Hi everyone!
So who's watching Big Brother this season? I know, I know...I should be writing about the Zimmerman verdict (based on the law as explained to the six jurors and the definition of"reasonable doubt", justice was served whether you agree with the verdict or not) or the continual turmoil in Egypt or any number of other more socially significant topics. But the fact of the matter is it's summer and close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit and after working all day reading and editing manuscripts about law and socially significant things, I need a mental vacation, which is exactly what Big Brother provides.
For those of you who followed this blog last summer, you know that I am an unabashed Big Brother fan. For three months each summer, it takes over my life -- well, at least my television viewing, encompassing not only the 3 prime-time airings each week but also the "Big Brother After Dark" live broadcasts 7 nights a week, this year airing on TVGN. For me, Big Brother distills the best and worst and -- certainly this season -- the very worst of human behavior. It's a grand social experiment of the old "Real World" model -- sixteen strangers picked to live in a house -- with ridiculous and humiliating challenges thrown in, endless scheming and strategizing, evictions both deserved and undeserved, and endless pure entertainment.
Still only in its third week, this season is proving no exception. However, the train wreck factor is tinged with something a little darker, more disturbing, and probably more emblematic of true society than we've seen before. For a percentage of the house-guests this season, racism and bigotry seem to be the order of the day. So much so that the New York Times and other national publications have featured articles about the show and two house-guests in particular, the blonde fem bot Aaryn (this season's most hated and talked about contestant) and Jersey girl GinaMarie. They don't know it yet, because the guests are completely isolated from the outside world for the duration of their time in the house, both Aaryn and GinaMarie have been fired from their real world jobs based on their behavior on the show. Unfortunately, Aaryn and GinaMarie aren't the only guilty parties.
I'm not going to go into what all has been said, but for a show that is typically billed as mindless summer entertainment, there's a genuine rawness to the emotions and conflict on display here. The house's two African American house-guests -- Howard and Candace -- are the most overt victims of Aaryn's racist idiocy. Sunday's primetime broadcast only touched on the tip of the iceberg. In last Thursday's live After Hours broadcast -- from which most of Sunday's show was based -- viewers saw Aaryn spew one racist comment after another at Candace, who was finally reduced to tears after Aaryn pulled the mattress of Candace's bed, flipped it over, and strew Candace's clothes all over the bedroom, while Aaryn's "acolytes" Caitlin and Jeremy looked on, all the while referring to Candace as "Shaniqua" and mocking her in a stereotypical "ghetto" voice. Candace found consolation in Howard who is battling his own race-based demons. Howard's instinct is to lash out, but he fears what might happen if he were to verbally attack a white woman (Arryn) even out of self-defense. On the live feed, we saw Howard on his knees praying for the strength of restraint. It was powerful TV.
The most telling moment came when house-guest Amanda tried to tell Aaryn that her racist behavior was not only hurting people in the house but was inevitably going to negatively affect Aaryn's life outside the house with "all of America watching". Rather than take Amanda's words into consideration, Aaryn merely rolled her eyes and told Amanda she was annoyed to even be talking about it and that frankly she didn't care.
Candace and Howard haven't been the only victims. Asian American political consultant and this week's Head of Household, Helen, was the butt of Aaryn's "Shut up and go make rice" quip. Andy, who seems quite sensitive, sensible and well-meaning, was referred to as being the house's "token queer" by one of the male house-guests. It's rife, it's shocking, and it seems to be the most prominent plot line this summer, making past seasons relatively benign by comparison.
Is it exploitation? Is CBS focusing on this for ratings? Since these instances were publicized in the national media last week, the show has apparently experienced a big ratings boost. Sure, there may be a bit of this in play. However, more than any other show on network television in recent memory, season 15 of Big Brother is putting the spotlight on the very real social issues this country still continues to face and is doing so in a courageous and commendably uncensored way.
This isn't just a game anymore.
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