Archive through August 29, 2002
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TV ClubHouse: Archive: Is BB3 a reflection of society?: Archive through August 29, 2002

Onlyhuman

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 01:02 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I'm a little sad right now, because I look at the things that have happened on this installment of Big Brother and I wonder if society has really reached these depths.

True, this is just a TV show, with little to do with reality. And I really want to believe that these people are NOT how people in the real world behave.

Yet here on the board we have well over a hundred posts bashing the HGs for bashing Gerry. Of course, we are only "telling the truth" and they are "evil" and "vile". Besides, they knew what they were getting into when they went on the show, right?

We demand compassion from the HGs but often demonstrate little here. Even towards each other we can be mean to those who refuse to admit that our opinions are correct. I'm not saying we are "bad" but are we as "good" as we like to believe?

Is anyone else bothered by the lack of real relationships on this show? These people have spent a great deal of time with each other and I can see only the occasional glimmer of true caring. The only interest they seem to have in getting to know each other is to be able to find the juiciest spot into which to plunge the knife they are so busy sharpening.

I know it's a game with a great deal at stake, but does that mean there can be no humanity? Can anyone name any positive interactions that have occurred in this house?

I'm not trying to place blame or trying to bash the HGs for their actions. I'm just trying to make sense of it all. I know I did not feel this way in the first two BBs. Why does this one feel so different, both in the house and on this board?

Am I alone in feeling this way?

Sanfranjoshfan

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 02:33 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I don't know if BB is a reflection of society as a whole as much as it is a reflection of politics. Add in all the deals and backstabbing and sexual innuendo and lying and throwing morals around as both a weapon and a shield....and you have a microcosm of Congress and the Senate.

Most *people* in our society are fed up with the lying and dishonesty in Washington.

BB3 = Politics, not Society in general

Romans8_1

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 05:22 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I think it this a pretty good reflection of society, just turned up higher. They happen to be in a pressure cooker which brings out more of what is already in them. You can't sqeeze a lemon and get apple juice. These are the same bitter/hatefull people that live among us. Given the right circumstances they will turn into the people on the show. At the moment we have the privelege of walking away and leaving certain situations. When cornered, we do mean/cruel things. If you want to know what someone is like, put them under pressure and see what comes out. Sorry, but none of these people can blame any of the things they are doing on the show. The show is just showing what kind of people they really are.

Bigd

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 05:33 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I think it is mostly a reflection of what happens when your world becomes so small. What we see is all they have. The less they are exposed to the smaller their world becomes. Don't forget that "juvenile" idea that if I can't see you then you can't see me".

Now throw into that mix the competition for money.

I think it bares a resemblance to society, but only reflects a portion of it.

What555456

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 05:48 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I agree BigD.

This is more a reflection of how things can go when one's world is very small. BB always reminds me more of small town (very small isolated town) interactions. Everyone knows what everyone else is doing, everyone has an opinion about everyone else -- and it can be a real love/hate relationship. And, as you said, throw in the competition angle -- and especially having to remove someone each week, and it makes things really wierd.

Onlyhuman, if you do not see your world being as this is, then no, it is not like this in the real world. The world you live in is probably more representative of how most peole are than this house. I know my world is nothing like this house -- which is not to say I do not know people who function like the HG's do. But they are not the norm for those I interact with personally or professionally.

Squaredsc

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 06:04 am EditMoveDeleteIP
good question onlyhuman. i believe that television is a reflection of society, not the other way around. just look at the school shootings, where the kids who are perceived as different are picked on by the bullies and then they snap. we have gerry who in a sense is picked on, and i think someone else mentioned in another posts, its the "mob mentality". or peer pressure.

also the sex issue. we are moving away from the conservative society and having more, talking more about sex.

also remember that the producers are looking for hg's with particular personalities and throwing them together to win money. as some say, money is the root of all evil. so as bigd says throwing money into the mix and i makes it into a whole new ballgame.

i also agree with what, what said.

Romans8_1

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 06:23 am EditMoveDeleteIP
throwing money into the mix ... isn't that like our workplace and we fight for particular promotions. I don't think throwing money into this situation has changed it from being a reflection of society.

Mollywood

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 06:29 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I think its more like a prison society..the food the space the alliances . the constant working out...the mixed up loves like m loves r.

Mollywood

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 06:31 am EditMoveDeleteIP
jthe love of money is the root of all evil..dont blame my friend money..i would love to see a lot more of my friend.!

Buzzelda

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 07:02 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Great topic, Onlyhuman. I agree, Mollywood. As I read the thread, I was trying to think of people in my world who might reflect the values (or lack of values) of the HGs and it dawned on me that while I know and have known people like these, I have not befriended them nor invited them into my world.

It seems that there is a group dynamic at work here and because there are no choices available to the HGs about who they hang out with the group becomes the norm and the will to survive takes over and because humans are so adaptable they begin to conform to the group. Like Mollywood writes, it is like prison or a hostage group.

Just my musings at the moment.

Mollywood

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 07:43 am EditMoveDeleteIP
In some ways, the house seems like an old plantation ..Amy is the plantation owner..her best friend is M. the house servant..dani and lisa are the slaves that are constantly telling each other they have to hang on and survive and one day will be the owners.Roddy is the first born son and brother of amy..a flirt with no boundaries ..jason the good brother, never as good or popular as Roddy, hell become the Peter Lawford of the family..start drinking and who'll wind up sleeping with everyone in the house, male or female.....and G is the guy who will accidentally kill the puppies...or not.

Whoami

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 07:46 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I would say it reflects society pretty well (at least in the workforce). BB2 did the same thing with Chill Town. The young, 20-something fold who fancy themselves as "the pretty people, figure the world is theirs, and the old, ugly people need to get out of the way.

