BB 15 day 13 , Wednesday

Without a doubt this season of BB has brought together the largest group of lunatics (however you wish to define that word) under one roof in the history of the show. And more crazy is the fact that production has been caught off guard not having a clue as to what these people actually were under the veneer, nor should they necessarily have suspected given past results at casting similar personalities. Yes, in the past they have deliberately cast volatile personalities for various reasons, ratings/ fan interest/controversies/etc.  Willie Hantz just last season being the prime example of that.  But this season there was no clue of the underlying nastiness that some of these HGs display.

I'm not sure that the fans are going to be distracted by it as much as John fears, depending what happens in the future of course and if/when production steps in to cool things down.  Apparently they have already in the case of the Jeremy/hat/derriere incident. That involved a physical object belonging to another HG which is always grounds for intervention. But now with these cases of racial/ethnic/sexual slurs they are treading on unfamiliar ground.

Wednesday, July 03, 2013
'Big Brother 15' HG Aaryn Gries Dropped from Modeling Agency for Racist Comments
John Kubicek

Senior Writer, BuddyTV

The hits just keep coming for Big Brother 15 as the racist comments made by some houseguests are snowballing. I've written about the comments made by Aaryn and others (most notably Jeremy, Kaitlin, GinaMarie and Spencer) as well as my thoughts on a petition to have Aaryn expelled from the house (which I also find somewhat arbitrary since she's NOT the only offender).

Now Aaryn is getting the Paula Deen treatment as the modeling agency she works for has dropped her over her racist comments.

Aaryn was represented as a model by Zephyr Talent in Austin, Texas prior to entering the Big Brother 15 house, and on the live feeds she's talked about how she hopes the show can launch her career. That's going to be hard since Zephyr has released a statement that they are dropping her as a client due to the racist comments she's made in the house about blacks, Asians and gays.

The part that makes it almost funny is that, since she's locked inside the house and cut off from the outside world, she has no idea that she's been let go. Whenever she gets evicted, it's going to be a very rude awakening.

While I certainly agree that the comments she and many others have made are offensive, I'm just as annoyed by the fact that all of this is distracting fans from the game itself. I truly love Big Brother and want to focus on the strategy and game (because there's a lot of good stuff going on), but the racist comments have seemed to hijack the conversation. I'll be curious to see if it affects the weekly MVP vote, where America gets to give the power to name a third nominate to whoever they think is playing the best game.

Given the dignified and respectful way that Helen and Howard have been playing since day 1, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them gets the next MVP vote. I'm giving all of mine to Helen because she exhibits the best understanding of moral game strategy and has demonstrated in various conversations with other HGs that she understands the interpersonal dynamics of getting a diverse group to work together, which she has done in the real world.  Howard on the other hand tries to play fair and respectfully but doesn't exhibit any knowledge of BB strategy and isn't that great at physical challenges, so far, in spite of his imposing appearance. A combo that has been demonstrated in the past to not be a path to longevity in the house.

It's going to be hard to believe that people will actually vote for the best strategist if all anyone cares about is who's being a racist and who's being mean.

It seems to me that the negative qualities of some HGs would be more likely, not less,  to swing the votes to the best strategists who are not the negative people, as it turns out.

Aside from racism, there's also been a lot of mean-spirited insults about other people in the house unrelated to race or sexual orientation. Elissa, Rachel Reilly's sister, is the primary target of most of the hate, with Jeremy, Kaitlin, Aaryn and others repeatedly making comments about how ugly she is and how they hope her husband is having an affair.

Again, while I find the comments tasteless, I fear fans will miss the complexities or shades of gray involved. I'm on record as not liking Elissa. I find it unfair that she gets a massive advantage in the MVP vote because her sister is Rachel Reilly and, quite frankly, if you watch the live feeds, she's definitely trying to push buttons and bait people into playing emotionally. It's the same strategy Rachel had, being confrontational, getting people angry and then playing the victim, acting like she has no idea why everyone is being so mean to her.

Why is it unfair or a massive advantage that she got the fan votes right at first ?  She was the only "recognizable" person in the house at the time. No one knew anything about the qualities of the others....how deserving of the vote they would be, etc.  Sure, Rachel was a very polarizing character every minute she was in her seasons, but even those that  disliked her probably voted for Elissa just to "stir things up". And as it turned out, imo, she is worthy of being MVP and is not very much like Rachel. Thinking that she will always get the MVP vote just because she is Rachel's sister is just crazy. And now that the fans see that she is one of the better strategic players most will hope that she continues on, on her own merits. "Pushing buttons" and "baiting people to play emotionally" is one of the standard game strategies. All the best players have done it in past seasons.

