Well its not necessarily positivity that points to a winner in the edit, but an ultimate winner definitely won't have to much negativity.
It's more about the way the ultimate winner is portrayed as a smart player, likable player, strong player, and shown to be right and just in all of their social and strategic decisions. A winner will often get credit for a big move even if they didn't actually have a lot to do with it. They tend to always let the winner explain their decisions in confessionals and often they are featured in "previously on, Survivor" segments to remind us who they are.
If a big move is made by an alliance comprised of players A, B, and C, and players A and B both get confessionals and airtime to explain their move while contestant C is just shown being there, you can pretty safely assume that player C isn't the winner, or are being shielded from negativity if the move ends up not working out.
For example, this season, the first couple episodes have shown the popular millennial group to be unaware and alienating themselves. In the edit, we are constantly reminded that Taylor and Figgy are not playing the game, while their counterpart Michelle was often absent in those scenes and in the end of the episode ends up saving Figgy, the person whose neck was on the line. If Figgy were going to be the eventual winner then they wouldn't show her as unaware and needing to be saved by other people. This edit is Good for Michelle and bad for Figgy and Taylor. They also showed Michelle playing very aggressively, even whispering to people at tribal to ensure she would get her way. This doesn't necessarily mean she is going to win, but it does keep her in the running. The producers want us to see the winner as someone who deserves it, and if Michelle does end up winning, we can look back to this episode and say "wow she was playing hard, right from the beginning!
Some players are portrayed as overtly positive too, and that shows that they are probably being edited as a fan favorite and not the winner. The winner is usually someone who is constantly shown as playing the game, but not necessarily someone who is always on the screen. Think Michele and Aubry.
Sorry if that was long winded. After watching 32 seasons of this show, its hard not to pick up on the editing tricks and patterns. I wish I could watch it less impartially, because its more fun that way, but I've already thought too much about stuff like this to not think about it while watching.
Nobody likes a blonde in a hamsterball...
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larosat
8 years ago
Not long winded at all and thanks for the answer. It explains a few things that I'd still rather not really focus on so that again, unlike many here I'd rather be in suspense as to who will win. And as I suspected it still leaves many contestants with the chance to win and not a sure thing as many keep alluding to.
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sandifay62
8 years ago
I'm like you. Part of the fun of the show is to see what happens next and let it unfold.
That's why I think the editing has nothing to do with the win but is all about what the producers think are interesting characters. they're showing you people with a backstory, funny or shocking things to say, popular and unpopular people, and oddballs just to keep people talking about the show.
If the editing predicted the winners or losers, so many people here wouldn't be so highly upset when someone they rooted for is kicked off or when someone they didn't think was going to win wins.
People these days need their virtual cheat sheets, I guess.
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