Ed Vitagliano

AFA Journal news editor

January 2002 – From Cops to Survivor, modern-day “reality TV” has proven itself distasteful to many critics but often amazingly popular with viewers.

As evidenced by the popularity of classic shows like Candid Camera, viewers seemed to be fascinated by watching the reactions of ordinary people – not actors or actresses – in extraordinary situations. Even today, it may be that such programming provides a more thrilling vicarious experience than imagining oneself in the obviously counterfeit reality of Frasier or Friends.

Is it reality, however, when participants on Temptation Island, for example, realize that every word, every move, and every decision is being filmed, then viewed – and judged – by family, friends and even strangers? Are participants’ actions genuinely reflective of reality – and if so, what does that tell us about ourselves?

Big Brother is watching
One of the more popular “reality TV” shows this past year was CBS’ Big Brother 2, the second in what is presumed to be a long line of Big Brother shows.

For 10 weeks between July 5 and September 20, the 12 “houseguests” on Big Brother 2 moved into a house where they were cut off from the outside world. As the CBS website stated in advance of the show’s premiere, “One by one, they will vote each other out until only one remains and goes home a half million dollars richer.”

The rules of the game were fairly simple. A competition each week determined who would be the Head of Household (HoH) that week, an honor that came with both privilege and responsibility. The winner lived in a private room with numerous amenities, but later in the week the HoH had to nominate two individuals – one of whom would be “evicted” from the house by a vote of the remaining houseguests. Those nominated were not allowed to vote, and the HoH was only allowed to vote in the event of a tie. Once the houseguests were whittled down to a remaining pair, the contestants who had been evicted would return and cast the deciding votes to crown the winner.

As might be expected under such circumstances, a contestant’s enemies within the house could become just as important as who he or she counted as friends. Alliances were formed, promises made, and lies told – all while the camera was rolling. In the soundproof Diary Room, a houseguest was allowed to talk to the camera and speak freely about his or her strategy, or about other contestants, knowing that the only ones to see the commentary would be the viewers.

The “Evil Doctor”
In such an environment, it was not surprising to see that deceit and intrigue became the instruments of success. Kent, the oldest of the contestants at 46, quickly lost patience with the scheming that went on during the five weeks he remained in the house, calling it “a pit of predators.” The people, he said, were “backstabbing, manipulative phonies.”

Will, a doctor and the eventual winner of Big Brother 2, became the master manipulator. In the Diary Room he proclaimed himself “the puppeteer” and the rest of the contestants his “marionettes.”

Will even became known as “the Evil Doctor,” a title that he clearly relished. He consistently demonstrated a classic Machiavellian approach to human relations – especially as it related to personal success and prosperity. Without any apparent conscience, Will bragged in the Diary Room that he may be “the biggest liar in America,” and “I consider lying a sport.”

These qualities were also the only ones he admired in anyone else. In describing Nicole, Will said she “has taken the qualities that I think are important to have – the negative qualities, if you will – the ability to deceive, the ability to lie, the ability to be dishonest, and has pulled the wool over some houseguests’ eyes….”

It apparently takes one to know one: Nicole would join Will as one of the last two houseguests, proving his instincts correct.

On the other hand, Will believed that anyone who lacked such negative qualities, or who refused to do whatever it took to win, was weak. In the Diary Room, Will appraised Hardy, saying he was vain, a bully, and a deal-maker – but his biggest flaw was that he trusted people. 

At one point in the game, Will promised Hardy that he wouldn’t nominate him for eviction, and even shook hands to seal the deal. Will later tells the camera, “What do I think of Hardy for believing me? Some village is missing their idiot.”

Honestly dishonest
However, Will’s thoroughly postmodern mindset was not the biggest surprise. Instead, the most stunning revelation of the show was how the other contestants admired Will – for the very duplicity with which he outmaneuvered them for the grand prize.

Nicole says, “I have a lot of respect for Will even though he’s the Evil Doctor.”

Krista, after being evicted, concurred: “[Y]ou gotta respect Will, because Will said he was going to lie to get here, he was going to lie the entire time, and that’s what he did, and I respect that – I love him to death.”

Bunky uttered the clearest – and most eye-popping contradiction –  saying of Will, “I’ve got to respect a guy that’s honest about being dishonest.”

At the end, virtually every one of the voters who gave Will the victory (Nicole only received two votes) echoed Sheryl’s sentiments when she said, “Will, I felt you played [the game] best.”

But what does that mean? Playing a game the “best” means being a scheming, lying cad? It appears that the answer was a resounding yes – not only for the houseguests who lost the competition, but also for those who watched the show. According to the CBS website, almost 190,000 viewers of the show voted overwhelmingly for Will as “the best player in the game” – by a 77-23% margin.

Growing up, most of us can remember hearing someone say, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” Such expressions reflected a time in our culture when character was more important than conquest.

If Big Brother 2 is any indication, our culture has now reversed the two: winning by any means necessary is paramount. This change says a lot about the kind of people we have become as a nation.

In the end, then, Big Brother 2 is “reality TV,” but what it demonstrates about human nature may be more reality than we wish to see. The show revealed the corruption and selfishness that runs deep within all of us, not just the contestants.

No one made this clearer – albeit unwittingly – than Nicole, who, on the verge of evicting Monica, says she changed her game plan after entering the house. “I came in saying ‘I’m gonna be myself and be honest and truthful and good to people and treat them the way I normally treat them in the outside world,’” she said. But when people began plotting to improve their own chances, and even to evict her, she said it became “this strategic, aggressive, I’m-just-going-to-nail-everybody-to-the-wall game.”

Unfortunately, Nicole missed the point. As some have said, we aren’t sinners because we sin; we sin because we’re sinners.

Thus, Nicole didn’t betray her good nature, but revealed her fallen nature. What we do when we’re really pushed to our limits is the real us.  Any thin veneer of civility is quickly rubbed off by the friction of trying circumstances, and then our fallen nature is revealed in all its ugliness. No other reality – televised or not – more accurately points out the overwhelming desperation of the human condition, and our profound need of God’s forgiveness and grace.