Wednesday, September 20, 2000

Big Brother, Oh Brother

By: Kurt von Behrmann

Several weeks, or rather months, into the big brother experience and now we have Edie, Kurtis, George, Josh and the only female left, Jamie. Through the weeks we have seen “house guests” banished one by one for this reason or that, or no reason at all. The premise behind this show is that we are being given a sneak peak into the lives of people voluntarily living in a media fishbowl with the hopes of being the lucky winner of $ 500,000.

As an incentive to leave the house early, CBS, or Big Brother, offered $ 50,000.00 clear and free to any houseguest wishing to leave the show. After a very brief discussion everyone declined. The offer was swiftly revoked. To those on the outside $ 50,000.00 cash to exit seems better than a chance on $ 500,000.00 that may or may not be in the cards. According to the shows resident psychologist, there was a unique interchanging taking place that prevented the house guests from taking the offer. I think something else other than group dynamics is at work here.

While everyone in the house denies it, the clear objective is to win, and that means staying. I do not think it is a group dynamic at work here. Pure and simple, it is greed. Why would anyone not take a sure bet as opposed to taking a chance that is clearly a chance and losing? I do not think this show is about group bonding as it is about media attention, money and televised fame.

While no one has discussed it, the house members are people who otherwise would never be seen by millions of viewers. The desire to be seen, to be perceived, as a celebrity and the possibility of greater financial gain are the motivations here.

At interesting episode took place several days ago that illustrates this point. George, the married house guest whose wife along with a friends and supporters have engineered a voting campaign to vote off house members they see as competition to George, suggested that everyone in the house walk out. In one of those impassioned moments that are as intense as they are ephemeral, he put forth the idea that everyone walk out of the house. The idea being that after weeks of voting houseguests out, the necessary subterfuge, planning and strategies be put inside and the entire house make a statement that love of money and fame is not as important as human decency and respect for other people.

In a surprise move, everyone agreed in unison that they would make a statement about society and walk out as a group. Nearly as soon as this action was agreed on with hands held together and enthusiasm high, the altruistic act suggested by George evaporated once everyone thought about what this action could mean.

Jamie said it best when she said, “ how would this work? I want to continue in this business, as we all do, “ or words to that affect. In that brief moment the real objectives and aims of the houseguests became clear. Big Brother is not so much a game as it is a career resume for the entertainment industry.

Brittany, one of the internet’s most popular houseguests has already moved in with Karen, another banished house guest in Los Angeles. She has already signed with an Agent. Jordon, one of the early-banished guests has already secured a television show for herself. Within just a few weeks these housemates have gone from Big Brother to careers or potential ones in “Show Biz.” No doubt the excitement, the attention and the media glare are a powerful lure.

But is it more powerful than the lure of quick cash? That is the big question. It is clear that the longer one stays in the house the more exposure and the more attention one gets and hence the better the opportunity to succeed in the highly competitive entertainment industry. Clearly money is an objective, but to house mates, $ 50,000.00 was not nearly enough to make anyone decided to leave early. To leave early means losing precious media time that can in turn translate into a career in entertainment. The more one is seen, the greater the pay check down the road is what is going through everyone’s’ mind.

What is interesting about the whole program is that George, who suggested everyone leave and take the higher road, was nominated for Banishment by everyone in the following round of nominations. I don’t think knowledge of George’ wife’s scheme to vote out popular members of this community endeared any loyalty to him from the house.

The one person who has managed to keep head above water and has remained free of nominations is Josh. Either through personality or design, Josh has created an amiable likeable persona that does not draw strong feelings one-way or the other.

Unlike Cassandra who played the aloof houseguest, her strategy kept her out of nominations early. As time proved, her detachment proved a serious liability. The perception that came across was that of indifferent housemate who seemed like a ghost wandering through the Big Brother world. While Cassandra was clearly liked by everyone and was an essential part of the day to day operations of the house, her strategy did not permit her to have the chance to create a persona that the audience could bond with as a person who was likable.

Early on, in another big brother piece, I predicted that the house mate who wins will be the one that is the least controversial. In order to do this you have to appear to be a game player, while at the same time remaining aloof from dissention in the house. This point was not lost on Cassandra. In her case, that realization arrived a little late.

Josh, who has been the subject of a love triangle imagined by Jordan and Brittany emerged from that silly bit of female one up’s man ship as a man who is able to hold his own and not fall for games. As Brittany and Jordan basically made themselves look petty, Josh emerged as the gracious gentleman totally unaware he was creating a bit of sexual tension. Whether or not he know what was happening or not, or even caused it, is an irrelevant point. The point is that he created an impression that made you sympathetic to him. This is evident by the fact that Josh is still in the house and Brittany and Jordan are not. Again, they made a tactical mistake in presentation that cost them house time.

The same is true for the only African-American male on the show, Mega. While he was good-looking and sharp in his persona, he was confrontational and perceived as a troublemaker. The image he created was not a result of ethnicity as much as it was of disruption. He made it clear he wanted to challenge people. His confrontational approach and deliberate sabotage of the shows “challenge events” made him look both difficult, contrary and a pain in the neck. While he may or may not be the things he presented, I doubt if he really is that hard edged in real life, Mega did not understand, or realize, that in order to exist in a televised world like Big Brother you cannot afford to be seen as confrontational, superior or arrogant. Had he been more measured, Mega would have a least made it to round four.

What is interesting about Big Brother is that show’s most interesting, if not disruptive characters have been sent back to the real world. What we are left with are basically five people struggling to remain civil. Not wanting to rock the boat, the show is now free of conflict or even interest. The most interesting thing that can happen at this point is who is going to win.

CBS clearly realized that the show is losing “spark.” In an attempt to elicit a little conflict, tension and drama from this group, they have arranged challenges for the house. Instead of adding spice to the show, their little stunts added nothing to the experience. When Kurtis was the winner of a trick to the Emmys’, that excursion added little to the house. A few words were exchanged, and that was it. None of the challenges lead to anything interesting.

In attempt to put some life into the proceedings, CBS decided that if a houseguest took the money, a new house member was going to be added. Clearly calculated to add drama, they picked an outspoken young woman who made it clear she was going to stir things up and not care. Since no one accepted the leave early offer, her place in Big Brother was denied.

In shows like the Real World, when the show interjects little things from the outside to make things interesting, these contrivances usually failed. In a situation like this if the people involved are not colorful, little tricks to create tension fail. Even in the artificial world of Big Brother you cannot create drama without some essence of truth. Contrivances and games are just that unless something serious is at stake.

I do enjoy feedback or ideas you have for this section. So please email with any comments or concerns. Thank you for reading.