Reality TV: Big Brother 6 and alcoholism
A client in the reality TV business recently confirmed my suspicions that such TV is purposely filled with likely alcoholics. He said flatly, certain people become so much more interesting for the viewing public when the producers ply the participants with liquor–and the producers no this.
Other than flipping channels, seeing the players in Survivor, and quickly concluding there were many likely alcoholics, I’d never before watched reality TV. I decided to try and see as many Big Brother 6 episodes as I could. I quickly found several likely alcoholics, but slowly discovered a couple of possibilities that I didn’t at first suspect.
First, I’ll the likely non-addicts include James, the loss prevention manager, despite the fact that everyone seems to hate him (for reasons I missed on a prior episode). Kaysar, although he may be a brilliant operator, is probably not. Nor is, probably, Beau (personal shopper), Jennifer, Sarah, April, Rachel (the horse breeder–I’d bet my reputation on her and some of the others), or Maggie (the ER nurse).
Howie, the meteorology student, became the first, most obvious candidate. He exhibits a number of out-of-control behaviors and a hugely inflated ego (“I’m a great looking guy!”). Ashlea, who was kicked off in week 1, had a bit of an ego; we didn’t get a long-enough look at her to confirm or disconfirm likely alcoholism. The fact that she was kicked off so quickly is not an indicator that she might have the disease; in fact, winners are often alcoholics due to their insatiable need to win at any price. Richard Hatch, TV’s first Survivor, is a magnificent case in point.
Michael came under scrutiny because he not only acts like an alcoholic, but accused the ladies of thinking he’s a sexual pervert. If he is such a pervert or is not and falsely accused the ladies, he probably has this disease. I find it hard to fathom Ivette could have the hugely inflated ego and bad attitude she exhibits without alcoholism as the impetus, but there could be other reasons having to do with her lesbianism (yet, her friend Beau, who is gay, exhibits no such identifiable misbehaviors). On the other hand, in talking about Eric, she said “He’s got a good head on his shoulders, just like myself.” She doesn’t hesitate to bad-mouth people she doesn’t like in startlingly extreme language.
One big surprise could be Eric, the firefighter, who began the show with an attitude of humility and slowly developed a growing ego. He exhibited a very bad temper and used some serious foul language, both indicators of addiction in either the subject or someone close. While he may have been reacting as some codependents may to an addict close by (some on the show, perhaps), it may instead have been an incipient alcoholism. I’d love to see his drinking behaviors.
The shocker could be Janelle, the gorgeous cocktail waitress. She smokes and, while laying low in the early weeks, seems to have developed into a superb player. She and Michael became fast friends and she announced on-air that she was breaking up with her boyfriend, who is not a participant. One player said, “Janelle is a better player than Mike because she’s a better liar and has no self-respect.” An ability to lie convincingly and lacking self-respect are trademarks of alcoholism. She is the participant we might want to watch–not so much for her beauty (I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Playboy court her after the show is over), but for the havoc she may yet wreak in her life and the lives of those around her.