"Can I just say that I disliked you, from the very beginning..."

Rebecca Wilson

A few weeks ago, much fuss was made when Nobbi and his gang of crows happily set young Travis up in the spa. What the Kombi King did in this scenario was to basically set up face-to-face friction between two people, in order to satisfy a sadistic agenda. Many different people called it many different things, but "bullying" seemed to be the general conclusion, and, try as it might, the show could not keep their marketable male clown. Nobbi was evicted. The next night, many fans were somewhat amazed to see him being treated like a superstar on Mondays' Big Mouth. All panelists agreed that regardless of a couple of naughty moments - like, say, deliberately sexually unnerving a 50 year old woman, or bullying a defenseless, innocent young man - Nobbi was just an all-round great guy and, as Jackie O had already declared him on the eviction stage, a "fantastic housemate". And that was Nobbi - we thought the question of bullying might begin to fade from the proceedings. We were wrong. Every year, there is a dinkum die crucifixion, a fully fledged flogging, that the show creates a deliberate spectacle out of and, for the most part, is almost entirely responsible for. We got 2008's, last night. And, when all is said and done, they sacrificed the wrong guy: flamboyant bogan-with-a-pop-spiritual-twist, Terrence. For all that may have been... well... unbecoming about Terrence (for the most part, aspects that paled in comparison to some of the vile creatures he shared the house with), he really didn't deserve it.

As it turns out, this time, I'm actually one of the last to jump on the furore bandwagon over this incident - in fact, I had given up on Big Mouth, altogether, and was left to watch the scandal on Youtube (God bless Youtube!). Given this, I decided to wait a day, anyway, and watch the reactions unfold, to see what was being left out by those taking to forumboards and talkback, etc. What always happens in these scandals is that everyone becomes incredibly focused on the actual incident, at the expense of standing back and looking at the bigger picture. It happened in Camillagate, and it's happening here. You have to join the dots, if you really want to understand it properly, and that's what I'm about to do, here.

The first thing we need to remember is that the crucifixion of Terrence was not something that suddenly kicked in, two nights ago. Terrence's character was being slowly assassinated, from the minute he stepped into that house. Truth be told, that's why he was there - to be crucified - as is the history of intruders, who are generally brought in only to cause a stir and some controversy, before being promptly - and often, quite brutally - evicted. Even Terrence knew this, telling Jackie O; "The minute I realised I was going in as an intruder, I knew I wouldn't have very long, and I'd be out before I knew it." He was right. Let that be a lesson to you, BB kiddies: if you ever get the chance and get that call, but it turns out to be the chance as an intruder, you might want to give serious consideration to the potential nature of your opportunity. Unless you're a beautiful Aussie surfer boy, you're chances aren't going to be great. Only Zach has managed to escape the intruder fate - which was a miracle, considering that he, too, was most certainly placed in there as a character of revulsion, but actually managed to make it work for him. But most don't, and Terrence now lies, buried by the rubble, with every other intruder the show has quite deliberately strung up.  

Big Mouth - the failed "panel" show that will be very unlikely to return, next year, even if this lame attempt for attention manages to lift ratings (it could potentially achieve a short spike, next week) - was a primary part of the impending crucifixion of Terrence, and Rebecca Wilson was immediately put to work for the show's plan, which was to cast Terrence as a "sleazey sex tourist". They're pretty strong words to use (the worst of its implications being that Terrence is, in fact, a kind of sexual predator - something that would finally come to the boil, this week), but she used them, repeatedly. Truth be told, Terrence is anything but. Terrence is actually a married, middle-aged, Aussie working-class male who has responded to his middle-age by adopting a staunch philosophical approach that (apart from dipping its toe in a range of pseudo-spiritual nonsense, such as The Secret, etc) is quite defiant about the double standards of age in his society. It is, at the end of the day, obviously smacking of mid-life crisis stuff, but, even so, there's a valid argument to be made, and Terrence approached his time on the show - that would be spent surrounded by young people, on a show so loved by young people - with this clearly in mind, arriving on stage with his "Give old farts a go" shirt. 

He would have been able to decipher that this was why he was being put in there, as the show now is quite open to housemates about what their "role" is to be (and has been for a while, it must be said). Terrence was to represent his generation - he knew that, in the same way it was revealed during last night's Big Mouth that Brigette had been told by the show how to "behave" (thanks, Albert, but they probably weren't expecting you to come out with that!). But this is where the manipulation really kicks in, because what Terrence thought that role would be, and "how" it would be used, was very different to how it actually was. And that was always the plan, on the show's part. They discussed with him whether he would shower naked, and he signed a contract to the effect. These contracts are, in themselves, a form of bullying, on the show's part, to get the material they need. Audition processes make it very clear that your chance is conditional, and though the show would hardly be able to take legal action against someone because they signed a piece of paper assuring them they would be naked, it knows very well that it works in making these people come through on their "promises", and they walk into the house knowing exactly what is expected of them (most of these people are completely unfamiliar with legal contracts of such kind; whilst many others are simply so desperate to get on the show, they don't blink an eyelid in complying). He was going to shower naked, as a symbol of his defiance of age standards. If the young Aussie stud could stand in the shower, in all is glory, why couldn't Terrence?

This actually led to what has been my favourite classic moment of this year's evictions, when Terrence was asked, "So why did you shower naked?"

"Because I signed a contract saying I would," he replied. "And I am a man of integrity, and I always keep my word."

Oh, dear. Little did he know what the show had always intended to do with that promise of his. In the end, the irony is that it was all they had - take away the naked showering, and there was really nothing else to use to cast him as that "sleazy sex tourist" and (even worse, really) the "dirty old man".  But that was enough. For four weeks, we were bombarded with scenes of Terrence's naked body, all designed to repulse the audience and slowly control the publics perception of Terrence as a "pervert". Nobody ever really considered the hypocrisy in the young housemates' negative reactions to this. And, in particular, we were conveniently robbed of context, as the show hammered us with that infamous shot of Terrence walking outside with his underwear wedged up his ass, his chest puffed out like a peacock. It was actually a defiant parody of Rory, who struts around in his G-string to much implied applause from his peers. Terrence thought he was being bold and clever. He thought he was being ironic. He was actually walking into a trap.

The thing was, Terrence did actually manage to survive longer than it was wanted. When the bullying and sexual harassment scandals tainted their star males, Terrence was logically offered as the choice Australia should make as to the eviction votes. That's one of the functions of these intruders, as characters of the crucifixion, because one of the problems sighted by the show, as the phenomenon developed, was that the most marketable characters were often lost, towards the end. Intruders are a wonderful diversion, and a way to keep these studs and bimbos away from the portion of the pubic who dislike them, and when Nobbi looked like being banished by an angry public, the show held Terrence up to be evicted, in a desperate attempt to save Nobbi. The anti-Terrence sentiment was turned up a couple of notches on Big Mouth (led, yes, by Wilson, but also supported by all panelists, including Brunero and Squires), as did Kyle aim his wrath at the "dirty old man". But it failed. Terrence sat, victoriously, defiantly, smirking to Sandilands, "They're still interested!"

"I'm not," snapped Sandilands, in return.

Round one goes to Terrence. 

But the loss of Nobbi was one thing. Yes, they lost their clown and the housemate responsible for so much conflict (the currency of BB ratings, at the end of the day), but at least the eviction of Nobbi provided them a spike in interest. Hatred always does that, on Big Brother. When the following nominations this time threw Terrence up against Rory, Terrence had hardly any time to breath before he was, once again, thrown into battle - albeit, without his knowledge (knowing nothing of what was happening, on the outside) - against another housemate the show certainly was not prepared to lose, Rory. 

And so, the previous Monday's Big Mouth set the scene. Firstly, Nobbi arrived, freshly evicted, to the acclaim of all panelists, who had - as they'd been paid to do - supported Nobbi, from the very beginning. When the character of Nobbi had inevitably been questioned by the public, the show was forced to strike a fence-sitting pose; there's no loyalty, and if the public trend threatens the show, roping it into the moral debate, the show is unable to continue its blind attempts to persuade and fashion public affection. This did happen briefly, with Nobbi, as the show wiped its hands clean, as to not be brought down with him. The character of Big Brother was called on (and he's just a character, so let's stop talking about "BB", as if he's real - he isn't!) to put forward a pitiful token effort in reprimanding the Black Crows on their behaviour - both in regards to the spa incident, and then the question of indecent exposure. Big Brother, we were promptly told, does not condone bullying. It does not condone setting up a defenseless individual to be torn apart in a public setting by pitting him against another. The irony of this, in light of last night's episode, has not gone unmissed on the forumboards. 

However, the preferred method of the show is always to ultimately try to devalue the incident in question as not really being a scandal or moral debate, at all. By the time Nobbi was out, it could resume its pose - because, when all is said and done, the show succeeded in avoiding a fully-fledged media and public debate over both incidents - and there he sat, beside Wilson and the gang, being applauded for his entertainment value and for being the victim of those terrible wowsers. "I loved you," Wilson told him. "But then, there was a bit there where things weren't so good... but we loved you... thankyou." 

What we see, here, in these kind of statements is something else I think everyone needs to remember, when looking at these situations. This statement of Wilson's is, rather obviously, putting forward the journey that the show wants the whole thing to be cast as. She's saying what she's paid to, and all of them - every single one of those panelists, hosts, etc - are paid to deliver the spin. They're not free to say whatever they like, nor do they. It's all because the public are easily manipulated, when they think what they're hearing - and often being told to think - comes out of the mouth of someone they perceive as autonomous or objective. That is one of the fundamental dynamics of how propaganda works, and is why the problem of biased journalism and the corruption of the media is such an important issue. Why do politicians want to corrupt and "buy" the voice of media? Because the people believe the media to be "objective". If you can lie to someone through a voice they perceive to be sincere, then you're really onto something, in terms of manipulating the public. It's also why Today Tonight is full of advertorials disguised as journalism, so that people believe the lies these companies tell them, because they don't actually realise it's just another ad. They think it's the product of actual research journalism! It's also why Brunero writes about Big Brother in a "news column" (but we'll get to that, in a minute). So, criticise these individuals, if you want, for selling out as the puppets who are used - for cash and profile - by these businesses. I do. But don't be so naive as to attribute these moments to what Wilson, or Brunero, or any of them, actually think, themselves. Who knows what they really think? It doesn't ever come into the equation. 

Anyway, Wilson would also, many weeks before, flippantly put forward that it was their "right" to change their ideas and evaluations, at the drop of a hat, because, she would have us believe, the show required viewers to be "shallow". Indeed, that is very much a wish of the show! However, the real reason their opinions are so transient - often, so contradictory - is that they are subject to the changes of each week, as the show side-steps PR disasters and endeavours to manipulate the public and media perception for the most marketable outcome. The technique is often to cover the bases by also having someone - quite insignificantly - put forward a shade of something opposite, because this allows them to wipe their hands clean and shrug, "Well, not everyone thought that" (five of them will shout hatred for a designated target, while one will meekly say, "I disagree - I really like him"). But it pales in comparison, and ultimately is nothing more than pre-emptive counter-PR.

And with Nobbi a done deal, the next task of the Big Brother employees was to save Rory, who was now also caught in a scandal of his own - a scandal, ironically, that revolved around his naked showering exploits (confessing that he often masturbated himself to unnerve Terri, and performed the "Helicopter", much to her dismay - something they had opted not to show, originally). Never mind that Rory was now overwhelmingly tipped to go. They were not going to let this one go and join Nobbi, on the outside, where he couldn't create ratings. Nobbi was still sitting at the panel table, when this began. At one point, they even tried to elcit some negativity from Nobbi, in regards to Terrence, but Nobbi actually - to the surprise of many - stood up for the "old fart". 

Well, guess they just have to rely on their own pull with the viewers. This episode of Big Mouth was littered, every step of the way, with blatant anti-Terrence sentiment, and even ended with all of them literally begging the country to vote him out.

