S39.E11: A Very Simple Plan

[Grrarrggh]

33 minutes ago, Nashville said:

Got any evidence to back up that assertion?

So far as evidence to the contrary, two words: Brandon Hantz.

Matt Tarrant said that contestants were evaluated prior to casting and had help available during and after filming. Plus I know that televisions shows that put this much stress on their principals aren't that reckless or stupid. It would cost too much money, time and bad publicity. 

[Nashville]

1 hour ago, Grrarrggh said:

Matt Tarrant said that contestants were evaluated prior to casting and had help available during and after filming. Plus I know that televisions shows that put this much stress on their principals aren't that reckless or stupid. It would cost too much money, time and bad publicity. 

Maybe I’m simply the overcritical type, but I’d be curious what exactly the term “evaluated” means in the world of TPTB - and not automatically assume it means the same thing as you or I might think.  

I’d be pretty certain contestants do have to pass a fairly rigorous physical evaluation, sure, to protect themselves from liability in the case of something like a contestant with a diagnosed heart condition keeling over in the middle of a comp.  On the flip side of that coin, though, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if their psychiatric evaluation - if any - doesn’t go much further than to assure TPTB they’ve done a legally justifiable minimum to ensure they’re not plopping a Hannibal Lector Jr. down in the middle of a moveable feast.

Within those parameters, though, psycho = drama.

[ProfCrash]

I would argue that there have been plenty of people whose participation has been questionable. Brandon's first appearance was disturbing enough, never mind his second. He targeted a tribe mate because she was too much of a temptation to him and that was bad.

And Brandon was only there because he was related to Russell who I thought should not have been cast or allowed to continue playing. Russell should have been pulled the second he started destroying peoples property.

But I would argue that your Philip characters are clearly imbalanced and are not interesting to watch. I am not a fan of the narcissists, like Philip and Coach and the female versions of the crazy who I can picture but I don't remember her name. But as much as they drive me crazy, they are not a danger to anyone.

Noura is not a problem for me. She is clearly all about Noura and not playing the same game as other people but she has not been attacking people and her rants have been eye roll inducing but she is not dangerous. I do think that what she said to Karishma was cruel "I am you but people like me" was completely out of line. Not Will "you have no soul" but in the same vain.

But she is no where near Brandon or Philip or Coach level of delusions. She sees herself in a very specific light, expects everyone to work as hard as she does, and has no filter. I don't think that is a screening fail. I think that is who she is and it is far easier to control those tendencies when you are well rested, well fed, and not under the stress that the contestants are when playing Survivor.

Edited December 9, 2019 by ProfCrash

[amazingracefan]

Most people who go on Survivor or Big Brother are narcissists or egotistical.  The gameplay element involves promoting your own game anyway.  Though reality tv in general is also likely to cater for those who want fame and have a high opinion of themselves.  Anybody who watches shows like that and hopes to see a cast of self-effacing angels is likely to be very disappointed. 

Edited December 9, 2019 by amazingracefan

[singsong]

Very telling that it's now taking me until Sunday to watch an episode with this group.  I honestly can't stand most of them.  I really couldn't understand them not taking Noura to the reward - the lack of food is really eating her brain, and she is the reason most of them stuffed their face last episode.  It's shocking bad form, even if you hate Noura.  It's despicable if she's in your "alliance".  I thought I was rooting for Janet to win - but not so much now.

I'm sure Dan figured that Noura would manage to screw up the plan, since she couldn't understand it, and thought he'd buy some goodwill with the other group by spilling the beans.  But honestly - that was a nearly unwatchable mess of a tribal.  

[RedbirdNelly]

20 minutes ago, singsong said:

I'm sure Dan figured that Noura would manage to screw up the plan, since she couldn't understand it, and thought he'd buy some goodwill with the other group by spilling the beans.  But honestly - that was a nearly unwatchable mess of a tribal.  

I think you mean Dean. I thought the same--and wonder if editing cut out footage that made his move at trial more sensible. Maybe not--I don't mean to give Dean any more credit than he deserves--but I could imagine Noura saying stuff that further eroded any hope the plan was going to fly so that his move seemed more reasonable.

