Side note: all the fuss about Ivanka wearing a dress that "only" cost $135 is lost on me. I wouldn't spend $35 on a dress, let alone $135. I literally spent $60 on my wedding dress. But maybe I'm the only one. And I can't help but feel as though it was more about promoting her brand than it was about being frugal. But maybe that's just me, too.But I digress.
The reasons I have started watching Big Brother instead of election coverage and the news about Black Lives Matters and ISIS are as follows:
1) They don't talk about it.
Really. I have never heard the words Trump, Hillary, Black Lives Matter, or ISIS uttered in the house. There was one guy who compared himself to Obama (and Jesus), but the house evicted him the first week. Mostly because he compared himself to Obama and Jesus.
I kind of envy them, really. They are immune to the news from Paris and Munich. They are unaware of the drama surrounding the convention in Cleveland. They are oblivious to the recent deaths of policemen in Dallas, Baton Rouge, and Kansas City. People say that ignorance is bliss, and I'm jealous of both the housemates' ignorance and their bliss.
2) Housemates are making friends, forming alliances, and evicting nominees based on merit and character rather than the color of their skin.
Da'Vonne dislikes Frank, not because he's white but because he's a jerk. Tiffany didn't like Da'Vonne or Zakiyah because they lied to her, not because of the color of their skin. Honestly, it's my idea of utopia. In real life, I'm so tired of race being an issue. I find affirmative action offensive. People of color have talents and abilities worthy of employment and acceptance to college based on merit. They don't need the government to ensure their success. They are perfectly capable of ensuring it themselves IF everyone will just get out of their way and let them.
Of the three showmances (yes, that's a word), two of them are inter-racial. For any of you who watch,I'm definitely Team James & Natalie. It should be noted that, in addition to politics and race, religion plays no part in relationships or gameplay.
3) It gives me the opportunity to escape reality.
I am by nature a realist. I'm an optimistic realist, but a realist nonetheless. I spend a lot of time reading about, listening to, and thinking about the world around me. I don't know how I became the way that I am, but I have a nearly compulsive need to know everything about everything. My mother finds politics and current events to be too stressful. My father was an immigrant from the UK so he just wasn't terribly interested. My brother was a Bernie supporter, to be honest, but it's still not something with which he is overly concerned. I, on the other hand, have been slightly obsessed with politics since middle school.
In addition to my obsession with politics and learning about the world around me, I am also the mother of four children, a senior in college, and spend my days working in the public school system. Like a lot of you, my family struggles financially. We have a roof over our heads and food on the table, but we don't have a lot of extra money and I worry already about retirement.
I have told you all of that to say this: my days are filled with a lot of harsh realities and Big Brother is a means by which I can escape reality, just as the housemates have. For one hour I don't think about the disaster that is Trump or the corruption that is Hillary. I just enjoy watching people dress in odd costumes for competitions and then try to negotiate and bargain with one another so that the "right" person is evicted. I think I'm better off than they are, however, because while they're stressing out about being nominated for eviction and competing for power, I'm chilling on my couch with my daughter or jogging on the treadmill.
Thanks for indulging me ;)
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