Strategy or Insanity?

Many have come forward to justify Amanda's behaviour as a legitimate strategy that's been used by others like Evel Dick, Russel Kairouz and others to unnerve their opponents. This is what's called  logical fallacy of negative premise. In other words, trying to prove something is good based on negative anecdotal proof. Or the effed up premise. Amanda has also been compared to Dan in her manipulations  but their game and situation is as vastly different as comparing a duck to an airplane. This logical fallacy is called jumping to conclusions when the connections are threadbare and superficial. Or the WTF premise.

First of all, Evel Dick's persona is not to be used as a litmus test for appropriate behaviour. His behaviour is and has always been obnoxious and aggressive. Banging on pots and pans as a way of falling on his sword to be evicted over his daughter can be considered a strategy. Tossing ice tea and burning Jenn with his cigarette is plain aggression and violence, as was Jenn's destruction of his cigarettes. Neither of those actions were beneficial to either of them in the game. Even he, did not bring anyone's family or loved ones into it. He also didn't threaten to punch someone with brass knuckles. He won the game because he also accompanied this ugliness with his and his daughter's comp wins. It also helps that CBS edited him in a semi-heroic way while showing Jenn Johnson in the worst light possible. He won his season. Great. A lot of good it's done him on a personal level.

Russel Kairouz taunted Ronnie Talbot when the latter was HoH and was discovered to be a "rat". This served the purpose of unseating Ronnie from his power position in the house which resulted in him getting evicted. Russell did not attack Ronnie's family. Russell had a short fuse but when he went toe to toe, literally, with Jordan Llyod who chest bumped him, he backed off. Interesting to note that Jordan was not given any penalty for it while Willie was expelled for doing a similar thing. Russel did not win the season but Jordan did. It helped that she was perceived as the underdog and charmed the fans with her sweetheart Jeff Schroeder. She did her fair share of bashing people like Michele Noonan and backstabbing her as a result of Natalie Majeran's manipulations but she didn't threaten abhorrent violence against anyone.

Tensions run high in the BB house and it can bring out the worst in people. But there is worst and horrific. Threatening to harpoon a kid in his face, slitting someone's throat and raping her with her own blood, as well as smashing someone in the face with brass knuckles is not a game strategy. It is sign of a deeply disturbed individual who desperately needs therapy. To even think those things, let alone utter them in a forum where thousands and millions are watching is mind-boggling.That's what Amanda has done.

Now on to the most laughable comparison of Amanda with the likes of Dr. Will and Dan. Both these winners had one thing in common, ruthless and smart game play. They lied, backstabbed and did everything they could to win and they did. What they did not do is bring other cast member's families into it, threaten violence on other cast members or utter horrific bigotry.

Yes, Amanda has successfully manipulated this house of fools but she had no resistance from someone in power. She's never been the underdog. She's never had to fight for her life in the game until this week. Dan was in jeopardy from day 1 during BB10. He managed to extricate himself from being the chief target to winning the season by sheer strategy and resilience. Dr. Will was able to manipulate his way to a win without having won any competitions. Why because not only was he brilliant at using others, he was able to charm everybody with his wit and humor.

Some have tried to defend her by saying that looking past this behaviour (looking past this behaviour?!?!?!) she is playing a great game. These are the same people who cannot stand Evel Dick for his behaviour. Others are claiming that we're harder on Amanda because she's a woman. Really? No. It's because she has taken the crown of the worse person to ever be cast on Big Brother. Is she great for ratings? Probably. People are fascinated with the grotesque. Does that mean she should be celebrated and lauded for her words? I certainly hope not.

At best, Amanda is a pale and disgusting imitation of many past BB winners but should she win this game the only winner she can most logically be compared to is Adam Jasinski. They both played in season with people who were either taken out because they were threats or were too clueless to play the game properly. On a personal level, these two exemplify the absolute worst in humanity. We know what happened to Adam. Let's hope Amanda gets the help she needs so she can reclaim some semblance of a life after Big Brother.

Stay tuned.

Butt-hole Brother

It's crazy how this season has brought so much ugliness to the forefront. It began with the nasty racist comments made by Aaryn and Amanda, as well as GM, Spencer and Jeremy, and continues to this day with Amanda's personal attacks on Elissa's family and children. It got so bad that even production woke up, threatening her with a penalty nomination.

Many call this show a game but it's not game. Yes, there are games being played, both of the mind and competition sort, but this is about people being trapped in a house over an extended period of time. We can talk about strategy and we can talk about humanity. There are people who play this game ruthlessly and cruelly; and there are those who try to maintain some semblance of humanity. It's a tough call on who to root for. For my own mental sanity, it's time to break it down.

