I guess I answered the magical question wrong.
SO HEY HOW ABOUT THIS CRAZY WEEKEND.
I know you think I am talking about the hurricane, which did in fact hit NYC (but not badly and everyone's okay and
ghost_lingering and I watched lots of disaster movies and it was actually one of the nicest weekends I've had in a long time), but I am actually talking about my fandom.
Because oh my god, you guys, bitches are CRAZY. And I'm kind of defensive of BB fandom because I know we're basically the lowest of all rungs and I want people to think we're not terrible, but this week, no, some of us are TERRIBLE.
See, okay. Thursday's episode was a fast-forward, where someone is evicted, and then rapid-fire HOH, nominations, veto, veto ceremony, eviction. It was sad for me, because DANI. But then, in the fast-forward, Kalia got HOH, Porsche got veto, and with Shelly's vote Big Jeff got sent packing, which pleased me because Jeff got Dani out and then her alliance got him out and THAT'S WHAT YOU GET MOTHERFUCKER.
(As a Fun Fact here, one might note that if they'd kept Dani in the first place, Kalia wouldn't have gotten HOH, so Jordan would have, and then Dani probably would have been evicted anyway and Jeff would still be there. OH WELL.)
This has led, naturally, to Jeff and Jordan fans coming out in DROVES with how much they hate Shelly, because she is a TERRIBLE PERSON who BETRAYED Jeff and Jordan because she is under the impression that this is a game for half a million dollars, rather than just rolling over and writing a check to America's Favorite Couple.
Fans have found and are posting Shelly's home phone number, which they call just to issue threats. They've found and are posting her office number, which they call to try and get her fired. They've found and are posting the phone number for her kid's school, because they are trying to get her EIGHT-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER kicked out. They've posted information on how to contact Child Protective Services with fake abuse charges to get Shelly's child taken away from her. They've posted threats about what they want to do to Shelly, her husband, and her daughter. And, because these people are stupid, they're doing it all from their real-name Facebook accounts.
(You know you're creepy when sites like ONTDBB and Survivor Sucks are like "Whoa hey, CRAZY" and going in to argue with them that the woman is just playing a damn game.)
As of Sunday, the show's exec producer had to step in via twitter to say "No matter how much you dislike an HG, this is wrong! True BB fans do not try to ruin lives. Please stop!" According to TMZ, the FBI is now involved. And the people on that facebook page are just laughing it off in favor of posting about how horrible a person Shelly is.
And this is all ADDITIONALLY annoying because, now that Jeff's gone, it's my favorite part of the season, which is Jeff Tries To Prove He's Not A Homophobe In Interviews, which is HILARIOUS (and by hilarious I mean OH MY GOD JEFF YOU ARE A HORRIBLE PERSON YOU KNOW THAT RIGHT? (but he doesn't and neither do his fans)). Right now all of his exit interviews have a lot of him defending his comments that it's perverted for Dumbledore to be gay because he's around kids [link to TMZ], my favorite of which is this one with Entertainment Weekly (featuring bonus Daniele! and also Survivor talk), where he finally gets frustrated and says my subject line, which incidentally will be my answer to any discussion I want out of from now until the rest of EVER.
But, well, Jeff's fans didn't see anything wrong with what he said, because he's in the HOUSE and EMOTIONS RUN HIGH THERE and YOU AREN'T YOURSELF WHEN YOU'RE PLAYING THE GAME and etc. etc. etc.
I am not entirely sure how that correlates to trying to ruin Shelly's real life, but well, I'm not a Jeff fan. Some things I am just destined not to know.
This is normally where I'd just leave it at this, because it is CREEPY and I think it's important that people outside of our fandom know so that the fandomwide shunning can begin. But I also think it's more than that, because it's making me evaluate how I approach the show and the fandom itself.
I get emotionally invested. I probably get emotionally OVERinvested. I care about these characters, and love them and hate them the same way I love or hate someone on Vampire Diaries or Community or Fringe. I want less story about Peter, I want more screen time for Britta, I want Katherine to beat every single person in Mystic Falls, and (shocker!) I want Dani to be successful in everything ever. But I'm not the level of emotionally invested where I want to rain fiery vengeance down upon Jeff's head (except with the Audience Favorite monetary prize at the end of the season, and y'all, if you love me at ALL, I will be posting all the information, VOTE DANI). So it's very easy for me to be judgey.
But the divide can't be that simple, can it? Nothing can be that simple.
I lurk at Survivor Sucks. I lurk and occasionally comment at ONTDBB. Those aren't exactly known for being kind to reality participants, and while I take issue with a lot of what they say, I pretty much don't expend the energy to argue it (with a few exceptions- ahahahaha, the day I argued that Kalia isn't fat, THAT WAS FUN). And while I work hard not to be a dick, I'm sure more than a few of my comments on Twitter have crossed the line.
