I can't help myself but to talk about one of the things I almost absolutely love in this world... Reality TV.
But it pains me, it really, really does, to sit here and watch the Hamsters act so stupid. Of course, I'm talking about Big Brother 8.
Reality TV, despite having many critics and many people who will absolutely refuse to watch them despite giving the shows any sort of chance (I know, I used to be one of them), is actually very entertaining and very complex. At times, the shows that air can be skewed or edited to give someone a bad cut. However, watching this season of Big Brother and past seasons, my eyes have opened very wide to what is known as Reality Television. These people are actual real people, with actual histories, and are making decisive moves in the context of a game. Being a professional, I can't help but loving to analyze that certain person, and put myself in their situation.
In case you didn't know, Big Brother is the most reality you're going to get. There are competitions, there are eliminations, but the main concept is to throw a bunch of strangers into one house and see what they do. Wow. Simple, right? Wrong. This leads to both complex situations and complex strategy. Just because someone is saying something, it doesn't mean they feel that way.
We, as viewers, get the inside information on how that person is playing the game. However, Big Brother offers a live 24/7 feed. You get to watch the lives of other people almost constantly, and get inside their heads. You can analyze their personalities, make predictions, and essentially play the game with them. They, in turn, become a part of you, and allow you to unleash emotions towards a character.
This is, like all other things in life, a mathematical system. Due to variables in your own life, you can feel a relation to variables in another persons life. You fit into a category, whether you like it or not. You are made up of variables which include many numbers in a set pattern. This leads up to, basically, who you are. Due to other variables, you're able to relate very closely to other people. When you are able to see other people's lives 24 hours a day, it really gets you thinking.
"That person is just like me."
This season, they threw in a few twists. The first twist was America's Player, where America is able to tell this player what to do. I'm not going to go into it because it's stupid and the player they chose is a complete idiot. The second twist was that three houseguests had to live with someone from their past. One person had to live with an ex-boyfriend, who was evicted on Week 2. Another had to live with a rival from high school, who was evicted on the first week. Now comes the third relationship...
'Evel' Dick and Danielle have a very rocky past. Dick runs a bar and is deemed a 'name dropper' by the houseguests. Later on, we learned that Dick in fact knew all of the people he was talking about. One person actually said "People drop HIS name". He is an older guy, in his 40's. He has tattoos, and is the most outspoken person I have ever encountered or watched on television. When he gets mad, he gets really mad. He yells at people, plays pranks on people, drops curse-words all the time, smokes a lot... but he never lies. He tells it exactly how it is. And yet, he's the absolute best player I have ever seen play a game. Strategy-wise, he has it down pat. He almost figured out the twist of "America's player." Right after he makes a mistake, he knows it.
This throws absolutely everyone off in the house. They question their lives, their personalities, and the way they're playing the game. If they learned to be variables in a mathematical world, everything would be great, and Dick wouldn't have the advantage. Dick knows this. They all fear him, they really do. And they should, because he is a very strong player.
That brings us to Danielle. She never wanted anything to do with Dick before they were forced to be in the house together. Dick was a finalist on the previous seasons of Big Brother before he finally made it. Danielle is Dick's daughter, if you haven't caught on by now. She tries to act like the connection isn't there. She blows up at him, is rude, and calls him a lot of names. She is selfish and arrogant.
Little does she know, the badass Evel Dick is in the diary room crying, because he knows first and foremost that despite trying for years to get on the show, all he wants to do is form a relationship with his daughter. Fast forward many weeks, Danielle and Dick are in control of the house. Danielle has won Head of Household, and has to nominate two people for eviction. She went with the cop-out nominees, to take the heat off of her so her alliance (made up of liars and idiots) didn't turn on her. Eric (America's Player), previous to the week Danielle won HoH, had voted to keep Nick (whom Danielle felt a strong connection with in the house). She wanted to at least vote to keep Nick, but because of her alliance they pushed her to vote for the other nominee. The vote was 7-2.
Eric (AP), who received orders from America to vote out the other nominee, tried to hide this. By elimination, Dick helped Danielle figure out that it was Eric who voted to keep Nick. Danielle put Eric up for elimination after one of the nominees won the Power of Veto and took herself off the elimination block, and cited his lies and deceit. She campaigned heavily to vote Eric off, but her alliance turned on her despite everything. I won't go into details, because I'm sure you're drifting off.
Now D&D have been nominated for elimination this week. The father and daughter team have reunited finally though. Dick and Danielle have been spending a lot of time together this week and have been getting along very well. Danielle, having to live with her father, only found it tough because she tried to ignore the variables she shared with her father, which were overwhelming if you watch the show.
Dick won power of Veto. Here's hoping they find a way to both stay in the game. However, Dick has made it known to his daughter that he intends to take her off of the block instead of him, and cause as much trouble in the house to force everyone to vote him out and keep Danielle in the game with a decent amount of people backing him. Danielle has wanted her father gone from Day 1, but now she doesn't want to be in the game without him.
Dick, despite absolutely wanting to be on the show for a long time... is willing to sacrifice a genious mind for gameplay for his daughter, in the hopes that she will win it all for herself and change her life. I am taken aback by this, and it forces feelings to the forefront of my mind that all of us can relate to, either via our own parents or the child you're raising.
My own father would do anything for me, despite his outbursts of emotions and cruel sense of telling me what to do and making me feel like crap. It doesn't take a television show to make me realize that. It makes me think, though, I do have overwhelming variables that make me who I am. I am my father's son.
All that being said, In Truth... most of our lives are mathematically determined. When people say they're trying to "change themselves" - not to take inspiration away from those of you who are - they're talking about a long struggle to change their pre-determined sense of being, emotion, and personality, for some kind of personal gain or benefit.
Variables relate in two different ways. Some variables attract like variables. Some variables attract unlike variables. All in all, the next time you're thinking of something in a game context, know that all the variables are there to be read.
Emotion, you know, is just another mathematical variable. You are the formula. Whether you get it right or not, well, isn't that the struggle and journey of life?
Give Reality TV a chance. It's actually really cool.
Ted Evans
PS: WoW-related article tomorrow or before I leave for Gen Con. :)
