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BBAU Rewatch

Emma is honestly one of my favourite housemates and fuck that huge 70+% that evicted her.
I've no doubts that a lot of those evict votes were just people angling for a mercy boot. I have vague memories of the media at the time being really heavy on the "how could you keep this girl in the dark???" narrative.

Also, my own recent rewatch of early-2007 shows to me that they were really heavily pushing for a female winner from day one. I think they wanted Hayley to be the winner initially (her entry interview about being a law student and "not just a bogan" stood out to me on rewatch), but her sheen fell off very quickly after Demet entered and there was that "just keep playing the game" blow-up. Even just watching the first couple of weeks you could see:
  1. All the women enter the house first, so our first impression of the male HMs is filtered through their early judgments.
  2. Hayley gets a lot of (very positive) content in the first couple of weeks, while the male HMs take a supporting role.
  3. I think the parenting task was meant to give Kate a sympathetic edit, but there was really no saving her after her initial clashes with Emma
  4. "Territory tough" TJ was clearly meant to be the one to knock the larrikin boys down a peg, but the viewing audience didnt seem to want that.
  5. The White Room entry felt really rigged for Demet or Kara to go in (moreso Demet than Kara).

Following that, in the later stages of the season I remember things such as.
  1. First intruders both being female. I think they expected something different out of Laura but my memory is that Daniela was generally shown in a positive light.
  2. The late-game, ongoing narrative of Aleisha being the last girl and the "ISN'T IT TIME???" message the producers kept beating over our heads.
  3. (memory may serve me incorrectly, but wasn't there a "only male housemates can be nominated" week?)
Not to detract from Aleisha as the winner at all. I just found it really interesting to see how it was structured. Granted, there was probably less producer manipulation then than there would've been now given live feed availability would've hindered the ability to manufacture certain narratives. But you can tell by the way certain events were presented and who was getting airtime that prod wanted a female winner.
 
Also, my own recent rewatch of early-2007 shows to me that they were really heavily pushing for a female winner from day one.
I pretty much agree with 100% of that. Nice pick up on Hayley, I got the same feel and did seem to like her in the beginning. Her edit was very positive, same with Daniela. Also agree on the white room, having the house vote for the person to enter looked to me to prevent someone like Harrison going in.

And yes, after Laura was evicted and due to Michelle being immune as an intruder, the week nominations would have meant there were only two females eligible to be nominated. So, Big Brother gave Aleisha and Daniela immunity and decided only the males could be nominated. I'm not totally against it, at this point in my watch I am over the boys group. Aleisha would have been fine regardless, but Daniela, I'll speak more about it when I write up my individual thoughts but she gets very lucky to have lasted as long as she did.

But I largely agree with the push for a female winner. Aleisha had a great chance regardless, but they did what they could to push for it.
 
Yeah It was either the double that got rid of Andrew and Thomas or around that time, and we only had Aleisha and either Daniela or Michelle left out of the girls, they did the 'Males only' nominations as a bit of a desperate move.

I also felt taking Rebecca out as well as Emma that week really left another gap in the storylines IMO.
 
I also felt taking Rebecca out as well as Emma that week really left another gap in the storylines IMO.
I felt this too. Michelle was a great addition that does assist in filling in the gap, but without Emma and Rebecca, a lot of what had developed in the first half has now disappeared into nothing. Zach has been great for Aleisha and somewhat Billy, Michelle has a fun antagonist against Andrew. But it's starting to slow especially now that I am passed Laura being evicted. I am still really enjoying it, but I am waiting for it to run out of steam at any time now.
 
I am still really enjoying it, but I am waiting for it to run out of steam at any time now.
Again, my recent rewatch of 07 was mostly just the first month or so, but the characters left in the back half never seemed to really have legs to start with. I tried to track the edgic of BB07 during my last rewatch, given how much is made about "playing the game" this season compared to any before it, and this is what the final 7 looked like through the first four weeks

Screen Shot 2022-03-07 at 3.49.07 pm.png
(underlined/bolded HMs are nominees for that week)

Which just goes to show, there was some benefit in staying under the radar to start with during the Vote to Evict era. IIRC Joel's OTT was merely due to week 4 being the sleeping task and his edit was "Joel is tired and keeps falling asleep". But it shows that the editors somewhat protected Aleisha through the early weeks to avoid her getting smeared by Emma, and that the brightest stars burn out the fastest.

(edgic would be really interesting in a 2013 rewatch just to see how VTS keeps around bigger characters like Tim, Tahan and Tully)

Also, looking down my edgic chart, I completely saw the Bodey situation differently to you, @Zcsund1234 - I had both him and Hayley as MORN for that week, but as I was kind of summarising week to week, it makes sense that he probably balanced out to a negative.
 
Again, my recent rewatch of 07 was mostly just the first month or so, but the characters left in the back half never seemed to really have legs to start with. I tried to track the edgic of BB07 during my last rewatch, given how much is made about "playing the game" this season compared to any before it, and this is what the final 7 looked like through the first four weeks

View attachment 57546
(underlined/bolded HMs are nominees for that week)

Which just goes to show, there was some benefit in staying under the radar to start with during the Vote to Evict era. IIRC Joel's OTT was merely due to week 4 being the sleeping task and his edit was "Joel is tired and keeps falling asleep". But it shows that the editors somewhat protected Aleisha through the early weeks to avoid her getting smeared by Emma, and that the brightest stars burn out the fastest.

