Author Topic: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH  (Read 9727 times)

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Offline puddin

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S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« on: August 27, 2009, 10:51:13 AM »
Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
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 Marisa
Biography
Marisa Calihan (26)
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
Occupation: Student

Marisa Calihan is no stranger to surviving off the land. This 1st generation Appalachian was born on a farm in Ohio and learned many of her survival skills from her father. Growing up with eight siblings, in a blended family with many adopted children, Marisa learned from an early age how to take care of herself. “I am paying my own way through school and have been on my own since I was 17.”

Aside from her early roots in farming, Marisa also has experience working in third world conditions. While abroad, she worked with street children in poor countries with no plumbing or running water and it changed her life.  Although after eight years of being a free spirit and living abroad in such places as El Salvador and Spain, Marisa returned home to go back to school and help take care of her family.

For Marisa, the money would go a long way in making her family’s lives better and helping her achieve a few long term goals. “There are so many things I can do if I just had a nest egg to start with. I won’t have to fight tooth and nail for everything, if I just had a little bit of money.”

Resourceful and creative, Marisa believes she has what it takes to persevere and become the sole SURVIVOR.

Marisa is single and currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her birth date is July 26th.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2009, 11:18:28 AM by puddin »

Offline puddin

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Re: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2009, 03:43:35 PM »
from CBS



Offline Jobby

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Re: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« Reply #2 on: August 28, 2009, 05:45:20 AM »
She seems to be a really nice person, but i'm afriad she can't last past the jury. :groan:

Offline Ruth

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Re: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« Reply #3 on: August 31, 2009, 09:49:53 AM »
One of the very, very few that I really like after reading the biographies. =)
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Re: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« Reply #4 on: September 06, 2009, 10:24:02 AM »
I like her a lot, but she screams Carolina.
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Offline puddin

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Re: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2009, 01:06:02 AM »
Exclusive: Marisa Calihan talks about her 'Survivor: Samoa' ouster

   
By Christopher Rocchio, 09/18/2009

Marisa Calihan's ouster is proof that first impressions can often be wrong.

The 26-year-old student from Cincinnati, OH, became the first castaway eliminated from Survivor: Samoa during last night's broadcast of the CBS reality series.

On Friday, Marisa talked to Reality TV World about why Russell Hantz lives up to his "biggest villain ever" billing; how his antics took the spotlight off fellow "misogynist" Ben Browning; why nobody on Foa Foa suspected Russell of emptying canteens and burning socks; and why she hopes he gets eliminated from the game before some real damage is done.

Reality TV World: Russell is being billed as Survivor's "biggest villain ever." Based on what you saw during the first three days, do agree with that?

Marisa: He's definitely the biggest villain I've ever known.  Anybody who doesn't need the money but just goes onto a show to play with people's weaknesses and torment them, and then to claim that he's a victim of one of our nation's greatest tragedies -- just to do that to mess with people's minds, I think that's top villain qualities personally.

Reality TV World: After your elimination, you stated that you initially trusted Russell -- which seemed kind of surprising since you were the one who also commented at the beginning of the episode that he looked like someone you didn't want to mess with.  Why did you decide to trust Russell at first?

Marisa: I really didn't have much to base it on except for our canoe trip.  You canoe onto the island and the only interaction that you have is in that canoe.  So it's like, "Okay, choose a chief." Well, I'm going to choose the person that I think did the best job in the only scenario that we've had, which was Russell.  He also chose me [to be the tribal leader]. 

He also worked really hard in the [Reward Challenge].  So initially, I was like, "Yeah, maybe he does like me in particular because he chose me to be chief." So that was my initial trust Russell situation.  But as soon as that first day went on, I was already starting to have light shed onto his ways.

Reality TV World: How did your alliance with him form?

Marisa:  He ran up to me and was like, "I want to make an alliance with you right off the bat."  He said that honesty's the most important thing to him in this game and that we just have to stay honest with each other and we're going to have a secret alliance that no one's going to know and that if I stay with him I'll last the whole game.  Same spiel he gave everyone basically.

Reality TV World: So you guys would have been an alliance of two, right?  He didn't mention any of the other castaways names when he was talking to you?

Marisa: No.

Reality TV World: Did you have alliance discussions with anyone else besides Russell while you were out there?

