Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Chivalry Post Mortem

Sheesh! I was going to try to get a blog up about me, letting you into my personal life a little bit. But alas, the BB House never rests. And the houseguests never let their antics subside.

So, Russell attacks Jeff and Jordan again. Same old story. Different day. But Russell got particularly nasty with Jordan. Calling her “Fatty,” etc. Jordan reached her breaking point and attacked him right back. Obviously, this is exactly what Russell wanted. But do I blame Jordan? Nope.

Jordan has admitted to Jeff that she was overweight as a child. As a former “fat” kid myself, I will tell you that the torment that other children can put you through when you aren’t perfect can truly damage you on a psychological level. It can truly skew your body image for the rest of your life. This much is evident in how Jordan focuses on her weight so much. And now she’s been told by two people in the house that she is fat. She’s on national television and being told she’s fat. I can not imagine what that is doing to her mind. Lydia also called her a “ho.” And now Russell was basically insinuating that when he was talking about her and Jeff going to the HOH together. To this day, fat comments make my blood boil. But I’m not in school anymore. I don’t have to worry about getting expelled or sent to the principles office. I can go off on people. Jordan is not a child anymore, and she can do something about the people that attack her. That’s why I don’t fault her for getting in Russell’s face. She showed him just how big of a man he really is. He’s such a big man, I’m surprised we even see him on the astro turf in the backyard. That’s how big he is. I just wish someone would come around a squash him like the little bug he is.

But then, what I really really really do not understand, is that people are talking about Jeff and Jordan as if they were the bad guys in this situation. What? “Jordan shouldn’t have got in his face and egged him on.” “Jeff shouldn’t have responded to Russell.” Even as far as "Why is Jordan so upset?" Probably worse is that people were saying that Russell should continue this "cookie dough" strategy. What ... the ... @#$@? Um seriously folks? Jeff and Jordan should have just laid down on the ground and let Russell walk all over them? Russell has proven to be relentless in his personal attacks on people. We saw what happens when you don’t engage him. Anyone remember Ronnie? Ronnie didn’t engage him. And Ronnie locked himself up in the HOH for 48+ hours. With people like Russell, you can’t back down and let him attack you. At least in that house you can’t. I said it earlier today, it’s all about the Fight or Flight Response. You can not flee in that house. You are stuck. So I’ll ask you. Would you fight?

And STILL Russell and other people bring up Jeff’s threats to go after people’s families. O … M … G I guess this is part of where my frustration lies. Here I go comparing Jeff and myself again. Wait for it … Jeff has a sarcastic sense of humor. Syn928 has a sarcastic sense of humor. Jeff and Syn are often misinterpreted. People don’t always know how to deal with that kind of humor. And it tends to get the sarcastic one in trouble. People! Jeff was J-O-K-I-N-G about going after people’s families. Please get over that. Let’s not beat it into the ground. I’ll repeat from the last blog, if CBS and BB thought for a second that it was a serious threat, Jeff would no longer be in the house. The legalities behind that would be too much for them to take on.

And too (lol, that’s a BBism), Jeff and Jordan fans get accused of making Jeff a saint. Well, if you mean being able to control yourself from thrusting your fist literally through someone’s head makes you a saint, then by all means, tell me who I should write to get Jeff sainted. Would that go to the Vatican? Do I agree with everything that Jeff and Jordan have done or said in this game? No. And you would have to be ridiculous to think that. Especially with their remarks about Michele. I think they have let other people’s views of Michele get into their minds so they see things with that in the back of their mind. Michele does act weird at times. Her constantly saying “I don’t remember” casts a huge shadow of doubt on her. Her passive nature could also be her downfall. While I think it’s an insane mentality to have, Michele not leaving with everyone else when Russell enters an area will also cast doubt on her. She does continue to talk to Russell despite his continued attacks on her. So I can see the others not understanding that. And I don’t think anyone is denying that she’s socially awkward in some situations. That still doesn’t give them a right to call her crazy. But am I going to turn my back on Jeff and Jordan. Um, again, that’d be a “No.”

Please don’t get me wrong. For people who do suffer from mental illness or whatever the politically correct term for that is. I know that calling someone “crazy” would be just like my reaction to someone calling someone else “fat.” I just have personal experience with the “Fatty” comment so emotionally, that hit me much harder. I’m not excusing anyone’s comments here. I’m just trying to shed some light on my personal observations and why I think some people react the way that they do.

