S17.E10: Episode 10

[lezlers]

I was really rooting for Vanessa but started to give her the side eye after her hissy fit to Austin for not winning the veto.  Like someone said above, she just expected him to show his hand and do her dirty work for her by not using the veto and that wasn't cool.  You wanted to stay HOH, you can't pitch a hissy when someone hesitates for a second before deciding if they want to be your puppet.

 

Also, Jason and Johnny Mack NEED to work together.  That would make my life.  I want dual diary rooms.  Johnny Mack had me rolling during his post veto DR.  I couldn't stand him at first but now I kind of adore him.  I'm scared one of these weeks he's a pawn he's going to end up getting voted out. 

[Ceeg]

I was really rooting for Vanessa but started to give her the side eye after her hissy fit to Austin for not winning the veto.  Like someone said above, she just expected him to show his hand and do her dirty work for her by not using the veto and that wasn't cool.  You wanted to stay HOH, you can't pitch a hissy when someone hesitates for a second before deciding if they want to be your puppet.

Eh, Austin essentially threw the Veto comp because he wanted Jeff gone, so he's the one who's actually getting Vanessa to do his dirty work. She wanted her nominations to stay the same and kick out James. Instead, he threw the Veto, and is forcing her to nominate Jeff.

[lilabennet]

They each wanted the other to do their dirty work.  She wanted him to win the veto and to take the heat for not using it, thus spoiling the "get rid of Audrey" plan expected by the rest of the house.  He didn't want to stick his neck out, and he wanted her to do his dirty work by putting Jeff up.  Neither is a winner as far as using people goes.  I am still not sad that Jeff will probably be leaving this week.

[DAngelus]

To be technically precise, Aaryn lost her modeling contract [for a very minor agency] and GM lost her pageant coordinator job before CBS ever aired any of the comments; it was the groundswell of opinion against their behavior on the feeds that led to those decisions, not any "marketing campaign".

It was the marketing campaign that got people to check out what was going on.

 

No, I'm sorry, but you have the dates wrong.

 

Big Brother 13 premiered on Wednesday, June 26, 2013.  Within a week, Aaryn had been dropped by Zephyr Talent over remarks made during the first week of the live feeds.  Per the report on tvguide.com, dated Wednesday, July 3, 2013:

Gries, 22, has been seen and heard multiple times on the show's after-hours live feed making both homophobic and racist remarks

"Aaryn, season 15 cast member of Big Brother, revealed prejudices and other beliefs that we (Zephyr Talent) do not condone," the agency said in a statement to TMZ. "We certainly find the statements made by Aaryn on the live Internet feed to be offensive. Upon much consideration, we have decided to release Aaryn from her contract with Zephyr Talent."

 

(Emphases mine.)

 

Indeed, at the time, there was skepticism on message boards whether CBS would air any of the offensive comments from Aaryn and other HGs, or whether they would sweep the whole thing under the rug.   Check out the discussion in the episode thread for ep 15.04 on TelevisionWithoutPity.com (the David eviction episode), which aired on that same night (7/3/13) and even with "TWoP" having a similar "no feed spoilers in the episode threads" policy as here, there was still much talk about the contrast between what had been seen on the feeds and how CBS had not addressed it at all on the aired shows.

 

The first time a CBS episode revealed that "[Aaryn] makes racist remarks" (quoting Howard, in a Week 1 discussion segment shown in this ep) was in episode 15.05, which aired on Sunday, July 7, 2013.  (This was the episode that began with the completion of the second HoH competition [Aaryn and Jeremy winning] and ended with Aaryn nominating Helen and Elissa.)  The "Social Justice Warrior Amanda" episode, 15.07, where Amanda goes to talk with Aaryn about how people are saying that she [Aaryn] is racist and Aaryn responds by saying it's the most ridiculous thing she's ever heard, and it's just like she's the victim of prejudice against blondes and blowing a raspberry, that episode aired on Thursday, July 11, over a week after Aaryn had already been fired.

 

The "marketing campaign", with the disclaimer airing before the episodes, did not begin until episode 15.08 (the bed-flipping episode at the start of Week 3) aired on Sunday, July 14th.  (Happy Bastille Day, Aaryn!  Too bad you aren't actually in jail.)  Here is The Hollywood Reporter, er, reporting the news:

CBS took it one step further on Big Brother in the wake of the controversial racial, homophobic and misogynistic slurs said by numerous houseguests this season.

 

Before the July 14 episode began, the network displayed a disclaimer telling viewers of the summer reality staple that the houseguests' statements are that of the individual and not representative of CBS as a whole. This is the first time that CBS has aired a disclaimer on Big Brother.

 

(Again, emphasis added.)

 

So, to recap, the racist remarks made by Aaryn/Gina Marie/Spencer/David/Jeremy were already a huge controversy during Week 1 of the feeds, and resulted in Aaryn and GM getting fired before CBS aired any of the remarks (in Week 2) or added the disclaimer (in Week 3).  No "marketing campaign" needed, it was an honest groundswell of revulsion that resulted in the backlash against the bigots.  

 

(I've left Amanda out of the above group because she didn't start making racist remarks until later; the worst thing I've seen from her in Week 1 was when she and Kaitlyn were at the bathroom sink and Kait was quoting a rap song that included "n*gga" and then stopped, horrified, saying "I just said the n-word on television!" To which Amanda, still brushing her teeth, replied "So what?" )

 

So I believe that the facts contradict your theory here.  No offense.