Marisa: Yes.  I was in an actual alliance with [Mick Trimming] and I was in an actual alliance with [Betsy Bolan].

Reality TV World: Okay, how did that come about?  Did you guys have conversations about Russell?

Marisa: There were some conversations between us about Russell, yeah.  Many of them.  Mick I think was still on the fence about Russell.  But Betsy was onto him.  Betsy was like me.  She saw through him and she didn't trust him.

Reality TV World: Was it difficult to hear him say you were part of Russell's "dumb-ass girls" alliance during last night's episode?

Marisa: I had heard it on the commercials.  But he said the "dumb blonde, an even dumber long-haired blonde and the brunette girl as part of my dumb-ass girls alliance."  That initially... I might have been like, "You asshole.  I'm not dumb."  But I think I was vindicated because it's pretty clear I'm not stupid.

Reality TV World: You already talked about how you quickly started to distrust Russell.  Did his Hurricane Katrina lie on Night 1 play into that at all?

Marisa: I wasn't about to start putting myself on national television and saying, "He's lying! He was not in Hurricane Katrina and I don't feel bad for him!" I've never been in a natural disaster and I would never say something like that. 

The thing that really got me was that I do have dogs, and when he said that he lost his dog, he was going around telling everybody this horrible story about how his dog drowned.  If that happened to my dog, I wouldn't be going around telling people about that.  That would be something that would kill me to talk about.  He was just waving it around like a flag.  I thought, "This guy is full of it."

Reality TV World: So you found it suspicious.

Marisa: Very suspicious.

Reality TV World: Last night's episode failed to explain what the tribe thought happened to Jaison Robinson's socks and the water in the canteens on the morning of Day 2.  You guys must have suspected that somebody dumped the water out, right?  What did you think happened to the socks?

Marisa: The thing with the canteens is that at that time... Okay, one pot of boiled water only filled five canteens. You had to boil two pots of water [to fill all 10 castaway canteens].  You had to boil a pot of water over an open fire in this big cast-iron pot, it takes a very long time.  We were really -- as a tribe -- wanting to stay hydrated and ready for the challenge the next day.  So we were sort of sharing canteens. 

When we woke-up in the morning, we just assumed that everyone had drank their fill of water and because it was night nobody replenished the source.  I mean this is just the first three days.  I'm sure if he continued to do that, people would catch onto it.  But we were all totally unfamiliar with our surroundings.

As far as Jaison's socks, I didn't even know that Jaison's socks were missing.  He didn't mention that to any of us.  But I do know my socks were missing and I couldn't find them.  Nobody knew where they were.  It's kind of like when somebody's complaining about not being able to find something, you just think they're annoying because they misplaced it themselves.

Reality TV World:  Based on last night's show, it was pretty obvious that Ben really disliked you by the time Tribal Council happened. Why do you think you two clashed so badly?  Did it begin with that Day 2 argument over the water boiling?

Marisa: No.  It happened before that.  You really don't see a lot of Ben in this episode because they really wanted to introduce Russell but Ben is horrible.  He's bossy.  He bosses everyone around.  He is a total misogynist.  I think he's afraid of women because he treats women horribly.  I'm just not the kind of woman who's going to let some pipsqueak boss me around. Period. I don't think that he deals with that very well.  I don't think he deals with strong women at all.

Reality TV World:  Were you surprised by the way Russell reacted when you told him you were starting to get "weary" of his actions?  His explanation for talking to everybody seemed pretty lame.

Marisa: You know, I actually was expecting Russell to try to smooth things over with me.  That's what I was expecting.  Because I was thinking if I'm coming to him and -- keep in mind now, he's the one telling me that honesty's the most important thing to him -- so I was kind of using his line to figure out what exactly was going on with this guy.

So I tried the honesty approach, and -- to tell you the truth -- by that point a lot of things went on behind the scenes with Russell that I can't discuss.  I didn't even want to see Russell, I didn't want to look at him.  He approached me and wanted to say, "We're still tight right? We're still okay."  I'm just kind of like, "No.  I'm really weary of all the things you're doing on this island.  Why do you need to go talk to everybody quietly? If we're in an alliance, why do you need to?"  Then he tried to tell me, "Oh, we're just talking about the good times we're having on the island."  I just wasn't buying it and that freaked him out.