Let's start with Aaryn who is most likely the one going to jury this Thursday. I can't say I will be shedding any tears. She started the season as part of one of the most obnoxious alliances. Propped by them, she displayed a cruel and vile character, one that unapologetically, resurfaces with the slightest bit of encouragement. She taunted people on their looks, their ethnicity, their race, their sexuality. You name it. She said it. Then when her alliance was decimated, she turned the "good girl" act on that fooled many of them, especially Helen, into supporting her. She went on to win 4 competitions, putting herself in the position to be used by Amanda and Helen to take out Amanda's threats. During the HoH she won with Jeremy, one of her allies was evicted. For every other HoH she had, she nominated people that Amanda and Helen wanted nominated, even saying outright that she was being coerced. 

Now, she knows that her "allies", Amanda and McCrae, won't even vote for her to stay over their pet rat, Andy. Elissa tried to put all the personal aside with Aaryn yet again, despite the fact that Helen tried the same and paid the price of her game, suggesting that they work together. When Amanda won the PoV, Aaryn went right back to the pigsty of an alliance, trashing Elissa. When their plan to fool Elissa into nominating GM in McCrae's place failed, and she realized that she was SOL against Andy, Aaryn went pleading to Elissa yet again. Elissa would have none of it. She called Aaryn out on her lies and behaviour, finally blowing her off by saying she would think about it.  Aaryn failed in the game and on a human level this season.

Now on to Amanda, the Don of BB15. She started off the game by leeching onto the first HoH, McCrae, and created a personal relationship with him by swallowing him up whole. She helped execute all the evictions and controlled all the HoH nominations, until this week when she hit the wall called Elissa. This set off a chain reaction of demented behaviour like none we have seen before. That's not to say that Amanda's behaviour has been exemplary thus far. She has spouted as much if not more vileness than Aaryn or the others could ever think of, which is ironic because she's the one who called them on their racist comments. She' not only made racist, homophobic and other ick remarks, she spouted fantasies of violence against Elissa, Elissa's children, and Candice. Detailed, horrific fantasies of violence.

Her game could be called flawless but I often wonder if she would have made it this long (certainly not past 2 MVP nominations) if she were playing with people who had the drive, foresight and backbone to make some big moves. It's not like she hid her influence because it's not in Amanda to take the back seat to anyone. Her bullying tactics served her well with this crew but hit an iron barrier in Elissa. This is what drove her over the edge these past few days inducing a medication-driven whirlwind of vileness. Production put a stop to it with either medications, threats or both. This resulted in Amanda having a sit down with Elissa and apologies from both sides. I doubt that will change her behaviour but one thing I think it has changed and that's how the other HGs view her. This might have driven the last nail into Amanda's eviction.

I look forward to the BB15 house being cleansed from Amanda and her flee-bitten pet, McCrae. These are two people whose behaviour has vastly overshadowed any game moves they have made. Their only chance at an alliance is Andy and that's questionable. If the worse case scenario happens this Thursday that she or McCrae win HoH, and you know it has a high chance of happening, her game will continue but, on a human, level she has failed miserably.

There is not much to say about McCrae who has been Amanda's strap-on this whole season. He, more than anyone has been the biggest disappointment for me personally. I had high hopes for him from the preseason interviews and winning the first HoH, but then he turned out to be a gigantic dud. He quickly blew off the Moving Company, putting all his eggs and both his balls in Amanda's basket (pun not intended). He may revive should Amanda be evicted, but he is going for second at best. 

Although he started out showing some sense of individuality by calling Amanda out on her questionable comments, he's since disappeared into a filthy emaciated hull of a human being who cannot articulate a full sentence without saying "I don't know." He's shown that he's incapable of thinking for himself throughout this season and has no problem bashing people behind their backs. I think this must come from a deep knowledge that he's effed up his game. The best I can say about McCrae is, I don't know.

Andy has played the rat game this whole season. He hitched his wagon to McCranda and hasn't budged since, not even to realize that the dumbest move in BB is to ally yourself with a showmance. He's been cut throat and insipid in his game and personal connections with people, but when the Zingbot called him on it during the most recent PoV competition, it hit a nerve. He wondered if he was being portrayed as this season's Shelly, getting more and more agitated. Andy, you're not being portrayed that way. You are that way. I don't understand why any player would adopt that strategy as it hasn't worked for the likes of Ronnie and Shelly. 

