Bad Behavior

What's happened to the show I love? Big Brother is supposed to be a mindless summertime diversion, as fluffy and forgettable as a marshmallow. But this season has been marred by a wave of bigoted and ignorant houseguest comments.

I don't want to rehash all that's been said, such hateful things do not deserve repeating. But if you're not sure what I'm referring to, check out realityblurred.com. There you can see clips regarding Amber's antisemitism, Dustin's ignorant sense of humor, and Dick's ongoing misogyny.

Not only are their statements disturbing, I'm also troubled by the non-reactions of the listening houseguests. I recognize that confrontation is ill-advised for strategic purposes, but it's cowardly not to voice dissent against such hateful speech.

Fortunately I believe (or at least hope) that the closed-minded opinions of the houseguests are not representative of the general American public. Let's face it, as much as I appreciate these people participating in this twisted game for my enjoyment, anyone who signs up for this show must be a little screwy. I mean, not only do they make ignorant comments, but they do so while wearing a microphone and surrounded by cameras! News flash: Just because you whisper doesn't mean we can't hear you!

I suppose there's the counter-argument. Perhaps our culture is too prickly and obsessed with political correctness. But even if that's true, is that such a bad thing? Although it pains me to paraphrase Amber: I'd rather be religiously and culturally sensitive than hurtful and offensive.

The million dollar question remains: why don't the Big Brother producers air any of this on the standard CBS episodes? My hunch is that they probably don't want the viewers to loathe every single person in the house! Also, internet buzz is bad enough, but if a wider public heard about the brouhaha it could launch a media frenzy they'd just as soon avoid. After all, if we've learned anything from Mel Gibson, Issiah Washington, Michael Richards, and Don Imus, it's that America loves a scandal of this sort.

It would be wonderful if something good came out of all the ugliness. Perhaps Big Brother could call in Dr. Phil for some sensitivity training. At the very least, I hope Julie Chen questions the houseguests about their statements upon their evictions. It may seem unlikely, but she did take Erika to task for her bigoted remark about fellow houseguest Jee way back in season 4.

For now I'm going to try my best to enjoy the silly food competitions, late-night gossiping, and other aspects of Big Brother that make it so much fun to watch. Still, I feel as though someone left my marshmallow on the fire too long and now I'm left with a bad taste in my mouth.