Is The Nice Guy/Girl considered a bad thing now?
 

Leading on from something Zee said earlier, it got me to thinking. A lot of media focuses attention on what are usually considered the bad qualities of people (eg. TOWIE, Made In Chelsea, ILTRW) and seem to make out that it's acceptable to behave like that, which in turn leads a lot of people to actually think they should behave in those manners.

Then you think to other programmes like Big Brother. You have the nice guy or girl who is 8/10 always slated as being boring and people complain about them, even if they are funny. I've found, especially on here, quite a few people seem to think being a nice person instantly makes you boring, hence not a desirable quality to have in real life.

The nice person image seems to be negative nowadays? Thoughts.

Its the same in wrestling kind of. Lots of people on the interweb prefer the bad guys over the good guys because they tend to be more entertaining compared to the one dimensional goody two shoes. i dont think it makes people behave bad in real life watching shows like that, because in the end the good person always comes out on top weither it be in wrestling or big brother i.e rachel rice, rylan etc if we're talking about the competiton shows. Everyone that watches those type of 'reality' tv are just watching it for the entertainment value, which is generally what the 'bad' people give especially since big brother has come a long way from being a social experiment show. its basically the same show as TOWIE or Made In Chelsea or whatever but with different people each year and the voting shtick

wow that was really long, my mind is dead. im never good at explaining things but i hope you get what im trying to point out lol

..yeah, I certainly think that applies in BB and other reality shows..housemates seem to be chosen because the programme makers believe their characters will cause conflict..but I'm not sure whether it's because it's believed that the public 'like' a certain personality type, rather than arguments/conflict etc will make for higher viewing figures and also more votes to evict those people when they are nominated...but the problem is that these are real people and they're setting them up as figures of hatred...creating like a villian people love to hate, type thing...

..or basically what Karl said lol...crikey Karl, that was a very chatty little post for you..:love:...

I know yeah, i'm scared :laugh:

..you talk too much Karl..did anyone ever tell you that lol...

yes, im actually thinking of getting into politics

What he said ^

Also, not being arsehole doesn't mean you're boring. Look at the lovely Karl there for example :love:

nice people >

I only support the good and nice people

Was Conor loved in BB13? Nope. Most entertaining housemates people support in BB are harmless.

I think a lot of nice people get taken for granted a lot. People use and abuse them because they know they won't really do anything to upset them. But suppose most nice people know when to stand their ground.

I only watch TOWIE out of the new trashy reality shows. It doesn't matter if you are nice and nasty. People tend to revel in "stupid" people because no one likes to feel inferior so for most of us watching these talentless wannabes in these trashy reality TV shows makes us feel good about ourselves and a bit superior.

100% agree:hugesmile:todays role models leave a lot to be desired.

Just be yourself. Anyone who TRIES to be anything is a poseur asshole.

Most people appreciate honesty. Whether it's honestly good or honestly bad, most people just want to see someone being real.

I like the nice ones. But also love the horrible but excellent gameplayers when it comes to reality tv

In terms of entertainment shows, yes usually. I would rather see someone being an utter bitch than people sat round being nice to each other.

In real life, no.

On reality tv i don't mind a nice person, as long as they're entertaining as well. Lord Aaron is the perfect example. :lovedup:

Being nice doesnt always equal boring though. But most 'nice' HMs have been extremely boring..or not shown much so it seems they are boring. Hira, Rachel, Alex, Gos, Scott, etc

Aaron was not a nice person. He emotionally manipulated faye and tried to turn her against her own sister. He told lies at any oppurtunity when it benefited him. How was Aaron a nice person by any definition? He didn't even spend his own money to buy Alexandra a birthday present.

Being nice doesn't make you boring but you have to remember television is a totally different entity to real life and should be treated as such.