He's said that now that his eyes are open he will go after McCranda but will he really? My guess is that he will throw the next HoH and go with whomever gets power. It's a flopper's way to make it to the end and it inspires me as much as overcooked noodles. Andy has mostly not participated in the slamfests but he's never discouraged them and sometimes laughed at the ugly comments some of the HGs have made. He's playing a spineless game, not one I respect. He's middle of the road in every way.

Judd has returned and I hope he makes the best of it this time. He seems aware that he was duped and playing Amanda's game before he was backstabbed and evicted. He made a deal with Elissa and is part of an alliance-of-the week but I don't set much store in either of them until I see him actually act on his intentions. He seems to have had enough of the McCranda show. Here's hoping he has the power to do something about it.

Spencer and GM get one paragraph. Spencer is there, floating along, surviving 6 times on the block, the stigma of The Moving Company and his association with BB15 public enemy #1, Howard. On a personal level, he sucks slugs. His constant perverted statements culminating in the sexual abuse of children makes him foul in my eyes, and hoping he's not dragged, like the goat he is, to the F2 chair. GM, on the other hand, has shown some remorse for the ignorant statements she's made and some heart in this game. She's obviously someone who appreciates honesty and kindness, mirroring the company she's in. She needs to find better company in her life. She too has survived being part of an alliance that has been decimated. I don't know who she will stay with moving forward. GM is a big question mark.

I saved Elissa for last. She's the one person, other than Judd, left in the game that I'm rooting for because of her game moves and her strength of good character. I know there are people who don't like her because she was given an unfair advantage of 3 weeks of MVP but she needed it because she had the unfair disadvantage of being the only person related to an ex-cast member. Those lame decisions are on production not her. Some hate her because they hate her sister Rachel who was a very polarizing person in the game. I like Rachel but Elissa is nothing like her. 

Elissa has held on to her inner strength all season and even more so these past few days when Amanda launched her nasty campaign of bullying against her. What was Elissa's reaction? To laugh and rise above it. How can anyone not admire that? I don't know how I would have reacted but certainly not that gracefully when someone is attacking my child to my face. I wanted to punch walls just reading about it.

I've gone into detail why Elissa has played a very good game. Sure, people criticized her this week because she didn't put up Amanda with McCrae. She did a smarter thing. She put up two of her targets, now three people who have been Amanda's army. It's win-win in a lose-lose situation. Aaryn has been foul, gunning for Elissa, untrustworthy, playing emotionally and winning competitions. In my mind, Aaryn is the bigger threat; but if Elissa had gotten Amanda out, that would have been great too. She went from being alone at the beginning of this week to having formed some alliances and have some numbers. Maybe she has 3 people gunning for her next week, but she's shown the others that there is life outside of Amanda's butt-hole. And maybe, just maybe, they will all reclaim their balls from Amanda and stand where the sun does shine.

BB15 Shenanigans Redux

Yeah. Yeah. I know. I said I was over this season, but who knew that Elissa, the beast, would come out and win HoH? The 2nd HoH of the season. You're probably thinking "WTF Genie? It's week 9."  That may be so but it's the first time Amanda has not been the real HoH, from taking over the nominations to commandeering the HoH room. And it shows. She's losing it.

This video says it all.

Elissa, finally free of Helen's well-meaning but completely misguided decisions and shenanigans, is able to play her own game. Helen refused to listen to Elissa who urged her to help get Amanda evicted the two weeks she was on the block by Fan MVP nominations. Instead, Helen was instrumental in voting out her own allies. That's why Helen is in jury right now.

 Elissa showed her independent thinking by MVP nominating who she wanted gone even if Amanda did not agree which was highlighted the week she put up Jeremy instead of Howard. The fact that all three of her MVP nominations were voted out, says a lot about her insight into the game.

Now, she found herself alone in the house with her allies and support-group gone. But, using her HoH, she has been successful in getting the newly returned Judd on her side, taming the beast in GM and having her eating out of Elissa's hands, and more suprsingly, this...

Making a deal with Aaryn.

Who would have guessed this turn of events? Elissa told Aaryn that they need to put the past behind them because "this isn't high school" and work together to take out Amanda first, followed by the rest of her allies (McCrae and Andy). She added that Aaryn needs to win PoV but she would prefer if she herself wins it to take her off the block, proving to Aaryn her intention to work with her. She urged Aaryn to talk to Judd and Spencer and get their support.

