‘Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X’ spotlight: Is Justin ‘Jay’ Starrett ready to bro down?
“Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X” is almost here, and in today’s spotlight article, we’re focusing on someone in Justin “Jay” Starrett who we are still having a hard time trying to pin down. From one vantage point, the guy is little bit like the stereotypical surfer bro who’s going to be all about the competitions and completely not thinking about the game. Yet, in hearing about him buying a house at 25 and how he admires his mother, you do get the sense that there is a softer, more determined side of him.
In the end, Jay’s game is going to be all about self-presentation, and just how aware he is of what he projects to others.
Tribe – Vanua (Millennial Tribe).
Bio – He’s a 27-year old real estate agent from For Lauderdale, Florida. He recently moved into the career after being a bartender, and he is a frequent purveyor in all sorts of extreme sports — especially anything involving a board, per his CBS bio.
Positive attributes – The guy’s probably going to be great in the challenges. He’s young, athletic, and should be a strong asset in some of the challenges. If he can present himself as a happy-go-lucky guy in camp, then he could come across as a loyal soldier for an alliance, someone who could be told what to do and wouldn’t quite object to taking orders. Being a bartender does also present social advantages in a game like this, at least in theory since you communicate with some many different people. (Remember, Michele Fitzgerald won on the strength of her social game.)
Potential negatives – There is a slight problem for Jay in the self-awareness department. He says in the video that he likes to stay humble, and yet he refers to him as “charming.” Then, he also compares himself to two players in Woo Hwang and Russell Hantz who have almost nothing in common. We do think he knows a little bit about the game since it’s been a while since Russell played, but we’re not sure he has a firm grasp on the strategy needed in order to win it.
“Survivor” comparisons – We do get the Woo comparison to a certain extent, and we do think it’s a little unfair to call him Drew Christy. He may fall into the “super-confident bro” archetype, but we don’t think he’s extraordinarily cocky. We see him a little like Reynold on “Survivor Caramoan,” someone who can be reasonably effective in the game if he can find another player or two to work with.
Early assessment – We see an instant bro-bond between Jay and fellow athletic guy Taylor on the Millennial tribe, but there’s a 0% chance that they will be able to mask that alliance. They’re the sort of guys who you want around for the first few votes, but come around day 15, you start to view them as threats and we’re not sure the game-savvy is there to deceive people and make the moves necessary to win. Who knows? Maybe we could be pleasantly surprised.
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