FTF? Is America really so sadistic as to want that hemmeroid ED to stay in the house? I can't stand the sight of him. He is not cool, he is not interesting, he is not "fun to watch"- he is a bully who intimidates, insults and humiliates weaker people. Is this entertainment? The fact that America voted to have Eric evict Dustin over a clear antisocial scumbag like ED is evidence of the same sickness in our culture that celebrates people like Mike Tyson and OJ Simpson.

Shame on all you ED fans. Shame.

• RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,Estee, 09:13 AM, 08-17-07
  • RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,thecrossbowkid, 09:35 AM, 08-17-07
    • RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,Snidget, 10:44 AM, 08-17-07
      • RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,Estee, 10:49 AM, 08-17-07
      • RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,mattben, 08:57 PM, 08-18-07
• RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,shanshan2007, 12:43 PM, 08-17-07
  • RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,agman, 10:33 AM, 08-18-07
    • RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,shanshan2007, 12:14 PM, 08-18-07
      • RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,agman, 12:38 PM, 08-18-07
        • RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,shanshan2007, 01:26 PM, 08-18-07
          • RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,agman, 01:37 PM, 08-18-07
            • RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,shanshan2007, 04:05 PM, 08-18-07
• RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,The Cake, 01:59 PM, 08-17-07
• RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,Aruba, 07:13 AM, 08-18-07
• RE: America, YOU SUCK!!!!,maryellennaco, 04:18 PM, 08-18-07

This may not have been so much about keeping Dick as screwing over Eric.

There's a philosophy (and, for American Idol, a website) out there called Vote For The Worst. It basically translates to 'When given the chance to influence a reality show, make the decision that will wreck the maximum number of things'. For AI, that means breaking eardrums by keeping Sanjaya well past his expiration date. With the America's Player polls, it means making the decision that will hurt Eric the most.

Remember: Eric was already a prime suspect. Most of the house was convinced he was the source of the stray votes -- all results from previous polls. Eric was in deep trouble within the house, at least with selected people. The VTFW faction was having a lot of fun with him: pick Jessica as a Final Two partner, and then you're not allowed to speak to her for twelve hours? Eric was being happily directed to shoot himself in the foot at every possible opportunity, followed by smiling at the camera and asking for another.

So. Eric's in an alliance that's currently dedicated to getting Dick out of the house. What's Eric's worst option? To be forced into voting Dustin out, meaning he's another stray vote, he's betrayed his alliance, and he's probably going on the block really soon now. Vote For The Worst -- Dick must stay. Or rather, under the alliance situation as we knew it on Tuesday, the vote must come down 3-3, Jessica tiebreaks and sends Dick out, and Eric's in major trouble.

What no one in the VFTW faction would have expected is that Eric has some ability to play the game. Stuck with having to vote for Dustin and knowing a tiebreaker would still kill him, he managed to align with Dick and Danielle, then bring in Jessica and use Zach's vote (through her) plus Jen to get majority. Eric worked with what he was ordered to do, and that means he got to protect himself this week. Forced into a hand with 2-7 offsuit and caught a set on the river -- pretty good play.

Now -- what does VFTW means for the current poll? Good question. There are two very bad options for Eric when it comes to getting someone nominated: one is to propose Dick, and let's think about how well that's going to go over with Danielle. The other is to try and put Jessica up, stabbing his F2 partner yet again. And given that there's a pair of pains on the board, the VFTW numbers might split between them, fail to take majority, and allow another vote to get through -- Jameka, Amber, Zach, or Jen. But if they hold majority again, figure it'll be Dick or Jessica -- and Eric will have to try and either laugh it off as a joke suggestion, propose a pawn, or be in trouble again.

Eric is being told to hurt himself as much as possible -- but this week, he made it work to his advantage. Next week -- who knows?

Thanks for the thoughtful insight, Estee. I had not thought about it like that. VFTW is an interesting concept, but I feel it reflects a meanness and cynicism in our culture which is bothersome to me. After all, how could a vote to keep Sanjaya and boot someone with superior talent be considered anything other than sadistic in nature? A vote to keep ED (a scumbag) and screw Eric, (who only seems eager to please), could only mean: 1- Americans are evil 2- BB8 has been infiltrated by unseen numbers of cynics and anarchists.

Either way, maybe audience participation is NOT the way to go.

While there may be a sadistic side to it, there is also another side to it.

At least as far as a lotof the Vote for the Worsters on AI are concerned.

It is the sense that a lot of Americans have that the producers on the show are trying to manipulate the American public to do their bidding. It shows up in how people are edited, how the judges react to certain people compared to others, etc.

There are enough people who find that anywhere from annoying to offensive. So at least for a good portion it isn't about screwing over a given player as it is about getting back at the producers when they have a chance.

Big Bother pu a goledn opportunity to screw with the game out there. So people will pay them back for things like editing a truely loathesome person on the feeds into a palatable one on the network show, etc.

Imagine Maggie as America's Player in Season #6. We would have had her cleaning the toilet with her own toothbrush.

hear hear, snidget.

> Is this
>entertainment? >

Yes. Yes it is.

>> Is this
>>entertainment? >
>
>Yes. Yes it is.

No. No it's not. He has pushed passed the limits of "good Television". I think he is disgusting! He is the worst of a particularly bad group of houseguests. His "bad boy" mistique is wearing thin.

Smokey's mom sends it out of the park