So while I don't think it's nice to say cruel things about her, it doesn't mean I now love her or defend her or want her to stick around, and I'm worried that's exactly how some people will react. Elissa doesn't become a saint just because people are mean to her, especially since everyone in the house (including the large group of seven who are actively working to keep her safe in week 1) also have no respect for her as a player and talk about how much they want her to go. They are only using her as a tool because they assume she'll keep winning MVP because of her sister and they want to be able to control that third nomination.

Sorry John, I don't think that group of seven seriously think she's going to get MVP every week. I suspect that they have a lot more respect for her as a player than they let on. It comes down to her and David as to who gets booted tonight....and the opinions are divided, but David seems to present the bigger danger in physical challenges and up until the epic Aaryn/David showmance breakup there was also the anticipated "schadenfreude" at seeing Aaryn's face as her beloved marched off to his doom.

Things continued to get messy on Tuesday as Jeremy even took Elissa's hat and wiped his butt with it. The producers called him into the diary room where apparently he was chastised. They took the hat to be cleaned and he has since apologized to Elissa. Some HGs thinks he should be expelled for this, but since they didn't expel Shannon in season 2 for sticking Hardy's toothbrush in the toilet, I hardly think it's necessary.

I'm sure Aaryn being dropped from her agency and Jeremy wiping Elissa's hat on his butt won't be the last distractions of Big Brother 15, but I wish they would be. It's a game, a social experiment, and whether you like it or not, this is part of society. People say these kinds of things and do these kinds of things. If you don't like it, maybe you shouldn't be watching a 24/7 live feed of 16 people trapped in a house together for the summer.

But on the other hand is it necessary for us to watch "these kinds of things" in a non-fictional setting, knowing that the perpetrators actually believe them ?  

Aaryn Gries Loses Modeling Contract Over ‘Big Brother 15′ Comments

Posted: 03 Jul 2013 06:22 AM PDT

Aaryn Gries - Big Brother 15 HG

Aaryn Gries came on Big Brother 15 with the hopes of finding a path to stardom but her recent actions in the house have put her on the reverse course in the fast lane.

The 22 year-old college student out of San Marcos, Texas grabbed national headlines when she, along with several other HGs, made a string of racially insensitive and homophobic comments against her fellow competitors over the course of several days on the CBS reality series’ Live Feeds show uncensored live events between episodes.

Houseguests’ comments have included Aaryn saying Helen Kim should “shut up and go make her some rice” and for other HGs to “be careful what you say in the dark, you might not see the bitch” regarding Candice Stewart. GinaMarie Zimmerman has described welfare as “n****r insurance” and suggested hitting Helen in the head to make her eyes straight. David Girton, Aaryn’s on/off in-house boyfriend, told Aaryn his bed sheets smelled because of “black Candice.”

Meanwhile, HGs have called Andy Herren several homophobic slurs to his face, claiming the comments to be jokes. Amanda Zuckerman called Andy “F*ggoty Ann” with Spencer Clawson referring him to as “Kermit the F*g. Aaryn also referred to Andy as “queer” and feared America would vote to support him as they “love the queers.”

Zephyr Talent, a modeling agency based out of Austin, Texas, announced late last night that Aaryn was being released from her contract with the agency in a step to distance themselves from her vile behavior. They released this statement via Facebook:

Aaryn, season 15 cast member of Big Brother, revealed prejudices and other beliefs that we (Zephyr Talent) do not condone. We certainly find the statements made by Aaryn on the live Internet feed to be offensive.

Any views or opinions expressed in personal commentary by Aaryn, either on any live feed from the House or during the broadcast, are hers alone and do not represent the views or opinions of Zephyr Talent. Upon much consideration, we have decided to release Aaryn from her contract with Zephyr Talent.

Gries appears unaware of the depth or consequences of her actions as she expressed concern on Monday of letting down her fellow Texans by allowing unflattering images of her to be captured from the Live Feed views. She made no mention at that time of worry over her disparaging and hurtful remarks.

CBS has said they found Aaryn’s comments “offensive” but we believe it is unlikely they will take action against the cast member based on similar past season events.

You can watch all of these events from the uncensored Big Brother video feeds using CBS’ Archives “flashback” feature on the Live Feeds. Get a free trial of the video service to see what other fans are watching and reporting.