I really didn't realize how much I scared him until last night's episode.

Reality TV World: In hindsight, do you regret the way that conversation went? You obviously would have played that differently now since it preceded your elimination, right?

Marisa: You say obviously because you kind of think that I would.

Reality TV World: Yeah.

Marisa:  But I don't think so.  Honestly, I would rather leave in this first episode and have been the only person who called him out than to leave in three more episodes and had to have catered to him.

Reality TV World: That leads well into my next question. During Tribal Council, you seemed to stop just short of basically calling out Russell and telling everyone about your secret alliance with him.  Do you wish you would have done that to kind of show that he was making deals with lots of people?

Marisa: I tried to allude to those sort of things without outright saying them. I was in an alliance with someone else, and at this point I wasn't completely sure about whether I was going off the show or not.  So I didn't want to set myself up to have a target on my back the next Tribal Council if I didn't get [voted] off.  So I was trying to be careful about what I said. 

That was a really long Tribal Council condensed down into almost nothing.  So there's a lot of stuff there again that you didn't see, and I did defend myself.

Reality TV World: Just to back up a second, that alliance you mentioned is the one with Betsy and Mick, right?

Marisa: Yes.

Reality TV World: Your face seemed to get more and more expressive as host Jeff Probst revealed each Tribal Council vote. What was going through your mind when that was happening, were you surprised you were the target?

Marisa: I was wondering... It was kind of like, okay, I knew Russell was going to vote for me.  I knew that Ben was going to vote for me.  And I knew that [Ashley Trainer] was probably going to vote for me.  I knew those things. 

But it was kind of painful to hear the other people right down my name and to have that called because there were some people that I felt genuinely would not have written down my name until that Tribal Council happened.  Russell and Ben caused such a commotion around me that it swayed them into doing that.  It hurt me because I knew that they knew better.

Reality TV World: I know you were only out there for three days, but did you pick up on any other alliances that anyone else was seemed to be forming while you were out there?

Marisa: I knew that Ashley was connected in some way with Ben and Russell. I knew that.  That was part of the reason why Ashley was a target [for Betsy, Mick and myself], because we were trying to weaken that alliance.

Reality TV World:  Do you think Mick was still considered your tribe's leader by Day 3...

Marisa: He disappointed me in his leadership role.  He did.  But I understand he didn't know what to do with that and he didn't ask for it.  He didn't want a target on his back.

Reality TV World: Who do you think assumed the tribe's leadership role if Mick wasn't fulfilling it?

Marisa: As far as around camp, it was less of a leadership role and more of a dictator role because Ben was telling everybody what to do and how to do it at all times. I took to calling him "The Machete Man" because anytime anybody needed the machete to work on building a shelter or whatever, we'd be like "Where's the machete?  Oh, Ben's got it and he's off in the woods somewhere with the machete."

I'll be interested to see how his character plays out because he really was not a good guy.

Reality TV World: I just want to be clear on this.  You think your elimination was a combination of Russell and Ben together working against you?

Marisa: I think that it was mostly Russell.  I think he used my conflict with Ben to his own advantage.

Reality TV World: How long do you think it will take before your former tribemates start to realize that Russell is untrustworthy?

Marisa: God, I hope it's not too long because that guy is diabolical.  He's actually kind of scary.  I would hate to see what happens the further he gets in this game to see what he'd do to somebody.  I think he would stop at nothing.

Reality TV World: What was your strategy heading into the competition?

Marisa: My first couple days there I really wanted to work my hardest, pull my weight around camp, try not to ruffle too many feathers and really assess the people that I was on my tribe with so that I would know how... You know, it's hard to say what you're going to dodge when evil jumps out at you. 

I didn't have an umbrella strategy that I was going to use.  That may have been to my detriment because I'm out first.

Reality TV World: I know you were only there for a few days, but who would you like to see win the $1 million?

Marisa: I would love to see Betsy win.  I would love to see her win because she has a very difficult life and she's a strong woman and I think she's intuitive and she's just a class act.  I'd really like to see her win.

Reality TV World: How were you cast for Survivor: Samoa?   Was it your first time applying for the show?