Surprisingly, Aaryn stuck to the script and said nothing to Amanda, McCrae or Andy who is in the dark about what's really happening for the first time this season. This has been one of Aaryn's smartest moves. Despite the fact that she's been in power 4 times, her nominations have not been her own, becoming Amanda's hired gun. However, she has been successful in keeping herself safe and longer in the game. If she does stick with Elissa, GM and Judd, Aaryn's chances of making it to F2 have grown exponentially. But I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.

Today, is the PoV competition with Elissa, Aaryn, McCrae, GM, Judd and Amanda playing. The worst case scenario for Aaryn is that Amanda wins the PoV and takes McCrae off the block. In the event that happens, Elissa is planning on replacing him with Andy. I will, for the first time this season, be updating the whole process this week.

Why? Because, finally, they are playing Big Brother not Big Amanda.

Update: Amanda won PoV. Of course. Andy will probably go on the block. Do we say goodbye to Aaryn or Andy?

Stay tuned!

P.S. For my more snarky updates, follow me on twitter :D

Big Shambles Brother

After 7 years and 8 seasons of being an avid Big Brother fan, I am throwing in the towel. This was the straw that broke this fan's back. I can't take it anymore. This shambles of a season with the most ridiculously clueless and largely unlikable cast has spelled the end for this blogger.

Between the horrific vileness coming out of the mouths of Aaryn, Jeremy, GinaMarie, Amanda and Spencer and the absolute blindness and inability to play the game displayed by most of the others has left this fan with no one to root for. Unlike others, I don't have a short-term memory when it comes to the ugly shenanigans of the twisted sisters who are ruling the roost right now. I could care less how many competitions they win or how manipulative their strategies are, if I cannot stomach them as human beings, then I do not want to witness their victory, I felt sick to my stomach when Evel Dickhead won in season 8 and when Adam Jackasski won in season 9. Season 15 will end just as disgustingly, it seems, with someone who is even worse than those two. Under her beauty, Aaryn is a mean, small-minded, cruel person. Amanda is even worse. GM is struggling to fit in, taking on the ugly when it's around her.

I guess I'm not a game purist. I guess I don't "love" the game as much as those who choose to root for two women who are absolutely vile. There have been arguments that Aaryn and Amanda are playing great games, but all that's relative. They've got the upper hand because everyone else in the house sucks fiercely at playing this game.

Aaryn won 4 HoHs, one with the cheating help of her partner Jeremy (there are pictures to prove their cheating), sure, but look who she's up against. McCrae is too terrified to win a comp and not throw it to the woman who has his balls hostage. Helen is too busy cheering everyone on and trying to turn them into Disney characters. Elissa goes dead blank in most comps because her sensibilities cannot survive a season like this. GM is too busy planning the dungeon in which she will enslave Nick. Andy's focus is playing the rat game, and though he's won a couple of competitions, he's no more than Amanda's puppet. Amanda is absolutely useless in competitions. Spencer is there. And really why would Amanda, McCrae, Andy or Spencer try to win comps when they have their clownie do their dirty work for them?

Winning competitions is only as good as it serves furthering the person's game not everyone else's. Who did Aaryn want to put up this week? Spencer and Elissa. Why? Because she hates Elissa and doesn't trust Spencer. It doesn't matter though because she put up Amanda's picks; Helen and Elissa. How anyone can say this chick is playing a good game boggles my mind. She's winning competitions up against a motley crew of losers. Great. But her game is not better than anyone else's in the house, with the exception of the Dragon Mistress, Amanda Zuckerman.

When Elissa won the PoV competition (I wonder how many people will say it was given to her) Aaryn had the golden opportunity to strike and take out someone who has been dictating the house since week 1. Had she done that, she would have indeed earned the title of a good gamer. She fell back on the cop-out excuse that Helen would not have the votes to stay, but would Spencer really vote to keep Amanda over Helen? Spencer who called Amanda out on her BS? No, she's just choosing to play it safe. A good competitor she might be, a good player she isn't. I'm not going to even get into the fact that yet another minority is leaving on her HoH, with the third one having left under her co-racist's reign. It might not be the reason she's targeted them, but it sure doesn't look good, does it?

Amanda's success is largely due to the fact that Helen is an absolute moron at this game. She was too busy trying to get them all to hold hands and sing kumbaya as Amanda got her to vote out all her own allies and the people she promised to protect: Kaitlyn, Candice and Jessie. Not to mention the countless times Helen threw her closest ally, Elissa,  under the bus. Now, where is she? Yup, on the block with maybe 2 votes. And she deserves to be there because any time anyone tried to get her to see the light, or call her out on her discrepancies, she would run away crying to the very people she shouldn't be trusting. You would think that after the 3rd time she went to Andy with the plan to vote out Amanda and he balked, she would realize that he wasn't on her side. Instead she acquiesced, only realizing how treacherous Andy is now when it's too late.

