Disparate Housewives
Broadcast television sucks. Well, obviously. I inexplicably found myself watching an episode of "Big Brother" this week. While this has been a major social outlet for my mother for years, I've rarely paid attention to its existence, beyond pausing for a few seconds on occasion while flipping between channels to shout "You're not a journalist, Julie Chen! You're just a network whore!" But she can't hear me. And I digress.
So the premise of this episode was that some of the people who were eliminated from the show had a chance to be re-instated based on public vote - naturally with a corporate text-messaging tie-in, now a reality TV staple. The finalists? Two contestants who were eliminated in the previous two weeks. For a bit of a summary, I turned to CBS.com to give you a bit of background on these two Big Brother hopefuls:
Former houseguest Eric is a firefighter from Boston, Massachusetts. His favorite movies include Goodfellas, The Godfather and Ladder 49. He enjoys Creed, Van Halen, and Fuel. One of his favorite activities is spending time with his family.
His competition?
Former houseguest Kaysar is a graphic designer from Irvine, California, and is a devout Muslim. His family is originally from Iraq. He has no favorite movie. He has no favorite band. He has no favorite hobbies.
Now, surely America has not forgotten the lessons learned on 9/11. Surely, SURELY a Muslim would never be allowed to prevail against a firefighter. Not in These United States. What sort of message would that send to Our Leader? What sort of message would that send to Our Fighting Men and Women overseas?
But oooh, nooo, reality-TV-watching-American-Public. You surprised me. The Firefighter from Boston was defeated by the California Muslim. By something like 85 percent of the vote. I owe you a sincere apology. I had you all pegged as sheltered Neo-Con housewives clutching at a means to fill the void left by your vapid social lives (sorry mom). But then you go and do something like this and suddenly, well, I just don't know what to think anymore. Except maybe, "Wow, that firefighter musta been a real asshole."
So the premise of this episode was that some of the people who were eliminated from the show had a chance to be re-instated based on public vote - naturally with a corporate text-messaging tie-in, now a reality TV staple. The finalists? Two contestants who were eliminated in the previous two weeks. For a bit of a summary, I turned to CBS.com to give you a bit of background on these two Big Brother hopefuls:
Former houseguest Eric is a firefighter from Boston, Massachusetts. His favorite movies include Goodfellas, The Godfather and Ladder 49. He enjoys Creed, Van Halen, and Fuel. One of his favorite activities is spending time with his family.
His competition?
Former houseguest Kaysar is a graphic designer from Irvine, California, and is a devout Muslim. His family is originally from Iraq. He has no favorite movie. He has no favorite band. He has no favorite hobbies.
Now, surely America has not forgotten the lessons learned on 9/11. Surely, SURELY a Muslim would never be allowed to prevail against a firefighter. Not in These United States. What sort of message would that send to Our Leader? What sort of message would that send to Our Fighting Men and Women overseas?
But oooh, nooo, reality-TV-watching-American-Public. You surprised me. The Firefighter from Boston was defeated by the California Muslim. By something like 85 percent of the vote. I owe you a sincere apology. I had you all pegged as sheltered Neo-Con housewives clutching at a means to fill the void left by your vapid social lives (sorry mom). But then you go and do something like this and suddenly, well, I just don't know what to think anymore. Except maybe, "Wow, that firefighter musta been a real asshole."
posted by ab at 8/13/2005
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