[simplyme]

Here's a link to a Variety article that talks about mental health screening and care in the reality tv world:

https://variety.com/2019/tv/features/reality-tv-challenge-big-brother-contestants-therapy-1203239481/

It includes a bit that says:

Quote

Clinical psychologist Steven Stein has developed a series of scientifically validated assessments used to pre-screen during casting on dozens of North American reality series over the years, including “Survivor,” “The Apprentice,” “Big Brother Canada” and “Scare Tactics.”

“We usually tailor the tests to the show in terms of what they’re looking for. Some shows like ‘Big Brother’ rely a lot on social and interpersonal skills. Other shows sometimes require stamina and managing stress, and so we focus on those areas,” he says, noting the system is now mostly automated to keep up with the speed of production.

But, he adds, “The first and most important thing we always do is a mental-health screening because we want to make sure that it’s safe. That the person is not going to be self-injurious or aggressive. That there are no real addiction problems. No sort of borderline personalities.”

(Added emphasis was mine.) From what we've been shown, Noura would not be ruled out by the above. 

IMO, yes, there is screening, but keep in mind that the final decisions lie with humans trying to sell a product that requires drama to be successful in many cases. That may affect judgment. see: Brandon Hantz

I feel like I've wandered offtopic a bit. Sorry about that. I'll hush up on the topic once I say that the best recent article (but long) I've read on the subject of mental health care in reality tv focuses mostly on Love Island but does an excellent job of talking about all sorts of stressors and factors involved. It was in The Ringer:

https://www.theringer.com/tv/2019/7/8/20682978/love-island-reality-tv-mental-health

[HurricaneVal]

6 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

and the female versions of the crazy who I can picture but I don't remember her name.

Debbie?  Of the many colorful and storied careers?

Edited December 9, 2019 by HurricaneVal
words be better

[ProfCrash]

13 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

Debbie?  Of the many colorful and storied careers?

Yup Debbie, she had great balance as an Olympic caliber, but never went to the Olympics, gymnast and couldn't walk across a balance beam. Worked for the Air Force as an Intelligence Officer.

[HurricaneVal]

Don't forget model!

[Special K]

Or the Water Quality Expert who was indicted for falsifying records.  I think that one was real.

[Grrarrggh]

16 hours ago, Nashville said:

Maybe I’m simply the overcritical type, but I’d be curious what exactly the term “evaluated” means in the world of TPTB - and not automatically assume it means the same thing as you or I might think.  

He was asked specifically about mental and emotional problems when he said they were evaluated and helped. Not physical. 

And I'm still waiting for your medical diagnosis of Noura. 

Edited December 9, 2019 by Grrarrggh

[Brookside]

On 12/4/2019 at 8:18 PM, mojoween said:

At first it was sweet that Elaine said her that she was worried her girlfriends kids wouldn’t accept her relationship with their mom but they do, but then did she say one of them is her best friend?  Because that’s creepy.  How old could that kid be?  Parents or pseudo-parents should not be best friends with kids.

Also I don’t buy for one second she doesn’t know what extrapolate means.  It’s insulting.

Insulting in the same way that knowing that "girlfriends" needs an apostrophe?

[Nashville]

7 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

He was asked specifically about mental and emotional problems when he said they were evaluated and helped. Not physical. 

Good to know.

7 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

And I'm still waiting for your medical diagnosis of Noura. 

Better get fucking comfortable, then, because I ain’t no doctor.

[JudyObscure]

My mother would have called Noura "flighty."  

[Bryce Lynch]

On 12/9/2019 at 2:06 AM, Nashville said:

Maybe I’m simply the overcritical type, but I’d be curious what exactly the term “evaluated” means in the world of TPTB - and not automatically assume it means the same thing as you or I might think.  