To go even further: I think that saying someone on the show is abusive is wrong. Period. But back when Brendon was in the house, I also found myself saying, more than once, that his treatment of Rachel was controlling and borderline emotionally abusive. I believe that too.But I saw it happening in a very specific controlled circumstance; is it fair to say that their relationship seems emotionally abusive? Obviously, it's nowhere near the demonstrably false personal attack that Shelly abuses her daughter- but it's still an accusation that I'm making. How can I say that one is valid and the other is beyond the pale?
Oh, don't get me wrong, I have many reasons. I can say it because I'm not crossing the fourth wall and bringing in people who aren't characters in this whole melodrama (but if she was interviewed on screen, isn't Josie, technically, a character in this?). I can say it because I understand that what we see isn't necessarily the whole picture (but how do I know these people don't too and they just express that differently than I do?). I can say it because I'm talking about what I saw versus what I am MAKING UP WHOLESALE SERIOUSLY PEOPLE YOU ARE TERRIBLE (I don't even have a question here except HOW ARE YOU SO HORRIBLE?).
But it's still a blurry line, and I think it's probably good that I'm sometimes forcibly reminded of that.
I just think there are better ways of reminding me than THREATENING AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD CHILD AND ACCUSING HER MOTHER OF ABUSE. Jeez Louise.
My level of investment in the show plummeted the second Dani left, to an actually much more enjoyable viewing experience where I'm not devastated by anyone's success or failure (except that Dani HAS TO WIN THE AUDIENCE PRIZE, YOU GUYS, I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING, COME ON). But the things people are doing to Shelly makes me feel sketchy even watching the show. I really never had an issue with the morality of reality television- these are consenting adults making choices- but man, sometimes it feels like fans exist just to challenge my right to enjoy my stupid guilty pleasure.
Also, I cannot believe how little I've posted this BB season. I appear to be keeping that to Twitter. What has HAPPENED to me? I had nothing to link back to in this post as reference! I am so ashamed.
If you are bored by all of this, perhaps I can interest you in my thread at the Anon or Not Love Meme? :D? :D?
Cross-posted at http://fox1013.dreamwidth.org/65744.html. Comment wherever you feel more comfortable.
I know you think I am talking about the hurricane, which did in fact hit NYC (but not badly and everyone's okay and
ghost_lingering and I watched lots of disaster movies and it was actually one of the nicest weekends I've had in a long time), but I am actually talking about my fandom.
Because oh my god, you guys, bitches are CRAZY. And I'm kind of defensive of BB fandom because I know we're basically the lowest of all rungs and I want people to think we're not terrible, but this week, no, some of us are TERRIBLE.
See, okay. Thursday's episode was a fast-forward, where someone is evicted, and then rapid-fire HOH, nominations, veto, veto ceremony, eviction. It was sad for me, because DANI. But then, in the fast-forward, Kalia got HOH, Porsche got veto, and with Shelly's vote Big Jeff got sent packing, which pleased me because Jeff got Dani out and then her alliance got him out and THAT'S WHAT YOU GET MOTHERFUCKER.
(As a Fun Fact here, one might note that if they'd kept Dani in the first place, Kalia wouldn't have gotten HOH, so Jordan would have, and then Dani probably would have been evicted anyway and Jeff would still be there. OH WELL.)
This has led, naturally, to Jeff and Jordan fans coming out in DROVES with how much they hate Shelly, because she is a TERRIBLE PERSON who BETRAYED Jeff and Jordan because she is under the impression that this is a game for half a million dollars, rather than just rolling over and writing a check to America's Favorite Couple.
Fans have found and are posting Shelly's home phone number, which they call just to issue threats. They've found and are posting her office number, which they call to try and get her fired. They've found and are posting the phone number for her kid's school, because they are trying to get her EIGHT-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER kicked out. They've posted information on how to contact Child Protective Services with fake abuse charges to get Shelly's child taken away from her. They've posted threats about what they want to do to Shelly, her husband, and her daughter. And, because these people are stupid, they're doing it all from their real-name Facebook accounts.
(You know you're creepy when sites like ONTDBB and Survivor Sucks are like "Whoa hey, CRAZY" and going in to argue with them that the woman is just playing a damn game.)
As of Sunday, the show's exec producer had to step in via twitter to say "No matter how much you dislike an HG, this is wrong! True BB fans do not try to ruin lives. Please stop!" According to TMZ, the FBI is now involved. And the people on that facebook page are just laughing it off in favor of posting about how horrible a person Shelly is.
