Just out., April 21, 2006, Page 35, Image 35

JUDY KECK
television
For Richer or Poorer
tv- '•
Reality contestant battles for some acceptance (and $200,000)
by Michael Wayne Keck
won’t lie. I’ve always thought it would he rad to
he on TV. So when 1 got picked from thousands
of peeps throughout the country to he on the
WB’s Survival of the Richest, I was hella excited.
It all started with an ad I saw on Craigslist
that said: “Do you feel like an underdog? Do you
want a higger piece of the pie? Tell us all about it.”
Being unemployed and feeling like I’m not
getting ahead in life, 1 thought I’d apply. After a
long selection process of applications, interviews
on camera, 20-page background checks, a psyche
exam (Am I crazy? I’ll save you time...ves!), a med­
ical exam and a panel interview with network
executives, 1 was packing my hags and being driv­
en to the hills of Los Angeles.
It was fun, exhilarating and scary as hell. Even
up to the point where I walked into the mansion,
1 had no clue what the show was about. In the
interview process 1 had been asked numerous
times how 1 felt about rich people and whether I’d
ever ridden in limos or shopped in Beverly Hills.
1 genuinely thought I was going to be living like a
Hilton and experiencing the high lite. What a
shocker when 1 found out I’d be cleaning toilets,
serving chicken at a Medieval restaurant and
sharing a house with rich, spoiled brats.
To add to the joy of my television debut, 1 was
“randomly” paired with a blatantly homophobic
dude, Nick, who made me feel like a high school
freshman being bullied by an asshole senior.
Don’t get me wrong: At 27, I’ve dealt with my
fair share of discrimination and intolerance. 1 used
to think it was my dutv to win people over, but I
had gotten to the point in my lite that when 1
encountered bigots, 1 simply walked away and
avoided the negative energy. Lite is too short.
This was my initial reaction with Nick: Why
bother? He’s an insecure jerk. I’m not. But old
habits die hard, and 1 knew that millions of people
wotfld he watching our interaction, so I started to
think maybe it is a gay man’s duty to help people
understand and accept us. It not me, then who will?
Suddenly, winning $200,000 took a back burn­
er to trying to teach Nick that I’m here, I’m queer,
get used to it—maybe even accept it. It wasn’t easy.
1 sincerely felt at times like crawling back into my
turtle shell. All kinds of old feelings and memories
of being bullied and harassed in high school and
college came flooding back.
Besides being called a girl and a flamboyant
bitch by Nick, at one point he literally moved his
mattress out of the bedroom because he refused to
sleep in the same room as a gay guy. It hurt, hut I
didn’t give up. I started opening up about my lite,
•
Help
END HOMELESSNESS
in Portland.
Become a Sustaining Member of
Sisters of The Road!
Join 100’s of people who donate a small
amount each month to help sustain the vital
•work of Sisters Of The Road
Sisters is a non profit Café serving low cost
($1.25), hot, nutritious meals, job training and
community to people who are experiencing
homelessness in Portland, Oregon
SISTERS WAS FOUNDED IN 1979
Please foxi us lor Operation Combread by becoming a
Sustaining Member today'
Cal! Catharine Hunter at 503-222 5694 > 12 or e-nvtó
Cathar me^xistarsoftheroad org
For more information go to www sistarwftheroadorg or mit
us at 133 MA Sixth Avenue Portland Oregon 9J209
my family, my
relationships and
my experiences
as a gay man. He
really
started
seeing me as
more than just a
homosexual but
as a real person.
And that’s the
way to change
Michael Wayne Keck (with his English bulldog, Lola) was paired with a
anybody’s bigot­
homophobic spoiled brat on the WB s Survival of the Richest.
ed mindset—if
you can let the haters get to know you and see your
ever forge forward for acceptance and equal rights?
authentic self, it truly can change people’s minds
1 mean, Ang Lee can only do so much for us; we
and the preconceived notions they have.
need to step it up ourselves, too.
As it played out, Nick got voted oft the show,
I guess I'm just some “unemployed reception­
and with the rules of the show, 1 had to go, too.
ist” trying to save the world, one homo hater at a
time.
©
Was it fair? Not really. But 1 made some great
friends, got paid a little money and got to be on TV,
and I’m even getting recognized at the grocery store
S urvival of the R ichest airs 8 p.m. Fridays on
now, which you know I’m loving.
KWBI’-TV. Keck will be back for the May 5 finale.
One of the biggest things I got out of it was a
renewed sense of confidence in myself and passion
M ichael W ayne K eck is a former Portlander living
for my community. 1 was becoming an apathetic
in Los Angeles. Although he doesn't love his reality
gay man, which can he dangerous. If we are all lazy
title of “poor kid," he understands there are worse
and indifferent toward our detractors, how will we
things to be known as, like “big fat obnoxious fiance.'