Hurtful Things on Forums

So I am going to have a rant right here, right now.  Don’t try to stop me. 

 

Disclaimer: Being the second series of Beauty and the Geek Australia and the gazillionth season throughout the world, the contestants obviously knew what they were getting themselves into.  They knew they were going to be filmed 24 hours a day over multiple weeks, that editing would occur and all the like.  So please don’t comment on this blog entry highlighting this fact.  Yes, I agree with you.

 

Now, you hear people come out of reality TV shows saying ‘it was all in the editing and that was not what I was really like’.  I always used to laugh at those people and say ‘Yeah right. You said those things, acted in that way, take responsibility for your actions’. But in all honesty, think of this.  You are filmed 24 hours a day for a week, which gets condensed into a 50 min TV show of which maybe 5 mins max will be footage of you.  So you can see you can take the smartest or rudest or geekiest or funniest 5 mins of all your footage and edit your character into whatever you want.  However, no-one and I mean no-one can fully understand this until it happens to you.

 

But that is not the reason for my ranting.  I am really sick of reading all of the negative stuff that gets said about Beauty and the Geek contestants.  They are acting, no-one can be that stupid, he is not a real geek, she is not really beautiful blah blah blah.  This season it has happened to Daniel the most with not being a real geek. Most footage of Daniel has only been about pursuing Kara and Ellie.  If any geek had a crush on a girl then they would still give it a shot.  Yes they would be awkward and probably get turned down.  Just because Daniel actually succeeded does not make him any less of a geek.  Are you saying that it is impossible for a geek to ever get a girl? So geeks never get married? So that makes me screwed then doesn’t it?  Lol.  But with the story of Daniel, just remember that you have only seen a small part of what went down.  How long did he pursue Kara for?  Maybe it was only the first night in the mansion that he sat with her under the blanket and maybe the kiss with Ellie was a lot later in episode 3.  That would be acceptable, but we don’t know what really happened.  I don’t even know, but everyone should know not to judge people before knowing the truth.  It may appear that I am defending Daniel but I am not. I am defending all of the contestants about saying hurtful things on forums etc without knowing the truth.  Just enjoy Beauty and the Geek for the fact it is interesting TV.       

 

The contestants went onto the show to try and improve themselves.  Putting their lives in the public eyes, especially as geeks, is very tough to do.  Then you read all of the horrible and hurtful lies all over the forums about the contestants.  Geeks have been teased a lot before and then to be ridiculed in these forums does not help.  I think that people are entitled to their own opinions, don’t get me wrong, but just remember that you are affecting the contestants lives and it can be really hurtful.  It does no-one any benefit when you write stuff like this on an open forum.  I was lucky last year as the worst I got was ‘Jeremy is boring’ or ‘Jeremy with his spray tan looks like an Oompa-Loompa’. 

 

So in conclusion to my ranting:

  1. People can have their negative opinions, but no-one wants to read about them in forums.  It is only hurtful 
  2. No, the show is not fake and neither are any of the contestants.
  3. Whilst the show is about self improvement for the contestants, for the audience it is light hearted, fun and heartwarming.  Just enjoy it for that, and don’t overanalyze things.

 

Ranting over J        

About the author

Let me start of by welcoming you to Aussie Geeks!

My name is Jeremy Reading and you may or may not know as the winner of the first season of Beauty and the Geek Australia.

Season 2 of Beauty and the Geek is starting, and I am going to be blogging a bit of a run down on each of the episodes as a recap for anyone who missed the show. Plus I will be providing:

my thoughts on the contestants,
who I think will win,
what I really think is happening behind the scenes,
who may be in an alliance with whom,
my thoughts on the challenges.

I will also be happy to answer any questions that people may have. I will even try to get in contact with the contestants and ask a few questions.
More from this author »

  • James

    Spot on mate :D Sadly though, no amount of ranting can change the likes of mean forum go-ers. It happens because people want to dish out some attention grabbing critiscm, which is seen all too often than compliments.

    Question: Compared to the ‘Oompa-Loompa’ and ’boring’ critiscm - It was probably much worse for yourself, when the leading chess players in Australia gave you some backlash over on another forum/discussion blog, right? Ouch.

  • Jeremy

    Yeah, I forgot about that stuff on the chess forum.   I thought that the chess community would have been more supportive.   I think they were just jealous. :)

  • AbrahamShreddy

    Hi Jeremy … I liked your rant … makes a lot of sense … it made me think of Dan’s response to Kara when he started to talk about how he had been treated (by her I assume) the past week but his partner, Donna, cut him off, I assume by advising him to leave it … I’m no fan of Dan (only from how he has been portrayed on the show) but it seems there may be more to the ‘story’ we have been shown … let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.  I love the show for all the emotions it brings out in me in just one eipsode … anything that makes me laugh (a lot), cry, cringe, shout at the TV & then be so heart warming with how genuine, sincere, gentlemanly & humble some of the contestants can be really is something unique to be enjoyed, valued & admired.  Of course, some like to pull other things down, especially when successful, but I would like to ignore them & let them go off on their own little tangent & in the meantime, those whom are having fun with it all, stick together & enjoy ourselves to the max!  Leave the rest to their own.  I recognise you take it a bit personally due to your close connection/association to the show but let it go babe.  PS: How totally cute is Thomas?  He is my fav this year.  Toby was last year (sorry, you were a close second).  I especially love how well spoken & thoughtful the Geeks are.  Go Geeks!

  • Jeb

    I know where you’re coming from with your rant Jeremy but got to totally disagree with you on your overall principle.

    You say that people know what they are getting themselves into when they go on reality tv shows but you only make reference to the editing. People should also know that they are putting themselves out there to be judged, criticised etc. Whether they say it in their loungeroom or to their workmates, or write it on a forum or say it to the persons face (and believe me I’ve seen it get vicious with old big brother contestants) the critique happens. It’s inevitable that we’ll have our favs and the people we think are tools. Yes some of the judgement will be negative. Reatlity tv has been around long enough to know this.

    I actually can imagine how it is to be at the mercy of editing and getting filmed 24 hours a day. What we see isn’t anything like what actually goes on and the character that we see is nothing like the real person. They are just that – a character. Sometimes people are portrayed really unfairly and for this reason I would never go on reality tv myself and would have huge concerns about anyone I care about going on. However that is only the downside – on the flipside you can improve yourself, have a great experience, and whether you win or not, there are further opportunities for success. Pros and cons. On that point it’s worth noting that a lot of the ‘villain’ type characters translate their notoriety into success. They are often the most talked about/memorable eg chris b from masterchef or evil russell from survivor. Interesting that corrin enjoyed the publicity.

    So to conclude my rant:

    1. Signing up for a reality show is like an implicit contract that you’re putting yourself out there to be judged, critiqued. And some of the judgement will be negative. If you can’t take it then don’t sign up. Sign up if you think the pros outweigh the cons.

    2. Criticism happens whether it’s written on a forum or not. Giving your opinion on something is fun. 

    3. People are commenting on the character the editing/set-up presents us with. They aren’t refering to the real person so don’t take it so seriously.