Jenny Shiralli - the Mole

[adm]

Jenny was on GMA this morning. When asked about Trish, she said that Trish was motivated by a lot of things (money, etc) that are not in sync with Jesse's own values, and that Trish is just not the right woman, overall, for Jesse. Then 30 seconds later she said that Jesse met "someone special" and that person gets "2 thumbs up." So it's definitely not Trish. But we already knew that.....

Also, as to the argument that it's somehow unethical to have a mole in the house, all I can say is there have always been "moles" in these houses. They're called CAMERAS. Would it have been any less unethical for TPTB to let Jesse have a little sneak peek at the tapes from the bachelorette house? We've also seen all manner of mole-ing going on just by the contestants themselves (Robert telling Meredith which guys are there for the right reasons, Ryan M telling Meredith about what Rick said, one of the bachelors (was it Dandy Andy?) asking the girls what was going on in the house). I mean, none of these girls is silly enough to think that what they are saying in the house is confidential, are they?

[KymberlyAnn]

Jenny was also on the View and was asked about Trish. They talked about the ultimatum she gave Jesse. They asked if Trish was gone and she acted like she couldn't say. Jenny said that if Jesse chose Trish then the dynamic of their friendship would change things. Then one of the ladies asked if she and Jesse were still good friends and she implied that things were better than ever. Buh-bye Trish! I wonder when she departs?

[Pansygirl]

I just watched Jenny on the View. I was impressed , very pretty, articulate and I feel better about who Jesse picked. I am still not convinced he is there for the right reasons...... but Jenny gave me some hope. :rolleyes

She seems very sweet and nice and I think it took alot of courage on her part to be in this situation.

And the other other ladies on the View didn't try to talk over what she was saying so they get a few extra points for that.....

[Amy Lee]

Jenny is fine by me. She is a true friend.

[Amy Lee]

Also, as to the argument that it's somehow unethical to have a mole in the house, all I can say is there have always been "moles" in these houses. They're called CAMERAS. Would it have been any less unethical for TPTB to let Jesse have a little sneak peek at the tapes from the bachelorette house? We've also seen all manner of mole-ing going on just by the contestants themselves (Robert telling Meredith which guys are there for the right reasons, Ryan M telling Meredith about what Rick said, one of the bachelors (was it Dandy Andy?) asking the girls what was going on in the house). I mean, none of these girls is silly enough to think that what they are saying in the house is confidential, are they?

Reality and ethics don't mix. Period.

[rdpch]

Also, as to the argument that it's somehow unethical to have a mole in the house, all I can say is there have always been "moles" in these houses. They're called CAMERAS. Would it have been any less unethical for TPTB to let Jesse have a little sneak peek at the tapes from the bachelorette house? We've also seen all manner of mole-ing going on just by the contestants themselves (Robert telling Meredith which guys are there for the right reasons, Ryan M telling Meredith about what Rick said, one of the bachelors (was it Dandy Andy?) asking the girls what was going on in the house). I mean, none of these girls is silly enough to think that what they are saying in the house is confidential, are they?

Defining this as an ethical issue requires an absolute frame of reference. Within the reality TV world, we all know that pretty much anything goes, so it's hard to treat this as an issue of ethics, and it's easy to argue that contestants on this show have signed on for pretty much anything thrown at them.

If not unethical, I would argue that it is deceitful to plant Jesse's best friend without telling the other women. Jenny seems like the kind of woman that other women would easily form friendships with and confide in. So, ABC has put her (and she has put herself) in a position of deceiving the other women in order to gain something from them. This is fundamentally different from a camera, which is in plain sight, or from another competitor, who each of them knows could say anything good or bad at any time. Unless they were told that Jesse would only see filmed material after the show, I think it would be safer for them to assume their filmed behavior could be seen at any time. However, if the cameras were hidden, this would be deceptive.

That still leaves open the question: is deception a bad thing? I would argue that it is, generally. Maybe not in the reality TV world-view, where it happens all the time and is the source of good ratings. But these are also real people, really living together and forming friendships (at least this has been the case in other seasons), with the potential for real feelings of betrayal. My guess is that people would feel more conflicted if, for example, Katie confided in Jenny that she'd had an abortion, and her confidence was betrayed by Jenny.

One could argue for the principle that anything goes on reality TV. I prefer the principle that deception is generally not a means justified by the ends.

In any event, I have to give credit to Jenny for taking on the role of potentially betraying a bunch of people for the sake of her friend. I'm not sure I would want to put myself in that position.

[Six Degrees]

You have expressed this perfectly. I would also not frame this as a matter of 'ethics' but rather a matter of deceit.

Jenny has said in one interview that she 'got the other girls to confide in her by making them pancakes.' There is absolutely a difference between the girls being told that they will be on camera at all times, and being tricked into thinking that somebody posing as a potential 'friend' [there is evidence that many of the contestant on these shows wind up becoming pals, ala Gwen and Helene writing that book together] is really going to run to Jesse and reveal all, not to mention be in a postion to maybe 'control' the game. The girls clearly think they are all 'in the same boat.'

As I've posted, women will naturally bond by confiding in one another. If Jenny is the one that initiates the "I Never" game for the express purpose of extracting some damaging background on Trish, I would find that innappropriate.

[adm]

The problem is, regardless of whether any of these women decide to spill their guts because they feel like Jenny is their friend, they are still aware of the big ol' camera sitting there recording every word of what they're saying. Nobody should be confessing to having had an abortion or having slept with a married man when the camera is running. It doesn't matter if it was friend or foe who asked the question. It's recorded and could get back to Jesse, the general public, your parents, etc.

I can't imagine why these girls decided to go along with "I Never" when Jenny suggested it. Unless none of them felt like they had anything to hide. The show does some pretty heavy-duty background checks, doesn't it? I mean, they would probably have seen medical records, etc. So I think most of these women would be fairly clean (except for things like promiscuity, which is harder to investigate).

[Amy Lee]

Mkay, if they're playing the game "I never" How does trish revealing having slept with a married man, fall into that?? I would figure a game with that title would have to be about the things you'd never do or never have done, so im thinking that someone would've had to have asked such a question for trish to reveal such.

Just a thought...

[rdpch]

The problem is, regardless of whether any of these women decide to spill their guts because they feel like Jenny is their friend, they are still aware of the big ol' camera sitting there recording every word of what they're saying. Nobody should be confessing to having had an abortion or having slept with a married man when the camera is running. It doesn't matter if it was friend or foe who asked the question. It's recorded and could get back to Jesse, the general public, your parents, etc.

I can't imagine why these girls decided to go along with "I Never" when Jenny suggested it. Unless none of them felt like they had anything to hide. The show does some pretty heavy-duty background checks, doesn't it? I mean, they would probably have seen medical records, etc. So I think most of these women would be fairly clean (except for things like promiscuity, which is harder to investigate).

Agreed, it's not very smart of Trish to say she had an affair on camera if that causes trouble for her. It's not like she has admitted anything illegal, and perhaps her friends/parents already know. But, it is honest, and maybe not as bad an admission in Trish's world (or Jesse's) as it is in Jenny's. Jenny would probably put Jesse's promiscuity in the same category as Trish's affair. Do you mean criminal background checks? Why would they be concerned with medical history (other than, perhaps, requiring STD tests)? Should Jesse have been screened from the show for his promiscuity?