Edited July 17, 2015 by DAngelus

[Donny Ketchum]

Big Brother 13 premiered on Wednesday, June 26, 2013.

BB13 premiered in 2011.  BB15 premiered in 2013.

[lezlers]

Eh, Austin essentially threw the Veto comp because he wanted Jeff gone, so he's the one who's actually getting Vanessa to do his dirty work. She wanted her nominations to stay the same and kick out James. Instead, he threw the Veto, and is forcing her to nominate Jeff.

I think it's actually worse to expect Austin to take the heat from the whole house for not using the veto than to just throw the comp and force Vanessa to choose a different houseguest to evict.  Vanessa could make up any reason to put anyone else up on the block (like she did with Jeff) while Austin would be forced to totally show his hand and his alliance with Vanessa if he didn't use the veto (could you imagine the hissy Vanessa would pitch if he said he wasn't going to use it per the HOH's wishes at the veto ceremony??)  She was kind of reminding me of Amanda Zuckerman with that meltdown. 

[Former Nun]

I couldn't stand him at first but now I kind of adore him.  I'm scared one of these weeks he's a pawn he's going to end up getting voted out.

 

 

I love him too, Lezlers.  Do these posters realize how hurt my feelings are that he doesn't get the recognition he DESERVES for winning the most recent Power of Veto?   Austin may have been trying to throw the competition, but there was no question in my mind JohnnyGuitar would win!

[LoneHaranguer]

 

So I believe that the facts contradict your theory here.  No offense.

It would appear that I was misled about the timeline, but I think the point remains about marketing spreading a misleading message; there's a difference between being un-PC and a bigot. When Julie confronted Aaryn, you could hear Julie's homophobia in her voice when quoting her. That was absent in the original comment; to Aaryn it was just a word to refer to someone who's gay.

[Joimiaroxeu]

That was absent in the original comment; to Aaryn it was just a word to refer to someone who's gay.

Unless you're Aaryn or know her personally, how would you know this? Just curious. Whatever with "just a word". I'm sure to many people "n*gger" is just a word to refer to someone who's Black. Or "wetback" is just a word to refer to someone who's Mexican. And so on...

 

However, I agree with the take that CBS probably deliberately to set out to make that season all about bigotry and specifically recruited houseguests who would likely make that happen. Just like I think this season is about CBS jumping on the transgender bandwagon. I'd be surprised if Audrey doesn't end up F2.

[Nashville]

However, I agree with the take that CBS probably deliberately to set out to make that season all about bigotry and specifically recruited houseguests who would likely make that happen.

I would respectfully disagree - kinda. I think TPTB were initially horrified at the developing train wreck BB15 was becoming, hence their initial reluctance to acknowledge it. That is, until some particularly soulless member of Marketing came up with the notion that hey, if the train wreck is coming and you can't stop it, you might as well sell ringside seats to the developing carnage....

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Unless you're Aaryn or know her personally, how would you know this?

Because I watched that clip enough times to be sure. That's also the comment she tried to "defend", telling Julie that's just the way people talk where she was from, a claim netizens familiar with that part of the country confirmed in a different forum.

[Joimiaroxeu]

I'm familiar with the area where Aaryn's from. I'm sure there are any number of things people like her say that are "just the way we talk." Problem is, a lot of those things are widely known to be offensive. I don't think anyone born at least after the civil rights era and/or who doesn't live in a vacuum completely cut off from the outside world can honestly claim to be clueless about certain words. AFAIC, in this day and age, "that's just the way we talk" ranks right up there with "but some of my best friends are (minority group that I've just disparaged)".

IMO, Aaryn could have gracefully admitted her mistake instead of trying to make pathetic excuses for her ignorance. I gave her a pass however for having the issue sprung on her by Julie on live TV. That situation probably would put many people on the defensive and unable to think clearly in the moment.

(This is probably becoming tangential in this thread and if it continues perhaps should be moved to another thread.)

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I don't think anyone born at least after the civil rights era and/or who doesn't live in a vacuum completely cut off from the outside world can honestly claim to be clueless about certain words.

It's "go along to get along", same as we're seeing some of the HG's doing.

[Eolivet]

I don't know who "Gronk" is

 

Thank you for saying this, because I was skeptical that Gronk had national recognition. He certainly has local recognition in Massachusetts, but is the NFL that omnipresent? I might be hard pressed to name a tight end on another team.

 

I live in hope that one week, an English teacher will do a BB Takeover with a copy of Macbeth. Instead of partying every time they hear music, the houseguests will be subjected to the same "Out, damned spot" passage every few hours. Nobody will ever say the words "blood on my hands" again.

[Kris117]

And enough with people throwing competitions. It's not cheating of course but some how it violates the spirit of the game if people aren't really trying to win things.

  

It doesn't bother me a bit. A big part of the strategy in this game is knowing when to lie in the weeds and allow others to make moves, and when to step up and do it yourself. Sometimes an army has to lose a battle or retreat to win the war.

On the other hand, it was pretty funny but not exactly dramatic to see the competition dwindle down to the final two in a manner of minutes. Half of the competition time was Julie trying to get Austin to go back and reset.

Yes, Austins tats are gross. Put a damn shirt on. I'm trying to eat.

The tattoo circling his right nipple makes it look as if he has a fledgling breast instead of a pectoral muscle there. Probably not what he was going for.