Marisa: It was my first time applying.  I met a casting producer about four years ago in a FedEx Kinko's in L.A. -- it was four or five years ago, I can't remember exactly.  But about six months ago she emailed me and asked me if I would still be interested and I said, "Absolutely!"  I went through the application process and the rest is history.

http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/exclusive-marisa-calihan-talks-about-her-survivor-samoa-ouster-9570.php

Offline puddin

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Re: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2009, 01:08:07 AM »
Survivor: Samoa’s Marisa Calihan Stands Up to Russell
September 18, 2009

Marisa Calihan, a 27-year-old Spanish major from Cincinnati, was the first (and surely not the last) target of muscular manipulator Russell on Survivor: Samoa. She spoke with PEOPLE about why standing up to bullies is more important than winning. — Carrie Bell

How does it feel to be part of Survivor’s illustrious first castoff club?

I would rather be the first one off with dignity than the fifth or sixth one off taking Russell’s crap the whole time.

When did you realize it was going to be you going home?

Before I arrived at Tribal Council, I didn’t expect it at all. But most of a very long council centered on Ben and Russell bullying me and making things up. I started to have a pretty good feeling that they would stop at nothing to get me off.

Where did you go wrong?

What I would have had to do to save myself is be a completely different person than I am. I wasn’t willing to do that. I stand up to bullies. That’s who I am.

What did you think learning that Russell lied about Katrina, sabotaged the camp and boasted about his “dumb-ass girls” alliance?

What a horrible thing to do. To pose as a fireman, which is such a noble profession, and to take one of our nation’s greatest tragedies and exploit it for your own amusement is disgusting and unforgivable. And he doesn’t even need the money! Those lies are worse than burning socks or emptying canteens. There is something wrong with people who admire him as a super-villain and think there’s nothing wrong with his strategy, too. He told me he has two daughters and if that is true, my heart breaks for them. What kind of example is he setting?

Telling whoppers as a strategy, like Johnny Fairplay did, isn’t new, though.

To an extent, you go in believing people. If you tell me you have two kids or a dog named Susie, I won’t assume you’re lying. But when someone tells an elaborate story about the most painful experience of their life to a group of strangers on the first night, you go, ‘Hold on buddy,’ because that’s not what people do. I was proud I listened to my intuition and saw through him although it doesn’t get you far in the game. But there are things worth a lot more than money. I watched that episode with my little sister and my nieces and nephews. For them to see me as a strong role model means more to me than $10 million.

Who do you hope takes home the million dollars?

Betsy all the way. She’s a class act and true fan of the game. She has not had an easy road. She has fought for everything she has. She’s a female cop making her way in a man’s world. She is an amazing woman.

What are you up to now that you are home?

Lots of wonderful things have been happening even though I was voted off first. I have a fan base that I was not expecting. Actual Katrina victims have been messaging me on my Facebook fan page to tell me how upset they were that Russell exploited their pain in that way and how proud they were that I stood up to him. Connecting with them has blown my mind. I’m back in school, am trying to get into Vanderbilt next year and have my eye on the prize. I have no interest in moving to L.A. or pursuing modeling or any of that usual reality contestant stuff.

http://tvwatch.people.com/2009/09/18/survivor-samoas-marisa-calihan-stands-up-to-russell/

Offline puddin

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Re: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2009, 01:10:50 AM »
Another one ...


Exclusive Interview with 'Survivor: Samoa' Castoff Marisa Calihan

Last night on the premiere of Survivor: Samoa, Marisa Calihan, the college student from Cincinnati, Ohio competed with a rare combination of fiery passion and icy poise. But she made a critical mistake when she questioned why her supposed ally, Russell Hantz, was running around talking privately with each member of the tribe.   

Marisa had become my preseason favorite based on her eclectic bio and interviews and I was galled to see Ben, who had called her an offensive name earlier in the show, gain some sense of satisfaction from voting her off. I was fortunate enough to talk with Marisa earlier today, and she told me whether she saw a strategy to Ben's cruelty, why no one heard Russell emptying the canteens, whether she thought Natalie or Ashley had more going for them and where she got her signature hair piece.   

Hi Marisa! The important stuff first. You've described yourself several times as a proud first generation Appalachian. What do you love most about the local culture? 

What I love the most about Appalachian culture is its deep roots in music and storytelling. Bluegrass is so moving and comes directly from the Settlers in the Appalachian mountains.