"So, are we all unifom on this?" Squires closed the show with; "Terrence to be out, this weekend?" 

The rest of the panel whole-heartedly agreed (including Brunero). 

What many have now overlooked, however, is that as part of this attempt, Wilson offered the public a tantalising reason to SMS "EVICT": she offered the country the chance to see the fireworks, if they would simply comply and effectively seat Terrence next to her, the following week. "Wouldn't it be great to meet him, next week?" she laughed. The confrontation she was alway going to have was finally going to explode in a painfully contrived outburst. There was nothing spontaneous about this week's Big Mouth. The country complied, and Wilson would be left to bring home her promise. That, she did! But that was only half of it.

However, this left five days of public voting, and the strategy was not left to this episode of Big Mouth - its desperate pleas - alone. The other prong of this two-pronged plan was, alongside the assassination of Terrence, the restoration and promotion of Rory. While Wilson spent the next five days talking up Terrence as the dirty old man, someone had to be given the task of addressing the public backlash against Rory's shower escapades. This was given to a rather unlucky Tim Brunero, who, as usual, did as he was told.

Brunero is functional in such instances, because he is paid to essentially communicate propaganda to the "lefties". It is the lefties who are increasingly dangerous for the show, who, while BB battled the "wowser" right-wingers, started getting... well.. vocal about their distaste for the programme. Brunero had struck a deal with LiveNews.com, where he would carry out his tasks for the show, under the pretense of objective journalism. This included such gems as his bizarre attempt to persuade lefties out of criticising the involvement of Corey Worthington, by digging up the Children Overboard scandal (?!), and this week, includes comments "from fansite OHBROTHER.com", without enlightening his readers that this is... well... his own fansite. If I ever write an article for a paper that discusses "readers on fansite eyeonbigbrother.com", you have my permission to shoot me. However, last week was, by far, the most bizarre piece of weekly BB "journalism" he's been paid to deliver, yet - one that would ultimately backfire for him, briefly - when out he came with this little gem , tentatively titled, "Surely Rory's Shower Gaffe Won't Cost Him." I mean, surely?! 

This article would become complex for Brunero, ultimately, for it would begin with the line;

"It’s hard to believe Big Brother housemate Rory would be punted for something as normal as having a shower." 

This article - which called for the "incredibly irritating" Terrence to be evicted in Rory's place - thankfully proved to be sorely underestimating his readership's intelligence, and received quite a backlash, both on the comments for this Livenews article and on that fansite, Ohbrother.com (you know, that one that just happens to be his). Within 24 hours, Brunero returned to a potentially harmful reaction (which the show would have panicked over, considering how "readers' comments" are now used all through the press for BB hatchet jobs), and - as if by magic - Brunero offered the same carefully written response on both the websites it was published on. Now, we were to believe, Brunero had been forced to "re-think" his view, and had been struck by lightning - although, that never led to him making any actual negative comments in regards to this change of heart, one that surely implied he now saw what was so wrong with Rory's actions. He even went as far, on his own site, as to "thank" his readers for enlightening him - but would it be enough? Brunero's function as king of the lefties was now in serious jeopardy. Something would need to done about that, no less. Come the following Big Mouth, something would be. But it was alongside, mind you, a complete retraction of the lightning bolt, with Brunero, in complete contradiction to the "gratitude" to his readers, re-declaring that Rory's behaviour was "nothing", and that those who disliked it were being "silly".

Regardless, Sunday rolled in and... well... we all know what happened, next. It would turn out that, no, as Brunero had mused, Rory's "shower gaffe" had not cost him. Ironically, however, Terrence's "Shower Gaffe" (which Brunero could hardly refer to in an article claiming naked showering to be oh so normal) had. The crucifixion was on. Terrence had been sentenced by the hungry mobs. Now, he was to be marched to his cross, where Wilson and the gang were waiting with spears tainted with the blood of publicity agendas. 

To be continued... now that we've retraced the steps, we'll next examine the actual bloodletting, and, finally, the aftermath. Check back, later.