(edgic would be really interesting in a 2013 rewatch just to see how VTS keeps around bigger characters like Tim, Tahan and Tully)

Also, looking down my edgic chart, I completely saw the Bodey situation differently to you, @Zcsund1234 - I had both him and Hayley as MORN for that week, but as I was kind of summarising week to week, it makes sense that he probably balanced out to a negative.
Wow I love this. I tried to edge 2001 but it was a lot of toneless MOR and UTR. I may one day try to do it again in stages. It is harder to give a BB housemate a CP edgic ratings when there isn't a lot of complexity shown in one episode, it's more across the entire season. I started reflecting on the final 7 and your edge strip does not surprise me, a lot of the end game finalists are very subdued in the edit. With Emma gone I guess Aleisha is the right person to win, maybe Travis could have been too, but Emma for me should have won but obviously was never going to.

In regards to Bodie I never saw him as positive, I viewed him as OTTN, but I do see why you had him as MORN. Would love to see the rest of the chart.
 
Wow I love this. I tried to edge 2001 but it was a lot of toneless MOR and UTR. I may one day try to do it again in stages. It is harder to give a BB housemate a CP edgic ratings when there isn't a lot of complexity shown in one episode, it's more across the entire season. I started reflecting on the final 7 and your edge strip does not surprise me, a lot of the end game finalists are very subdued in the edit. With Emma gone I guess Aleisha is the right person to win, maybe Travis could have been too, but Emma for me should have won but obviously was never going to.

In regards to Bodie I never saw him as positive, I viewed him as OTTN, but I do see why you had him as MORN. Would love to see the rest of the chart.
I figured week-to-week was probably a better way of tracking than day-to-day, as I feel like each week kinda has its own storylines based on tasks, the noms for that week, who was evicted and how it affects the house, etc.

That way you can kind of plot out who is being complex and rounded out over the week, while also sort of appreciating how a character develops over a season. For example, Hayley was a clear CPP week one but started sliding into negative toning for weeks 3 and 4, while I had Demet CP toneless for week 3 with all of her undermining of Hayley and Andrew, which wasn’t really toned as negative or positive either way. Most people do end up MOR or UTR, but you can see toning emerge.

I’m like halfway done with week 5 for it and have a bit of time on my hands, so I’ll get back into doing it and make it something I can contribute to the thread :)
 
I figured week-to-week was probably a better way of tracking than day-to-day, as I feel like each week kinda has its own storylines based on tasks, the noms for that week, who was evicted and how it affects the house, etc.

That way you can kind of plot out who is being complex and rounded out over the week, while also sort of appreciating how a character develops over a season. For example, Hayley was a clear CPP week one but started sliding into negative toning for weeks 3 and 4, while I had Demet CP toneless for week 3 with all of her undermining of Hayley and Andrew, which wasn’t really toned as negative or positive either way. Most people do end up MOR or UTR, but you can see toning emerge.

I’m like halfway done with week 5 for it and have a bit of time on my hands, so I’ll get back into doing it and make it something I can contribute to the thread :)
It's great to see some edgy discussion for BBAU. I wish I stuck with it as BB4 onward would probably be easier to edgic. When I was doing BB1 it was constant OTT for Sara-Marie and MORP for Ben and Blair. The only person who I was giving CP to was Christina. But I also agree on your point in regards to strategy. This cast seems to be discussing the game more than ever even without nominations, I don't even think this is because of the new twist or the rewards room discussion. I think this cast was the most strategically save of the initial groups.
 
It's great to see some edgy discussion for BBAU. I wish I stuck with it as BB4 onward would probably be easier to edgic. When I was doing BB1 it was constant OTT for Sara-Marie and MORP for Ben and Blair. The only person who I was giving CP to was Christina. But I also agree on your point in regards to strategy. This cast seems to be discussing the game more than ever even without nominations, I don't even think this is because of the new twist or the rewards room discussion. I think this cast was the most strategically save of the initial groups.
BB04 or 05-onwards would certainly be clearer than BB01. When the show moved away from being a zoo and towards being a circus (still love that apt analogy by Peter Abbott), that's when we started getting more soapy-style crafting of storylines and characters.

I think I'll do 13 and 05 (for OTTM Vesna and to see how Tim crafts his edit from within) after I finish 2007 - just because I think these would provide interesting studies into how different characters could be perceived.
 

I watched this a few days ago but it's a key moment I have always remembered. At 8:59 Travis has a conversation with Zach about finding love and homosexuality. Travis takes Zach by surprise with how open and accepting he is, even talking about how his son may be gay and he needs to be aware of that. It's a very warming moment where Travis truly challenges stereotypes and shows he has no mean bone in his body.
 

