[Jack_]

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.