People watch TV, by and large, for entertainment purposes and viewers are entertained and engrossed by drama, big storylines and events. Imagine a soap without a monthly murder or fire or evil villains and imagine A Touch Of Frost without a killing. Drama programmes wouldn't even exist if viewers didn't love that kind of thing. Drama gets audiences talking, whether it's scripted drama or 'real' drama - it's a form of escapism I think.

And that's exactly why I have the same debates and arguments on here every time Big Brother comes around, because it is the housemates that create the most talking points and spark the most discussions that should be saved. Those talking points are more often than not about feuds between housemates, bitching, plotting, arguments, even relationships (as much as people hate them, and I do too in a way) etc. Nobody starts a discussion over what the housemates are having for dinner, or how many sugars they like in their tea, and if we really honestly were left with a bunch of housemates that did just that, there would be no show. It is completely illogical to want to go out of your way to try and get those who spark the most discussion on forums, social media, in the workplace, school and on spin-off shows (hell, BOTS wouldn't even exist if there was nothing substantial to discuss), because a show like Big Brother thrives off of talking points and debate. The more talk, the more word of mouth is increased, the more people tune in, it's beneficial to the show. Mass audiences would not watch the show every night if it were just a bunch of people sitting around discussing what their favourite foods are, they want arguments, relationships, bitching, backstabbing with a little bit of funny stuff and good tasks thrown in too. It's no surprise that some of the highest rated episodes of the show in a series are ones where the most amount of drama has kicked off.

Debates are fine, discussing who was right/wrong in a particular argument, or analysing people's characters is what makes the show interesting, but it just doesn't make sense for people to want the people that have initiated those debates to leave, regardless of whose side you're on. The fact that they have actually provided us with something to discuss is the very reason they should stay because they're keeping the show afloat and on air, with nothing to discuss viewer apathy increases and people start switching off, ratings decline and then as has happened once already, the show is axed (and it's meant to be some people's favourite show yet they inadvertently go out of their way to destroy it year on year).

None of that means I support the behaviour of housemates who constantly argue and cause drama, I consider myself a nice person and prefer to surround myself around nice people, but that's real life. I don't watch TV to reflect my real life, I watch it to be entertained, to give me something to talk about - whether it's on here, on social media, or at work/school. As I said before, it's a form of escapism. TV isn't real life, and to me it's kind of best to try and objectively view Big Brother as a soap, where you want to keep the biggest characters and cull those who sit on the fence and remain in the background (nobody would seriously suggest getting rid of all the main and biggest characters from a soap or drama, so why is it any different on Big Brother?). IMO, it is damaging to the brand to endlessly evict those who spark debates and keep those who offer nothing to the show, you're giving people less to discuss and on a show like Big Brother, it doesn't work without discussion.

So to conclude, no, I don't think being nice is a negative image necessarily, I'd certainly much rather spend my time around nice people in real life (I mean that's just common sense surely) but as I'm not living with the people inside the Big Brother house (and neither is anyone else, hence why I think people should try and not get too emotionally invested and allow that to cloud their judgement of what's ultimately best for the series), I'm not going to want those who are enhancing the programme to be evicted.

Care to go into a little more detail jack? I dont think I quite understand where you stand on this. :laugh:

I didn't actually intend to write that much but you know my views on this kind of thing :p same stuff every on-season

I generally prefer brash or loud people on TV in shows like Big Brother because it's something to watch, but obviously the nicer people are the better people... just not the better viewing, IMO. I know what niceness is and have friends and all that crap to make up for that :laugh: Sometimes it's fun to watch a transvestite have a slagging match with an Arsenal fan.

I think you've equated nice with boring there though Jack, and that's exactly what Ben's asking - people have stopped considering nice to be a good quality. I don't know if it's always been this way, but I do think it's become that way in the media. Nice people can also be entertaining, funny, witty, intelligent, they can start debates, they can have interesting opinions, they can be full of stories and be overall highly intriguing. But that kind of person is not celebrated in the media anymore. Instead, nice is synonymous for boring and nasty is synonmous for entertaining. I think what we need is a major shake up of culture to switch those two perceptions.