chumly
Well-Known Member
Actually I think the four year hiatus brought about a shift in mainstream opinion, as indicated by the popularity of the underdogs last year - Estelle, Bradley, Zoe and Ben. All misfits for different reasons, but not your typical football heroes and lingerie models (neither were Michael and Josh, the alpha males). There have always been fan favourites who didn't fit that mold, but most of the time they dropped away, leaving the boring, big-boobed and beefy behind to clean up the prize money. *Yawn*
I think this year's cannier HMs, such as Tim and Ben have picked up on this trend and are taking full advantage of it. The likes of Ed, Matt and Caleb have made the fatal error of thinking all it takes is muscle. I don't think Ed ever was top dog - Matt has been the self-appointed alpha from the get go.
Both Ben and Tim have positioned themselves as misfits in the house. Ben with all his contrived quirks and by opting out of any in-house hierarchies, and Tim by overtly pitting himself against the "meatheads and models". Whether or not either of them are misfits in a real world sense is debatable, but in the context of the house where you don't really have a typical representation of regular people, they're able to present themselves that way and a lot of people are buying it.
I was talking to someone who made it to the state top twenty in the BB auditions, and as she described the process, I struggled to imagine the Ben as he is in the house - innocent, almost infantile, timid and sensitive - surviving that. In fact, the rigors of living with a group of strangers and filmed 24/7 would be beyond most people with even the mildest social anxiety.
I think Jade is shaping up to be an interesting player. She's projecting herself as a doe-eyed, guileless ingenue, which is kind of convincing despite the fact that she's a lingerie model and reality TV veteran. She has pushed her pursuit of Ed beyond the point where even the most clueless or shameless would have given up - and amazingly, she's the one coming out of it looking good, and Ed's looking like the bad guy. If anyone has toppled Prince Charming from his throne, it's Jade, not Tim. And she hasn't nominated him once. Notice who else is eagerly and overtly trying to get rid of Ed? Tim and Ben. I think Jade's a smart girl who knows that the only kind of attractive female who can survive in the house, is a non-threatening one, so she has positioned herself as a victim of unrequited love. She knows that's the way to get females to vote for her. Clever girl.
I wonder about the people who defend their favourite HMs by saying they're not cluey enough to be this strategic. Why not? If we're able to mull over and identify potential strategies, don't you think anyone keen and ambitious enough to actually make it through the selection process to the house, who has 250k and possible media contracts at stake, wouldn't have actually put some serious thought into how to win? I think people just don't want to believe that the likes of Ben or Jade have some cool-headed strategy brewing. In a way, this is Tim's genius, because he's quite overt about his machinations, whilst still playing some of his cards close to his chest, and making his scheming seem like the pranks of a naughty schoolboy. People like Ben count of hiding their desire to win, but a lot of the time he just comes off as disingenuous and the mainstream public might eventually twig, especially if Tim manages to undermine him without looking like a villain. It's a delicate game this year and it's much more enjoyable to watch the strategising unfold than the ridiculous contrived spectacle of the late night feast and weekly tasks that channel nine seems to think is the primary entertainment.
I think this year's cannier HMs, such as Tim and Ben have picked up on this trend and are taking full advantage of it. The likes of Ed, Matt and Caleb have made the fatal error of thinking all it takes is muscle. I don't think Ed ever was top dog - Matt has been the self-appointed alpha from the get go.
Both Ben and Tim have positioned themselves as misfits in the house. Ben with all his contrived quirks and by opting out of any in-house hierarchies, and Tim by overtly pitting himself against the "meatheads and models". Whether or not either of them are misfits in a real world sense is debatable, but in the context of the house where you don't really have a typical representation of regular people, they're able to present themselves that way and a lot of people are buying it.
I was talking to someone who made it to the state top twenty in the BB auditions, and as she described the process, I struggled to imagine the Ben as he is in the house - innocent, almost infantile, timid and sensitive - surviving that. In fact, the rigors of living with a group of strangers and filmed 24/7 would be beyond most people with even the mildest social anxiety.
I think Jade is shaping up to be an interesting player. She's projecting herself as a doe-eyed, guileless ingenue, which is kind of convincing despite the fact that she's a lingerie model and reality TV veteran. She has pushed her pursuit of Ed beyond the point where even the most clueless or shameless would have given up - and amazingly, she's the one coming out of it looking good, and Ed's looking like the bad guy. If anyone has toppled Prince Charming from his throne, it's Jade, not Tim. And she hasn't nominated him once. Notice who else is eagerly and overtly trying to get rid of Ed? Tim and Ben. I think Jade's a smart girl who knows that the only kind of attractive female who can survive in the house, is a non-threatening one, so she has positioned herself as a victim of unrequited love. She knows that's the way to get females to vote for her. Clever girl.
I wonder about the people who defend their favourite HMs by saying they're not cluey enough to be this strategic. Why not? If we're able to mull over and identify potential strategies, don't you think anyone keen and ambitious enough to actually make it through the selection process to the house, who has 250k and possible media contracts at stake, wouldn't have actually put some serious thought into how to win? I think people just don't want to believe that the likes of Ben or Jade have some cool-headed strategy brewing. In a way, this is Tim's genius, because he's quite overt about his machinations, whilst still playing some of his cards close to his chest, and making his scheming seem like the pranks of a naughty schoolboy. People like Ben count of hiding their desire to win, but a lot of the time he just comes off as disingenuous and the mainstream public might eventually twig, especially if Tim manages to undermine him without looking like a villain. It's a delicate game this year and it's much more enjoyable to watch the strategising unfold than the ridiculous contrived spectacle of the late night feast and weekly tasks that channel nine seems to think is the primary entertainment.