Andy has been able to sustain his rat status mostly because of Helen's blind loyalty to him. However, his game has blown up this week which will probably get him out before Spencer, GM or even Elissa. I won't be shedding any tears.

McCrae blew up his game as soon as Amanda blew him. Nuff said.

Elissa is the only person I like in the house but her social game is spotty because of the very reason I like her. She can't fake getting along with people she cannot stand which is most of the people left. She's won two PoVs but if it's a competition that requires concentration, she cannot sustain it. She's proven that she has a mind of her own but she's never had a strong alliance with people who would stick with her. After Helen leaves this week (it's inevitable), she won't have any allies. I doubt Aaryn or GM will stick with her to take out Amanda or McCrae.

GM and Spencer are not even worth my time typing about.

So yeah, someone might be coming back Thursday. The best chances of a power shift would be Helen coming back. Candice would be motivated to put a dent in the reigning regime but she's proven to be a very poor competitor. Judd will just target Elissa because he's far from the mastermind they've all made him out to be in the house. Jessie is a big question mark.

What's not a question mark is that I'm done. So I say my farewells!

BB15: Mad, Medicated and Mean.

At the end of last season, I had decided to can BB blogging because I was so disenchanted with the way this show is run. I was disgusted by the way the editing fed into last season's object of hatred: Danielle Murphree. I did not like the mixture of vets and newbies. And I was sick to death of the casting formula.

When it was announced that this season would have all newbies, I was excited because it seemed that finally things were changing. Little did I know that the casting this season would be one of the worst ever. This season has been muddied by all the vile, racial, violent, inhumane comments made not just in the heat of the moment, but constantly by Aaryn, GM, Jeremy, Kaitlyn, and most aggressively Amanda.

Here are a couple of videos to highlight the nastiness: (Keep in mind that Aaryn's parents have hired a PR firm to cleanse Aaryn's image and a lot of these videos are being taken down. I don't doubt Amanda's parents will do the same. Watch them while you can.)

Here's the thing, while some people are calling this "beating a dead horse", in reality, this is simply a true reflection of what's going on in the house without production's intrusive edit. While CBS pretended to tackle the issue because it's "driving the story", they only focused on Aaryn's bigotry and have completely given Amanda the hero's edit. Amanda, who has surpassed Aaryn not only in bigoted, racist and vile comments but in threats to cause bodily harm to Jessie and Candice, is still portrayed as the valiant one, dealing with Elissa's mean statements about her hoochie outfit.  Amanda is the Golden Girl this season.

A couple of weeks ago, a "source" came forward to claim that Amanda has ties with Grodner and has been chosen as the fave to win by production. Read for yourselves.

While I did not believe it at the time, since logistically it's very difficult to guarantee that someone win this show, the show's edits are starting to persuade me of this. Also. interesting to note, that a lot of the sites that ran this story, have deleted it. The only reason I have this screenshot is because I saved it on my computer.

But be that as it may, whether CBS and production are trying their best to control the story, this story is uncontrollable. People do not want to see any of this behaviour be rewarded in any way despite the "game play". Aaryn and GinaMarie have lost their jobs, and it seems Amanda has followed suit. The real world has condemned them for their words, it's time CBS and production grow a pair and do the same.

Big Brother is losing a lot of fans, despite the fluctuating ratings. The sole cause of this is poor show management, a ridiculous casting formula and an inability to actually run a reality show with more reality and less production manipulation.

And speaking of casting, how did they manage to cast so many on anti-anxiety and other psychiatric medications? What kind of screening do these people go through? It seems not much since quite a few are recruited for their "personality" and looks. Your formula has failed, Grodner. Reap the rewards of the fuctercluck. This season's cast is so disappointing because either they are examples of the lowest point in civilization or they don't have a modicum of understanding how to play this game. We can't even discuss or appreciate the "game" because it's been cluttered by this horrific social injustice.

To that end, being a person first and a fan second, I'm not going to sit around and watch this hot mess of a season come to its deflating, demoralizing and disgusting conclusion.

It's time the fans showed CBS what we really think of some of the disgraceful HGs in that house, by switching the channel. It's time we allow the outrage to hit them where they love, and that's in the ratings. It's time to stop watching.