Okay, moving on along. I don’t think this was particular Jeff/Jordan hate, but people were wondering why Jeff wasn’t comforting Jordan when she was crying. I’ll try to explain this the best way I know how. For me, being a shoulder to cry on is something that I’ve had to do frequently. For some reason, my female friends feel comfortable enough with me to discuss their man troubles. Which I don’t mind in the slightest, I’m glad that they have someone to vent to. I’ve also had to see my sister’s go through man troubles over their own while I was growing up. As the “baby” brother, there wasn’t a lot I could do about it. But I took those opportunities to learn that the way some men treat women, is in fact, no way to treat a woman at all. It is how I was raised. And that is something that I will never EVER apologize for. (Which I’ll get to in a bit.) I once had very strong feelings for a woman, who just happened to be engaged. I never acted on these feelings. After they were married though, she and I remained friends. He did something extremely stupid, and of’course, I was the one she cried to. The rage I felt for this man was intense. He truly did not see exactly what he had in her. And had he been there at the time, I honestly don’t know that I could have controlled myself. I think perhaps this is what was going through Jeff’s mind today when Russell was attacking Jordan. He knew that if he didn’t stay firmly planted on that mini-fridge outside that he would have been going home … or to jail. I think that Jeff truly has feelings for Jordan, and I have to hand it to him, being able to control himself during that situation took a whole lot. I was ready to call up the Army and have them air-drop me into that backyard. I had like an “Ally McBeal” moment where I could picture myself flinging that elliptical machine at him. Seriously. But Jeff was 100% right. He had 500,000 reasons not to attack Russell. So kudos to him. I think if he had gone to comfort Jordan at that moment, it would have only made him more angry.

Okay, what got to me the most today? That would’ve been a comment about how someone said saying “Russell shouldn’t be talking to a woman like that” was sexist. Are you freakin’ kidding me? I understand about women’s rights and everything, but seriously. It’s not worse that Russell was speaking that way to Jordan, rather than to a man? That logic doesn’t make sense to me.
chivalry and chivalrous are used to describe courteous behavior, especially that
of men towards women.

So does that make me a horrible person? That I think it’s wrong that a man shouldn’t talk to a woman that way? People who throw out loaded comments like that drive me insane. Along with the ones who comment and say “I don’t see how anyone can defend Jeff and Jordan.” Let’s put cameras on you 24 hours a day and see how you come off to the viewing public. There was one person to walk the Earth that was perfect. That’s it. I’m sorry y’all, it’s just stuff like this that really gets to me. I’m a bad person because I can defend Jeff and Jordan? When a little over a week ago virtually everyone was singing Jeff and Jordan’s praises. What? What kinda of Twilight Zone have I walked into?

Monday, August 24, 2009

It's All About The Pedestals

Hello everyone!

Welcome to the first blog on Synful Ramblings!

Please bear with me, because I've never actually written a blog before. Please note, that this blog will be all about my opinions. That's the beauty of blogs.

So, what prompted me to start a blog? None other than my Guiltiest Summer Pleasure, Big Brother (heretofore known as BB, hehe). I've been watching BB since Season 7 - All Stars. I blame my sister. She got me addicted. I've gotten a few more people addicted since then. It's a vicious cycle. And there's no better place to get all the up-to-the-minute details about BB than Carolyn's BBDish @ http://bbdish.blogspot.com/ so be absolutely sure to check that out if you aren't a BBDish Addict already.

Alrighty, so let's get to it then.

Season 11 of BB has been a jam-packed season from Week 1. I've never seen a cast so focused on game play from Day 1, than this season. I'm not going to go into everything that's happened this season, just visit BBDish (link above) for all the details. What this blog is going to focus on is the sudden backlash I've seen in regards to the fandom of Jeff and Jordan.

Jeff and Jordan have been fan favorites since around Week 3. Jeff got the power of Coup d’Etat by an overwhelming vote from America. Almost every BB-related website had “Vote for Jeff” campaigns. That speaks volumes about his fandom. The showmance between he and Jordan have been responsible for spreading the “warm and fuzzies” for a whole bunch of people. I’m one of them. I still sit and watch them during their cute moments with a big huge goofy grin on my face. When Jordan won HOH last Saturday, the response was excitement and happiness. Middle-ways through the week, it became evident that Jordan wanted to possibly backdoor Russell. I personally thought it was too soon to do that. And thankfully, Russell did not go up as a re-nom. Then Jeff won HOH last Thursday. As a fan of Jeff and Jordan, I couldn’t have been happier. Even still the majority of the response from BB fans was excitement and happiness. When Jeff came up with the idea to backdoor Russell again, the tide of Jeff and Jordan fans began to shift. And this is where my frustration lies. Yeah, I completely understand that people’s favorites change. But the reasoning I’ve seen behind this is what I don’t understand. Jeff has made a game play. And let’s not forget, Big Brother is a game. And the Houseguests are the Players. If you don’t play, you go home. And yeah, I understand that sometimes the moves a player makes are not always the smartest moves. THIS is where you have to remind yourself that as viewers of the live feeds and the Diary Room sessions, we are privy to a whole lot more information than the Houseguests. The POV Ceremony was held, and Jeff pulled Kevin off the block and replaced his nomination with Russell. Odds are that Russell is going home on Thursday night.