3:42 is a fight I had read about years ago before watching the series but hadn't seen any of it before my initial watch. I had read about Michelle and how she was evicted with a whopping 92% and was said to be the most hated housemate ever. Watching her, I liked her and found her funny which made me feel as if she was a great replacement for Emma. I have since forgotten a lot about this fight and again, now I remember going from loving Michelle to really hating her.

I hate people who dismiss those for being younger, I hate people who don't understand everyone bears their own cross and burdens. Michelle dismissing Aleisha's hard comings in life was disgusting. A 33-year-old mother talking down to someone like that, criticising her coping mechanisms in the house, berating her when speaking and then telling her off for doing hardly anything similar? Michelle lost me there.

If you've made someone that angry to the point they're crying and saying they don't want to talk to you, step away. It's not hard to figure out what to do there. I agree with everything Aleisha said about her, Michelle was too on her high horse, couldn't handle other people's opinions and had a very uneducated perception of human interaction. Watching a person come at someone multiple times going on and on and continuing to gaslight them is not enjoyable to watch. At least Emma went out of her way to avoid conflict and was just bitchy. Michelle came across as if her mission was to disagree and ensure people agreed with her before she was satisfied.

Maybe it is because I am Aleisha's age so I am more likely to agree with her naturally, but I have met many younger people who have been through shit in life and there is no reason to use age as a means to measure experiences in life. Age is a quantifiable measure of how long you have lived, not an indication of what hardships may have occurred towards you. I may be biased and from reading it was compressed into a shorter segment than how long it actually occurred for, but I still can't look at that and not feel sorry for Aleisha. Maybe the editing did get me, but I don't see how that naturally would have occurred and Michelle not looking bad.

This episode made Aleisha come out looking almost perfectly likeable after that. Michelle, not so much. After this, I can see how Aleisha would have managed to set her popularity in concrete and convert anyone who didn't like her because of Emma. Michelle was doomed after this. I can appreciate a character who stirs people but that was borderline aggressive.
 
I watched this a few days ago but it's a key moment I have always remembered. At 8:59 Travis has a conversation with Zach about finding love and homosexuality. Travis takes Zach by surprise with how open and accepting he is, even talking about how his son may be gay and he needs to be aware of that. It's a very warming moment where Travis truly challenges stereotypes and shows he has no mean bone in his body.

Its also fairly evident iirc when Nick first went into the house, watch Travis reaction just innocently goes 'Are you a gay bloke Nick?' almost like this semi fascination 'ooh I get to talk to a gay person and get to know them' kinda vibe. I think they also touched on it in the BBBA podcast.
 
Ah yeah I remember that fight, It was kinda similar point to the David/Perry thing from the year before, only Aleisha just wanted to get away from Michelle but she wasn't standing down.

There was another one I can't exactly recall in the moment what it was over with Renee and Bianca the following year too in 2008.

I think you've passed it too but I think the Podcast had a field day with Jamie on the nominations show with Gretel and it was a bit wacky or something.
 
Also I don't think I'd heard of Edgic before but looked it up (looks like originated as a Survivor thing) that's a very interesting way to analyse and map out a watch of the season. :)
 
There was another one I can't exactly recall in the moment what it was over with Renee and Bianca the following year too in 2008.
Ah yes. The boob war.

Also I don't think I'd heard of Edgic before but looked it up (looks like originated as a Survivor thing) that's a very interesting way to analyse and map out a watch of the season. :)
I was hardcore into it for a stretch of seasons, but because it has become such a reliable way of picking a winner of US Survivor (to the point where several seasons just became snorefests waiting for someone to eventually waltz their way to the win), I started moving away from it and instead just wanted to watch the season to enjoy it.

It's still an interesting practice in studying character creation in reality TV.
 
I think you've passed it too but I think the Podcast had a field day with Jamie on the nominations show with Gretel and it was a bit wacky or something.
His eviction interview and nominations show appearance were a bit uncomfortable. He was extremely excited and enjoying and Gretel was so unnecessarily rude to him. She was compelled dismissive of everything he said, played devil's advocate to each response and just seemed to completely hate him. I was so confused by it and don't remember it being that bad but she appeared as if she didn't want to be within two meters of him.
 
His eviction interview and nominations show appearance were a bit uncomfortable. He was extremely excited and enjoying and Gretel was so unnecessarily rude to him. She was compelled dismissive of everything he said, played devil's advocate to each response and just seemed to completely hate him. I was so confused by it and don't remember it being that bad but she appeared as if she didn't want to be within two meters of him.
To be fair, while I agree it was uncomfortable and don't think Gretel's attitude toward him live on air was appropriate, Jamie tried WAY too hard to "play" the audience/house. When his acting career and training came to light on the outside, his game fell apart.

He very much attempted a Tim Brunero tactic during his time on the show (even though that particular detail wasn't public knowledge at the time). But, unlike Tim, Jamie's playing the "nerd card" all the time and during every live cross was far too transparent and just came across fake. I think it rubbed Gretel the wrong way because she, like a lot of viewers, could see right through it.

Gretel's behavior may have been uncomfortable, but in my opinion Jamie's was also just as uncomfortable inducing.
 
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