Microaggressions within Reality TV

On October 28th, CBS wrapped up its 22nd season of the hit reality show, Big Brother. The competitive series focuses on 16 houseguests who have all access to social media and the ‘real world’ stripped away from them as soon as they enter the Big Brother bubble. These contestants are then monitored 24/7 over an 85 day period with very limited privacy. The invasive footage is streamed live on CBS All Access for dedicated fans to follow along and see what the houseguests are up to. Through competitions, social game, and strategic alliances, each contestant must fight to keep their spot in the house and withstand weekly evictions in order to win a grand prize of $500,000. However, the houseguests of season 22 were no stranger to the Big Brother lifestyle as it was an “All-Star” season, meaning that for all 16 contestants, this was their second or even third season competing for the BB title. This season was also unique in that it began production in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, making it such that every contestant had to quarantine and get tested extensively before entering the house, and the live audience component was omitted. With an average of 3 million viewers per episode, it was important that CBS still pulled this season off and maintained viewership despite the roadblocks. 

However, contestants began to make racist, ableist, and homophobic comments to one another after 85 days of isolation. Such remarks exposed participants' wrongfully learned behaviors, not unlike those from Big Brother's history. In 2018, CBS released a statement addressing the persisting issue, “Big Brother is a reality show about watching a group of people who have no privacy 24/7 — and capturing every unfiltered moment and conversation in their lives. At times, the houseguests reveal prejudices and exhibit behavior that we do not condone.” Season after season, white contestants target their minority counterparts explicitly and implicitly. In this most recent season, we witness Kaysar Ridha, the only Muslim contestant, David Alexander, Da’Vonne Rogers, and Bayleigh Dayton, the season’s only Black contestants, Kevin Campbell, who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community, and Ian Terry who is on the autism spectrum, being targeted for eviction multiple times back to back within the first few weeks. The Committee alliance, made up of six white, cis-gender, heterosexual members were primarily responsible for these evictions as they dominated the competition and carried one another through until the end with no clear reasoning as to why. This same pattern can be seen throughout many seasons of Big Brother where contestants from marginalized communities are targeted almost immediately and seen as weak players despite proving otherwise.

Several microaggressions took place on the live feeds, including Memphis Garrett calling Rogers, who was voted America’s Favorite Houseguest, “aggressive and agitated” in her tone, a harmful stereotype pushed on Black women throughout history. Meanwhile Garrett’s closest (and white) ally, Christmas Abbott, had one of the biggest outbursts of the season in week 5 that was immediately overlooked. Dani Briones, another member of The Committee alliance, made uncalled for comments about Rogers’ “weave,” to which the insulted houseguest immediately corrected her. A few members from The Committee also poked fun at Terry’s coping tendencies for his autism, which he has been very public about this season. Garrett made despicable comments comparing Terry’s demeanor to one within a horror movie, and Briones stated that his constant movement “stressed her out.” These racist and ableist comments are not new to the Big Brother franchise as the same behaviors repeat themselves each year. 

This brings up a larger issue of accountability and performativity. While season 22 of Big Brother was filmed during the coronavirus pandemic, it was also filmed at the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has brought much needed attention to the systemic racism within the United States. While Black Lives Matter as an organization was established in 2013, this year more than ever has seen an increased cultural awareness that has held individuals and corporations accountable for their racist behaviors. To ‘do their part’ as a company, quotations intended, CBS attempted to air more conversations surrounding discrimination in this season of Big Brother, including Ridha discussing Islamaphobia he has faced, Campbell explaining his experience as a gay man, and Rogers and Dayton supporting the Black Lives Matter movement in their eviction speeches. However, even with CBS’s minimal attempt at incorporating much needed conversations 22 seasons too late, the talks between houseguests were clearly not effective as the microaggressions only continued. It is also important to note how without access to sites like Twitter, where discriminatory behavior is usually called out, the houseguests aren’t aware of how damaging their language is, proving there are still plenty of racist, ableist, and homophobic stereotypes to be unlearned behind the screens. Briones and Garrett expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement on their social media platforms before and after the show’s airing, but simultaneously displaced their fellow Black competitors with racist comments during the show’s production, demonstrating again how harmful and misleading performative activism can be. 

Beyond Big Brother, this behavior can be seen in other reality TV shows, including ABC’s last minute attempt at casting the first Black Bachelor after fans practically begged for Mike Johnson to be given the role, only for him to be turned down by production and for Matt James to later be considered. Similar dating shows such as Love Island and Love is Blind have also been called out by fans and cast members who have stated that Black contestants are not given enough air time or a proper chance at love compared to their white counterparts. On Love Island UK, many viewers have brought to attention the fact that Black contestants always get picked last in the ‘coupling ceremony,’ a microaggression in itself. Yewande Biala from season 5 shared that she wasn’t at all shocked that this was her experience, and that it mirrored the general dating scene throughout Europe. In season 1 of Netflix’s original, Love is Blind, Diamond Jack and Carlton Morton were the only Black couple featured on the show. Not only did the start of their relationship receive little air time, but Netflix then went on to show the couple’s relationship-ending fight in Mexico solely to drive viewership, a choice that felt exploitative and damaging. Again, contestants of these shows as well as their production companies have shown their support for the Black Lives Matter movement with no real effort to make their shows more diverse and inclusive, with a majority of Bachelorette contestants for Clare Crawley’s season still being, you guessed it, white. Similar to the Matt James situation, Tayshia Adams was chosen to replace Crawley as the Bachelorette during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement this summer. This was another choice that seemed delayed and exploitative, making it to where Adams’ opportunity for love was seen as a second choice or afterthought. Not only do ABC and CBS need to work on representation on screen, but off screen as well. It is no surprise that the executive producers for these reality hit TV shows are also white. People can only truly represent the experiences that they know. It becomes increasingly difficult for white producers to accurately portray the struggles of Black, POC, and other minority experiences without diversity at the network’s foundation, thus leading to inequality in air time and exclusivity in casting for their shows. 

While many reality TV fans may question the extent of what is real and what is scripted within their favorite shows, the thing that remains unscripted is the uncalled for and unnecessary microaggressions produced on and off screen. These actions and comments are a product of years of learned biases that need to be addressed and undone, and it goes to show that performative activism can only take a brand so far. These reality shows are continuously being called out for their discriminatory behaviors, whether on air or behind the scenes, and as always there is a long way to go before we will see true representation and accurate portrayals of minorities within the industry.