And this is all ADDITIONALLY annoying because, now that Jeff's gone, it's my favorite part of the season, which is Jeff Tries To Prove He's Not A Homophobe In Interviews, which is HILARIOUS (and by hilarious I mean OH MY GOD JEFF YOU ARE A HORRIBLE PERSON YOU KNOW THAT RIGHT? (but he doesn't and neither do his fans)). Right now all of his exit interviews have a lot of him defending his comments that it's perverted for Dumbledore to be gay because he's around kids [link to TMZ], my favorite of which is this one with Entertainment Weekly (featuring bonus Daniele! and also Survivor talk), where he finally gets frustrated and says my subject line, which incidentally will be my answer to any discussion I want out of from now until the rest of EVER.
But, well, Jeff's fans didn't see anything wrong with what he said, because he's in the HOUSE and EMOTIONS RUN HIGH THERE and YOU AREN'T YOURSELF WHEN YOU'RE PLAYING THE GAME and etc. etc. etc.
I am not entirely sure how that correlates to trying to ruin Shelly's real life, but well, I'm not a Jeff fan. Some things I am just destined not to know.
This is normally where I'd just leave it at this, because it is CREEPY and I think it's important that people outside of our fandom know so that the fandomwide shunning can begin. But I also think it's more than that, because it's making me evaluate how I approach the show and the fandom itself.
I get emotionally invested. I probably get emotionally OVERinvested. I care about these characters, and love them and hate them the same way I love or hate someone on Vampire Diaries or Community or Fringe. I want less story about Peter, I want more screen time for Britta, I want Katherine to beat every single person in Mystic Falls, and (shocker!) I want Dani to be successful in everything ever. But I'm not the level of emotionally invested where I want to rain fiery vengeance down upon Jeff's head (except with the Audience Favorite monetary prize at the end of the season, and y'all, if you love me at ALL, I will be posting all the information, VOTE DANI). So it's very easy for me to be judgey.
But the divide can't be that simple, can it? Nothing can be that simple.
I lurk at Survivor Sucks. I lurk and occasionally comment at ONTDBB. Those aren't exactly known for being kind to reality participants, and while I take issue with a lot of what they say, I pretty much don't expend the energy to argue it (with a few exceptions- ahahahaha, the day I argued that Kalia isn't fat, THAT WAS FUN). And while I work hard not to be a dick, I'm sure more than a few of my comments on Twitter have crossed the line.
To go even further: I think that saying someone on the show is abusive is wrong. Period. But back when Brendon was in the house, I also found myself saying, more than once, that his treatment of Rachel was controlling and borderline emotionally abusive. I believe that too.But I saw it happening in a very specific controlled circumstance; is it fair to say that their relationship seems emotionally abusive? Obviously, it's nowhere near the demonstrably false personal attack that Shelly abuses her daughter- but it's still an accusation that I'm making. How can I say that one is valid and the other is beyond the pale?
Oh, don't get me wrong, I have many reasons. I can say it because I'm not crossing the fourth wall and bringing in people who aren't characters in this whole melodrama (but if she was interviewed on screen, isn't Josie, technically, a character in this?). I can say it because I understand that what we see isn't necessarily the whole picture (but how do I know these people don't too and they just express that differently than I do?). I can say it because I'm talking about what I saw versus what I am MAKING UP WHOLESALE SERIOUSLY PEOPLE YOU ARE TERRIBLE (I don't even have a question here except HOW ARE YOU SO HORRIBLE?).
But it's still a blurry line, and I think it's probably good that I'm sometimes forcibly reminded of that.
I just think there are better ways of reminding me than THREATENING AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD CHILD AND ACCUSING HER MOTHER OF ABUSE. Jeez Louise.
My level of investment in the show plummeted the second Dani left, to an actually much more enjoyable viewing experience where I'm not devastated by anyone's success or failure (except that Dani HAS TO WIN THE AUDIENCE PRIZE, YOU GUYS, I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING, COME ON). But the things people are doing to Shelly makes me feel sketchy even watching the show. I really never had an issue with the morality of reality television- these are consenting adults making choices- but man, sometimes it feels like fans exist just to challenge my right to enjoy my stupid guilty pleasure.
Also, I cannot believe how little I've posted this BB season. I appear to be keeping that to Twitter. What has HAPPENED to me? I had nothing to link back to in this post as reference! I am so ashamed.
If you are bored by all of this, perhaps I can interest you in my thread at the Anon or Not Love Meme? :D? :D?
Cross-posted at http://fox1013.dreamwidth.org/65744.html. Comment wherever you feel more comfortable.