I’d be pretty certain contestants do have to pass a fairly rigorous physical evaluation, sure, to protect themselves from liability in the case of something like a contestant with a diagnosed heart condition keeling over in the middle of a comp.  On the flip side of that coin, though, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if their psychiatric evaluation - if any - doesn’t go much further than to assure TPTB they’ve done a legally justifiable minimum to ensure they’re not plopping a Hannibal Lector Jr. down in the middle of a moveable feast.

Within those parameters, though, psycho = drama.

I would think it was be more of a psychological evaluation than an psychiatric examination. Either way, such evaluations are not even close to perfectly reliable.   A lot of people know how to fake their way through them.   

Plus, I don't think they are looking for people with no psychological issues at all.  I imagine it is more like they are doing their best to ensure they don't cast someone who is going to start chopping off people's heads with the machete, unless it is Karishma.  If she chopped her head off, nobody would even notice.  😃

That said, I have little doubt they actively try to cast at least one person  each season who is kind of nuts, like Noura, Debbie Waner, Phile Sheppard, Shirin, Shambo, J'Tia, Naonka, Brandon Hantz, Sugar, Shane, Ben Wade, Reem,  Wendy, Colton, Vince, etc.  

[Bryce Lynch]

17 hours ago, Special K said:

Or the Water Quality Expert who was indicted for falsifying records.  I think that one was real.

The best thing about that was when she told the tribe they didn't need to boil their water.  

[Kenzie]

7 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

My mother would have called Noura "flighty."  

My grandmother would have said, "she's as jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers."

[Special K]

5 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

Phile

LMAO.  That never gets old.😂

[peachmangosteen]

8 hours ago, Bryce Lynch said:

Plus, I don't think they are looking for people with no psychological issues at all.  I imagine it is more like they are doing their best to ensure they don't cast someone who is going to start chopping off people's heads with the machete ...

Bingo.

[Bryce Lynch]

On 12/10/2019 at 7:00 AM, JudyObscure said:

My mother would have called Noura "flighty."  

Noura seems to have no filter between her brain filled with strange ideas and her mouth, or her body.  She can't keep a secret, or keep from dancing to prevent giving away a secret.   

She also can't keep from offending people, like Karishma with her "I'm like Karishma, but likable and a hard worker" speech or boring them by rambling on.  

She honestly doesn't seem very bright.  She doesn't even appear to be able to understand simple math, such as a vote among 8 people.  

Her calling practice debacle demonstrated a severe deficiency in being able to understand people and to be understood.  At one point, she was telling people to come towards her voice, but Dan told her that wouldn't work, because they wouldn't always be coming towards her.  So, she got behind Dan instead, totally misunderstanding the obvious point he was making.

I think Boston Rob summed it up well.  "She can't coherently communicate anything, to anyone."  Except I would add that she can't process coherent communication from others.  

She reminds me of the Cocoa Puffs Bird.  

Edited December 11, 2019 by Bryce Lynch

[amazingracefan]

The time lapse thing was meant to make fun of Noura, but it's highly unlikely she went on for hours like want to think.  More likely she went on for thirty minutes at most.  Big Brother uses music to add humour to the silliness of some of the contestants, maybe that works better than those kind of edits (also used a couple of times on The Amazing Race).

I'm sure Janet did get seen by some of the medical staff, but the edit didn't show it, I suppose you could say that's a good edit.  Her and Elaine seem to be getting the best edit which explains why some want to support them here. 

[Rachel RSL]

I'm going to have to disagree that people here only support Janet & Elaine because they're getting a good edit.  That implies that the others are getting a bad edit, as opposed to their actual behaviour being shown.  People here are very savvy when it comes to reality tv and fully understand the editing tricks.  

Edited December 11, 2019 by Rachel RSL

[Nashville]

Okay, here’s MY unofficial Internet Armchair Expert non-diagnosis of Noura: she’s a pathological scatterbrain, with severe complications resulting from a BAD case of word vomit.

Translation: I don’t think Noura is sick - just foolish to a fault.

Edited December 11, 2019 by Nashville
Translation

[jumper sage]

@Nashville - You are killing me..........🤣