Why is it a good idea for Jeff to get rid of Russell this week?
  • Russell has stated that he will go after Jeff next week.
  • Russell has stated that if Jeff doesn’t get rid of him this week it would be a mistake.
  • Russell is a strong competitor with both HOH and POV
    wins.
  • Russell has lied about his “hinky” votes.
  • Russell voted to keep Jessie after Jeff saved him with the Coup d'Etat. Loyalty is a two-way street.
  • Russell has made alliances with everyone in the house at one point or another, except perhaps Kevin.
  • The likelihood of Russell actually honoring the Final 4 agreement this late in the game is very slim. Especially given his DR sessions in regards to getting Jeff out.

I did have a bit of an epiphany today. Jeff and I are a lot alike. Generally we are good people. But sometimes people make the mistake of putting me up on a pedestal and forgetting that I am indeed, a human. I think that is what has happened with some of the people who called themselves Jeff and Jordan fans, and are now turning their backs on him. I never put Jeff on a pedestal. I respected him as a person. I respected his game play. And I was freakin’ ecstatic that he used the Coup d’Etat and sent Jessie to the jury house. Jessie should have never been allowed back in that house this season. The Coup d’Etat launched Jeff’s gaming into the stratosphere. Which is awesome. For the first few weeks people were saying that they wanted Jeff and Jordan to play the game. Well, people, that’s what they have done. This is them playing the game.

Now some people are saying that Jeff and Jordan are on power trips and egomaniacs. And that they’ve turned things personal and are attacking people behind their backs. Um, I’ve been watching the feeds since they went live. Jeff and Jordan have been talking about people behind their backs the entire time. Week 1 it was Jordan and Lydia talking about the houseguests while they played around in their lingerie. Jeff and Jordan have talked about Jessie and Ronnie. After the Jeff and Russell fight Week 1 (or maybe 2), they both talked about Russell. So why is it all of a sudden shocking that they are talking about Russell? EVERYONE in that house has talked about someone at one point or another. I accused myself of having blinders on in regards to Jeff and Jordan, but I’m seeing now that it wasn’t me that had the blinders on.

egomania
Noun
an obsessive concern with fulfilling one's own needs
and desires, regardless of the effect on other people

According to this definition of egomania, then I don’t fault one person in that house for having egomania. Let me take a moment to remind you all that they are playing a game to win $500,000! Only one person can win that grand prize. Not an alliance of four. Not an alliance of three. One Person.

Being put on a pedestal is not fair to the person being put up there. And I’m speaking as someone who has been put up there. It is impossible to live up to those standards. Everyone has a flaw. Everyone has the potential to be mean-spirited. It takes a very strong person to be 100% nice 100% of the time. There are going to be times when the chinks in your armor shows. You can’t forget that these Houseguests are human, with human emotions. And be sure that you are not being selective in remembering the events that happen in the house (and I'm talking about people suddenly realizing that Jeff and Jordan talk smack about people).

Now I'll spend a minute on Jeff's threats. Jeff said that if someone went back on their word in the Final 4 deal between Jeff, Jordan, Michele, and Russell that he would go after their families. Think realistically here for a minute. If you honestly believed that Jeff would attack someone's family outside of the house, do you think that Big Brother, AGP, and CBS would allow Jeff to stay in the house? Think about it seriously for a minute here. Would AGP and CBS take on the legalities of keeping someone like that in the house? I don't think so.

Now, you may ask yourself if I'm happy about Jeff and Jordan believing the lies of Kevin and Natalie. The answer is "Heck NO!" But at what point have Kevin and Natalie been exposed as liars? They haven't. So forgetting the fact that we know Natalie is almost pathological in her lies, can we fault Jeff and Jordan for falling for them? And was it even a lie for that matter. Russell did make a Final 2 deal with Michele. Jeff was talking to Jordan about not trusting Russell minutes before Kevin first approached Jeff about the "Last Minute Lie" that he, Natalie, and Lydia concocted. It was dumb luck that the LML turned out to be the truth.

I have wanted a Final 3 with Jeff, Jordan, and Michele for quite a while now. That hasn't changed. I want Jeff in the Final 2. I don't have a preference whether Jordan or Michele are in the seat next to him. Gameplay-wise, I think Michele deserves her position in the Final 2. She's had to put up with a whole lot throughout this game, and she's been a strong competitor.

So, with all that, I've said my peace on this issue. I can't spend any more time physically or mentally trying to defend Jeff and Jordan.

In the words of my good friend Genie, "May the best player win."