Over the past few days in the Big Brother 15 house, racism and homophobia have reared their ugly heads loudly. Several of the Big Brother 2013 cast members have openly made racist and homophobic comments seemingly without any consequences, as Zap2It.com noted in a recent article. Should CBS Big Brother take action against these HouseGuests for using hate speech heard by thousands of fans on the Big Brother Live Feeds? Or should the Big Brother 15 cast be allowed to say whatever they feel like, no matter what?
Big Brother racism and homophobia are hardly new issues to arise in season 15. There have been plenty of HouseGuests in the past, including favorite players such as Jeff Schroeder from Big Brother 11 and 13, who have been guilty of spewing anti-gay and/or racist commentary caught on the Big Brother Live Feeds.
On both seasons of Big Brother he played on, Jeff made repeated homophobic comments, including a rant against J.K. Rowling for announcing that Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter books was gay. “He’s in school with little kids,” Jeff said on the Live Feeds in an argument with a fellow HouesGuest. “You don’t want to make that guy gay!” He went on to bash a HouseGuest who chastised him over the statement, saying, “Don’t start with that f***ing s**t! Don’t tell me the right answer for f***ing TV!”
In response to Jeff’s rant, CBS issued a statement saying the player’s statement “does not represent the views or opinions of CBS or the producers.” The network also said that “at times, the HouseGuests make comments, reveal prejudices and other beliefs that we do not condone.” So far, that seems to be the same standard CBS is sticking with this season.
On Big Brother 15, we are starting to stack up examples of blatant homophobia and racism going out on the Big Brother Live Feeds. (Naturally, this stuff is all edited out for the actual CBS Big Brother shows.) On of our biggest disappointments in this area was Spencer, who we really liked from his initial audition interviews, but lost our favor completely when he called Andy a “f**” to his face on the Live Feeds. He also called the female HouseGuests “c***s,” which was only slightly less disgusting than Jeremy calling them “bitches” and “meat wallets.” Aaryn also made a snarky comment about gays, saying that Andy would probably win Most Valuable Player next because “people love the queers.” Amanda called Andy “f***ty Ann” and laughed over it.
On the sadly racist side of the fence, we have Aaryn, GinaMarie and Kaitlin bashing the two black players in the house, Howard and Candice: “Blacks stick together… They’re like tokens… They’re like black Barbie and Ken.” GM has refers nastily to Candice’s “blackness” showing and Aaryn has mocked Candice’s accent, saying that she needed to say “asked, not axed.” GM also said Helen’s eyes needed to be straightened by a punch in the face (we missed that comment but Huff Po caught it) and Aaryn said Helen should “go make some rice.” Kaitlin used the n-word when talking to Amanda and then was worried about saying it but Amanda thought it was no big deal. David said on Sunday that the sheets on one of the beds smelled because of “black Candice.”
CBS may have actually decided the racism and homophobia is getting to be a bit much this season, although the network has not issued any statements about it so far. However, it appears they have warned the Big Brother 2013 cast members about what they have been saying. On Sunday night, Amanda mocked the Big Brother 15 house “voice” when it came on to make an announcement, “Houseguests, just a reminder…” by interrupting it to say “Do not make racial slurs against other HouseGuests.” So, obviously, the HGs have been talked to about it. Any warnings they received, however, seem to have failed to take effect. Not long after this incident, Aaryn and GinaMarie were back at it again while talking about Candice.
“Candice is definitely on the dark side [of the house] because she’s already dark,” BigBrotherNetwork.com reported GM saying. “Be careful what you say in the dark, might not be able to see the bitch,” Aaryn replied. Kaitlin was sitting in on this conversation and didn’t appear to be bothered one bit.
While some outraged Big Brother fans have been calling for CBS to shut the offensive HouseGuests up — or even throw a couple of them out on their butts, one former Big Brother player doesn’t think they should be censored or punished at all. Season 12 competitor Ragan Fox wrote an open letter to CBS saying that the network should let the HouseGuests say and do whatever they want. Even better, he thinks some of these comments should be aired on the actual CBS Big Brother primetime show.
“If you really want to provide a groundbreaking twist,” Ragan said,” SHOW CBS VIEWERS HOW SOME STRAIGHT, WHITE PEOPLE talk about gays, Asian Americans, and African Americans. Capitalize on the Paula Deen controversy! Hate speech is currently a hot topic in the United States. It would be irresponsible to punt on this issue.”
Ragan calls out Aaryn especially because of her all-American, girl-next-door persona and how it makes her homophobia and racism “especially insidious… packaged in a bright-eyed, pageant-like exterior. I mean, how can somebody so sweet looking spew so much venom? Viewers would have to SEE it to BELIEVE IT.”
Do agree with Ragan that CBS should not forbid the HouseGuests from making racist or homophobic comments or censor them when they do? Should CBS even go so far as to air some of this content on the primetime show? Tell us what you think in the comments section below!