I've seen it happen first-hand to someone close to me. These people took someone who'd had 18 years of stellar performance reveiws, and started basing her. They often outright lied about her, or took fragments of incidents and twisted it into a whole new "infraction." They'd change rules behind her back, then nail her for not following the rules. Once, they were going to just GIVE her job to one of thier cronies, and the DIRECTOR of the company said, "yeah, maybe then she'll get mad and retire."

I remember a story on one of those "Dateline" type shows, where K-mart was rather blatenly firing, or harrasing to the point of quitting, anyone over 40. Although I could never prove it, I know for a fact it happend to me during my last lay-off. When I looked at the group of people who were laid off, it was people who were older, and not very pretty. The ones who were kept were in their 20's, and of the "cute and perky" variety.

That's what frustrates me so much with some of these punks on BB2 and BB3. They are so smug in their superiority complexes. And, just like in society, unfortunatly sometimes they win.

Squaredsc

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 07:47 am EditMoveDeleteIP
sorry molly, but imho that was a bad analogy. and i will leave it at that.

Draco

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 07:49 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Someone I know also made the comparison to Gilligan's Island! Throw a bunch of very different people together in a strange circumstances and you'll wind up with an interesting experience. It's fascinating to watch them interact and adapt to the circumstances and, while aspects of the situation reflects the real world, I think mostly it is a contrived situation which the money and winning exaggerates everything.

Mollywood

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 07:52 am EditMoveDeleteIP
im sorry square. i was trying to be funny..my real appraisal of this house was made earlier. likened it to prison..maybe youll like that better..

Gidget

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 10:24 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Mollywood... your political correctness may be a little off today but it was humorous. You may have a future in comedy writing but don't give up your day job yet....ps, I'm just funnin' with ya'

Mrdisguise

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 10:26 am EditMoveDeleteIP
yes- Big Brother is a reflection of society.

people conform or copy people around them. so if one person in the group is gossippy or nasty, everyone will start to follow. group mentality.

The kind people are the minority.
gerry seems to be a kind person. and jason. they are the minority of the house. roddy seems kind to me. but his kindness could be perceived as manipulation.

Gidget

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 10:27 am EditMoveDeleteIP
oh my goodness... I just looked at your profile and it says writer...sitting here with egg dripping down my face LOL

Spunky

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 10:43 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Onlyhuman, you should have asked:

If society lived in that kind of environment...

then I would have said "yes", we would all be like that. Remember that kind of environment is shutting down the many sides humans have, among them compassion, humor, honesty, etc. etc...
That environment makes people paranoid, there is an acute, almost painful, awareness of being "talked about", of being observed, of being judged and they may only think of protecting themselves by constantly prodding, manipulating, lying, etc. etc...

Of course society lives in a more natural environment and reacts in a more natural way than these hamsters seem to.

So, "we're okay...".. they're not..

Cafe976

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 10:51 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I think the segment of society that is most reflected is public school. A group of people thrown together as a peer group regardless of interests and personality. The dynamic that happens when some become the popular and some the unpopular or in it's extreme form the ostracized one... It's there.

The shocking thing is that these adults are neither informed nor mature enough to recognize the psychology of what's going on and NOT get involved - except Jason and Roddy. I think of Danielle who has kids in school - they certainly will not learn not to bully from her.

Most people like to think of themselves that they mature beyond that kind of social "catagorization" behavior after leaving high school or in some cases college. However, it takes a rare kind of honesty to see within yourself that you are falling into the trap of this behavior and a rare kind of courage to STOP and place yourself on the outside by not engaging or condoning.

The irony is that THIS is what Gerry realized about himself week one and vowed not to do (the schoolteacher (of course) SAW and called it) - yet the more shallow of the HG's have not figured it out. And the really shallow ones immediately condemned him for it!

Romans8_1

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 10:52 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Spunky, you're right the environment is different, but the people are not. It shows how the people around us (even those we call friends and us included) will react given certain cirumstances. "But Ohh, I would never act that way" some say. Sure they would. Pressure shows you what kind of a person we are.

So, our envirnment makes us tolerable, but we are not "OK" by nature.

Onlyhuman

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 10:52 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Spunky, I would agree with you except that this board also seems to have lost its compassion, humor, etc. etc.

We are not in that environment, so what is our excuse?

There is of course the argument that these people don't "deserve" these things from us, but then how are we any better than them? Do we only show our "good" sides to those we feel have earned it?

Romans8_1

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 10:53 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Well said Cafe. I agree totally on the Gerry analysis.

Ark

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 10:58 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I don't think that BB is a reflection of society at all. In the real world, we might get ticked at someone that takes our parking space but then we find another one, go in the store and try to remember all of the things that we need, get done in time to run and pick the kids up from school, take them to the dentist, run home and fix dinner, take the kids to basketball practice, come home and help with homework, get everyone ready for bed, clean up the house, sit down to watch TV for a couple of hours to relax. We have lots of distractions that keep our mind off of the person that stole our parking space, the people in the BB house have nothing else to do but focus and fester about the scumbag that stole their parking space. Without the distractions, something very small can easily be blown out of proportion.

Onlyhuman

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - 10:59 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Cafe976, I like your point about this being similar to being in school. But I also don't know that it is a maturity thing. I've worked in several work environments where things similar to this have happened. The gossiping, the choosing one individual to be a scapegoat...I've seen it in real life too.

What disappoints me is that I'm struggling to see positive human interaction. Even last year I was able to see some, like the loyalty Mike showed to Will when he turned down Kent's deal or when Will created the cave for Nicole when she was breaking down.

I do like your analogy, though :)