LAST EDITED ON 07-10-03 AT 07:18 AM (EST)

I'm sure you're just *stunned* that I have a slightly different perspective on this.

I remember something that someone once told me: Almost all humor is at someone's expense. And if you think about it, it's true: think of just how hard it is to come up with a clean joke that is not at someone's expense. We have fat jokes, blonde jokes, gay jokes (as told by Ralphie), self-deprecating jokes, stereotype jokes, etc. A joke of reality tv shows (particularly one's that feature muscular, bug-eyed women). Virtually all are at SOMEONE'S expense.

Soooo, my point is: comics have to have a certain "mean streak" in them to do what they do, and do it well.

And we're seeing that in this show.

Some of these people are just plain mean: Vos, Mordell, Tess, Cory... these people are just plain MEAN. Ralphie exhibits some signs of it. The whole hide-and-seek thing as an example. We laugh at their comedy without knowing the background... and this show is tearing the lid off Hell and letting us see that background.

To that end, Dat Phan doesn't have the mean streak that the others have. Neither did Tere (spike-hair girl). As such, they were (and are) easy targets, not only for abuse, but to be targeted for elimination. Rob isn't quite as "nice" as Dat, but he's a lot nicer than most of the others, so HE was targeted.

And, to that end, "cowboy" (hell, I don't even remember his name now, he was first eliminated) apparently expected sympathy since he had had cancer. Sheesh. *NO* sympathy is to be found in THIS household. Upon moving into the house, Vos immediately lit into him and they disliked each other.

It's easy for Mordell and Vos to just sit and look Dat in the eyes and verbally tear him down... they are mean as hell. Tess's little cackle at Dat's impending doom... she's just enjoying herself (almost orgasmically) that someone else is about to get "hurt" (i.e. eliminated). Even Mordell's "terrorist" humor (which I found to not be very funny, not only because it's not a good time to tell terrorist jokes, but the material just wasn't funny) is an example.

Hence, it's easy to see why the meanest people in the house allied so easily, it's easy to see why the targets ARE the targets. Humor is based on the innate meanness of people. And this show is exposing that to the World.

Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged