in the 3 girl alliance Michael was told to be a part of, they could have got rid of him and then went with the "pretty people out" plan and would have put themselves in a better position for the end.

[EggMan]

Underneath all he yelling and random spouting off, what I really don't get about this guy is that he is considering quitting because everybody is lying all the time. Doesn't he have any idea what Survivor is about? Where the heck do they FIND these people?

[ByaNose]

Apparently, Jeff said he is the most shocked & surprised how Shamar is acting & coming off. He said in the casting interviews that Shamar was so nice & upstanding he thought he would be a hero & team leader. He also thought the military background was a plus too. Somehow, he was able to hold his anger & rage till he got on the island. Boy! Are the fans lucky or what? LOL!!! I'm sure he'll deny everything like he did at Tribal Council. I can hardly wait to see how he spins this when he does his exit interviews.

[xr11576]

I know I'm just wildly speculating, but I think Shamar has two things going on

(1) Post traumatic stress disorder....which he was medicating with
(2) Alcohol

He said when he got back from Iraq he became an alcoholic, but for all we know, he could have quit drinking right before the show; now he's on an island eating 200 calories a day with untreated PTSD and possibly in alcohol withdrawal; he might want to quit so he can get back home and get a drink

This goes back to the two people who quit on the original Fans vs Favorites due to substance issues

(1) Kathy lied in her audition process and didn't disclose she was on Zoloft; then when she got on the island, she said she went into Zoloft withdrawal and lost her mind (she was going to cut her finger off to get off the show) until quitting; this is what she said on Rob Cesternino's podcast the other day

(2) J. Fairplay has admitted multiple times in interviews he quit FvF because he was in opiate withdrawal (he had begun taking opiates for pain after Danny Bonaduce powerbombed him in some wrestling match)

[Muscade]

Very interesting post above, xr11576. Hadn't geard that at the time but it gels with what we knew in the case of Fairplay and what the spoilers were apparently saying at the time (regarding finger cutting) in the case of Kathy.

Otherwise, what I was coming here to say is that I find it borderline dangerous if not outright dangerous to cast someone who could reasonably be expected to suffer from PTD, is an alcoholic (sober from how long, that is the question? plus what happens when they have a reward with plenty of alcoholic beverages if he's recently sober?) and admits to having anger issues. Jeff might go on all day about how he's surprised at the behaviour of someone who was so charming in casting, I thing people responsible with casting are really flirting with disaster here. I don't mean disaster in the sense of physical but of mental harm and I for one am not looking forward to when someone (else, cf. post above) has to be evacuated or causes someone to be evacuated for reasons that were red flags already in the first episode (and must have been apparent during casting, unless casting chose to turn a blind eye).

This and his behaviour in the episode further confirms to me that this guy is a recruit and not a fan in the true sense of the word (cf. Cochran this episode, his week centers around the broadcast time of Survivor, that is a real fan, lol!). Against my better judgement, I'm starting to feel sympathetic towards the Kool Kids Kan't Kount and getting ready to nominate Matt for sainthood (if Matt is indeed the one that got repeatedly shouted at by Shamar, starting from episode 1 but also this episode, although he had voted in his favour and was again about to do so. If it is not Matt, that will just highlight how little I know from everyone who is not Shamar, Sherri, the blond girl not Kool Kid, Reynold and Ed, Edd, Eddie.)

[gaPeach]

This and his behaviour in the episode further confirms to me that this guy is a recruit and not a fan in the true sense of the word

I missed the 1st episode so I did not see anyone's backstory. So watching the 2nd episode I called it immediately that he is a recruit and not a fan. Not knowing how this game is played is ridiculous and a dead give away. And if I were on the Fan tribe I would be pissed someone like Sharmar got on the show just because he did some grandstanding at a OWS protest.

Plus I find him to be somewhat manic and that makes him very scary.

[dirtydi]

I was thingking PTSD and Intermitten Explosive Disorder. But I am not a mental health specialist so he might just be playing a role.

[Psychomom]

There is no way he was a fan - if he was a fan he would not be surprised by most that happens. to be shocked that people lie and then make quitting comments...unless he was just hoping they would beg him to stay...which they did and he got to make himself the hero. Seriously, between the ptsd and being an alcoholic, what were they thinking. Oh wait, ratings duh me.

[ByaNose]

In theory, bringing the annoying person to the end is a good strategy. Unfortunately, Shamar is obnoxious, angry & lazy that to last a whole 39 days is practically impossible. The Phillip law doesn't apply here becasue Phillip was annoying but beside a fight or two he apparently wasn't 24/7 like Shamar. I can see Sherry wanting to play this but I'm not sure how much longer the others in the alliance would want to put up with it. I will be curious to see how much longer he can last and whether he'll even want to. I too, think he is more of a recruit fan (a faint fan) because he is so shocked at how the game is played by others. His exit interviews will be interesting. How does he deny everything?

[JudyObscure]

just now watched that Wall Street video and I'm glad I waited until I "knew," Shamar a little better. After seeing him go off on Julie and Matt, I'm now wondering if the police he kept screaming at had done anything but their jobs. I notice the cops standing quietly during his tirade, not yelling back, let alone hitting or tazing. Many of those young policemen may have been veterans themselves. I also tried to do a little research on his tour of duty, all I could find was a site called Marines against Shamar, where they talk about him being rude and out of uniform as he "represents," the UMC.

Mr. Obscure did 22 years in the military and now serves in the VFW's honor and burial guard. Those old WWII and Vietnam vets saw some really horrible combat but never used it as an excuse to scream at people and would have punched Shamar for yelling at a woman the way he did Julie. I'm not a psychiatrist either but I don't think rudeness, laziness and entitlement are symptoms of PTSD.

[loki567]

I don't think we have to start attacking a guy's service record based on what he's doing in the game of Survivor. And that Marines against Shamar is a clearly a political group that didn't like his involvement in the Wall Street Protests.

[CM52]

I don't think we have to start attacking a guy's service record based on what he's doing in the game of Survivor. And that Marines against Shamar is a clearly a political group that didn't like his involvement in the Wall Street Protests.

I think it's just the opposite; his past shouldn't be used as justification for him acting like a 2 year old. If he actually has PTSD or other issues, then I completely blame the producers for letting him on. Personally, I think he's just a douche with a sense of entitlement because he did a couple tours.