I know it led to your downfall, but I was impressed byhow composed you were in contradicting Russell. Where did you learn to cross-examine a giant man twice your age like that?

Well, I'm 27 and he's 36... not quite "twice my age," but I'll take it as a compliment. We are all equals. I treat everyone I meet with the same amount of respect. Conversely, I will question you should you deserve it. No matter who you are. It's pretty hard to play the "tough guy card with me."


Is one of the two blondes, either Ashley or Natalie, a savvier game player than the other? How are they different? 

I feel that Natalie has more life experience than Ashley. I think that Ashley has a great head on her shoulders, but is a little more naive. I could be wrong though because... they BOTH outlasted me!


I was disturbed by Ben's behavior towards you.  How do you think your other tribemates reacted to his vicious tone? And in hindsight, do you think he was a strategic bully or emotionally out of control?   

I believe that Ben has the emotional maturity of a 4 year old. I don't think his bullying is in anyway strategic, I think it is involuntary. I believe he is a misogynist and completely out of control. I am disappointed that there were less of his antics displayed in this first episode. I found his tone and overall demeanor to be way out of line. I know that it bothered others, but for anyone to "step up" would be to have the negative spotlight now shining on them. I understand why no one said anything, but it doesn't make it right. He and Russell together just make my skin crawl.


Russell appeared to have emptied the canteens just feet from your shelter. Didn't anyone hear the splashing sounds and put two and two together when they found the canteens empty? 

As far as the "splashing sounds" they drowned out pretty easily by the Ocean directly beside him. When we found the empty canteens, we assumed all the water was consumed by our tribe. 1 large pot of water only filled five canteens, so during the boil/fill cycle we were sharing water. No one was fully aware of how much water was in any of the canteens at any given time.
 

How did you feel when you received a vote for tribal chief? 

Honored and nervous.
 

You mentioned in an interview that you design and sell hair accessories. The one you wore on the show was beautiful. Was it one of your designs? 

As a matter of fact, It was! I made it just before I started the show!


http://www.buddytv.com/articles/survivor/exclusive-interview-with-survi-31323.aspx

Offline ImANewUser

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Re: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« Reply #8 on: September 19, 2009, 01:21:57 AM »
I loved Marisa. :( And I am afraid that the men & women are all blending into each other again. :P
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Offline Acoustic

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Re: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« Reply #9 on: September 19, 2009, 07:26:35 AM »
they didn't even show a mick betsy marrissa alliance... so that's why their votes were the same.

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« Last Edit: September 19, 2009, 09:09:29 AM by Acoustic »


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Re: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« Reply #10 on: September 19, 2009, 08:56:06 AM »
Misogynist and annoying does not equal racist. That is a VERY strong term, and I don't think we have enough evidence to label anyone on the cast as such.

I liked Marissa from the moment I watched her video, and am so sorry we don't get to see more of her on the island. I would have loved to have seen more of her alliance, and much more of Betsy and Marissa's developing suspicion of mean Russell. But she seems a strong admirable woman, and I wish her great luck in her future.
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Offline ImANewUser

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Re: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« Reply #11 on: September 19, 2009, 09:33:02 AM »
Misogynist and annoying does not equal racist. That is a VERY strong term, and I don't think we have enough evidence to label anyone on the cast as such.

Checked Sucks and saw an article related to this. Could be spoiler-ish so I'm not posting the link or going to discuss this further.
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Offline puddin

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Re: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« Reply #12 on: September 19, 2009, 11:17:43 AM »
If its in the media its not spoilerish Raymond  :tup:

Offline bearsfolife

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Re: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« Reply #13 on: September 19, 2009, 08:50:08 PM »
With all due respect, she screwed up when she told Russell that she was hesistant about trusting him.

She shoulda kept that to herself or at least kept it from Russell. Clearly, a naive move on her part and I'm sure when she thought it over after the fact, she realized it was a bad move.

Offline Jobby

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Re: S19: Marisa Calihan, a student from Cincinnati, OH
« Reply #14 on: October 13, 2009, 10:26:25 AM »
She seems to be a really nice person, but i'm afriad she can't last past the jury. :groan:

She was one of my pre season favourites, but she really didn't last past the jury. :'(