Big Brother has never been a competition where the contestants pull their punches. A season of the summer reality competition where the houseguests don’t have one big blow-up a week is considered a season wasted. On Big Brother 19 there hasn’t been just a big fight each week, but one nearly every day and all of them have been incredibly nasty.
Things reached a fever pitch in Paul’s second Head of Household reign. Although it was a wasted week where no one got evicted, the houseguests didn’t treat it as one and spent all their energy yelling at each other till blue in the face. The Big Brother 19 house has crossed the line from melodramatic entertainment to nasty bullying.
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Truly the Most Outrageous Season Yet
There is a legitimate part of Big Brother that is psychological. Big Brother is as much a mental and emotional game as a physical one. This means that engaging in arguments is unavoidable and a real element of the game. This isn’t what is happening on BB19. An argument usually involves two parties actively engaging another in a war of words. Increasingly on Big Brother 19, the blow-ups have been one side of the house raging at the other but their opponents don’t even bother to respond.
Bullying is a term that gets thrown around a lot with CBS’ Big Brother but it has been never more apt for season 19. Other seasons have been vicious and even racist, Big Brother 15 was especially awful in this regard. There is no other word for what Paul, Josh and the rest are doing than “bullying.” The behavior against Mark, Jessica and Cody has been reprehensible. There is no excuse for the entire house going after Cody, berating Jessica and himself because Jessica did something that Paul didn’t want her to do.
The same goes for Josh’s horrid banging on pots and pans. This is something that the rest of the house finds hilarious but it is disgustingly childish behavior. Due to the rules of the game no houseguest can lay a hand on another in anger but Josh’s banging should be similarly outlawed. It is a harassment plain and simple. It’s loud, obnoxious, disruptive and completely unnecessary. There is no reason for it other than Josh just doesn’t like Jessica, Cody and Mark. Josh believes himself as some class clown. It’s not that hard to see why he feels that way. The house, especially Paul, eggs Josh on but Josh isn’t funny. He is a cowardly bully who can’t take a portion of his own medicine. Josh’s behavior should be condemned, not praised.
Bullying the Bullies
As terrible as Paul and his side have been, the other side of the house has not been blameless. Cody really began this nasty atmosphere in the house by nominating Megan because he didn’t like her and yelling at everyone. Mark, even if it was done mostly in jest, did also throw pickle juice in Josh’s face during a petty argument. Even the latest blow-up where the entire house made it their personal mission to torment Jessica and Cody was really sparked by Jessica screaming at Raven. (Jessica was provoked into that fight but she could have easily just stayed silent.)
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No one in the Big Brother 19 house is really a hero. Jessica and Cody are rightfully disliked by the house and the audience. Still Jessica and Cody have been taken the “high road” lately and trying to remain as neutral as possible. Mark in particular has done very little to Josh since their pool argument but that hasn’t stopped Josh from calling him every name in the book, including being a bully.
There is blame to be laid on both sides of the house but one side has crossed a line. Paul might wants to portray himself as a hero who is “bullying a bully” but that is not the case. Cody might not be the most likable person in the world and he certainly isn’t even-keel but the behavior in the house has crossed the line from psychological gameplay to true harassment. No one in the house deserves what happened to Jessica and Cody following Jessica’s decision to use her Halting Hex. Big Brother 19 even cut out the worst parts of the verbal attacks, which included the house questioning and insulting Cody’s military service, and it was still entirely too much.
What do you think, is this harassment or is this fair game?
Big Brother 19 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c, Thursdays at 9/8c and Sundays at 8/7c on CBS. Want more news? Like our Facebook page!
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
