Splitting the Money

[brockdrywall]

Let's just get a grip here for a moment. What the hell else would it be except for a stupid game? Nobody is who they seem. It's all about appearing on camera and faking every human emotion known to mankind except for the desire to be "seen."

Was the rejection so terrible by a woman this guy had just met under the most artificial circumstances possible that it reduced him to tears?

I just don't get it.

Remember, it was never supposed to be a game. It was supposed to be The Bachelorette... 15 guys, 1 girl, she chooses who she likes the best, so some guys, when they got cut, wondered why, especially if they had felt they 'connected' with her.

Plus, and this is something I could not have understood till it happened... even tho I was pretty guarded, and suspected something might be amiss, it still SUCKED to get rejected on network TV. No two ways about it... that's just an awful thing to go thru... to have 20 million people watch as you stand there, expecting the best, and hear ye olde 'it's not you, it's me.'

Even if you know it's a game (even tho no one has bothered to tell you the rules), that's a crappy way to end it.

Looking back on it, I so wish they'd just let me eat cow duodenum with Playmates on Fear Factor. At least there, they let you know ahead of time when you're about to eat sh*t

[mimi]

If the men arrived in L.A. and were sequestered on May 9, but the FLOM show was explained in print via the Washington Post on May 6, then it's entirely possible and very likely that someone may have pieced together the show before they had even arrived at the mansion. (You may have missed that information if you didn't read all of the posts under the Dan thread.) So when Sean indicated in his blog site that by May 15 they had the whole show figured out right down to the last detail (at least as far and as accurately as all the viewers were privvy to as of last week, the first elimination ceremony), that just gave me the impression that all of these guys knew everything about the "twists" the entire time this show was taping, even before that first camera started rolling.

If the producers didn't inform the five guys after they were eliminated what the real plot of the show actually was, then who did? Can you really figure that much information out just from a couple of clues like a bra tag in the closet and the fact that a guy like Chris got kicked off? And the fact that a friend of Dan's posted that Dan told them BEFORE the show was taped that he wouldn't choose the money over the woman makes me think that Dan, the lawyer from the east coast, may have been the informant. Unless someone who knows better can correct me and make me understand and believe otherwise, I'm going to hang onto my theory.

Waiting .... waiting .... waiting ....

[CaliGirl]

Remember, it was never supposed to be a game. It was supposed to be The Bachelorette... 15 guys, 1 girl, she chooses who she likes the best, so some guys, when they got cut, wondered why, especially if they had felt they 'connected' with her.

Come on, brock, you're a (Cave)man of the world, how can you even make such a statement?

"The Bachelorette" was the phoniest most "On" game of them all until "For Love or Money" came along. There were no babes in the woods left by the time that show aired. Let's face facts and take some responsibility here.

"Babes in the woods
Oh which way to go
Babes in the woods
No one to say no
Pretty people come to me
Cry your heart all out
Tell me what it's all about"

[brockdrywall]

Come on, brock, you're a (Cave)man of the world, how can you even make such a statement?

"The Bachelorette" was the phoniest most "On" game of them all until "For Love or Money" came along. There were no babes in the woods left by the time that show aired. Let's face facts and take some responsibility here.

I confess to being naive about the whole thing. I thought the point of the show was to see if two people could start dating thru this kind of competition. I knew there would be something else involved, but I admit I never thought to look for a twist of ulterior motive. Of course, I only knew that one show before doing this (and also naively thought the B'ette was all about Trista finding the guy most likely to marry her), so I went into it pretty blind. As soon as I found out about the fake million, I wanted out. As soon as we decided what the plot was after getting kicked out (and got confirmation from some folks who worked on the show), I was pretty annoyed.

However, I never heard from any guys still on the show that they knew the setup. As far as I knew, everyone played it by a simple code: the guy that Erin picks gets to be with her and gets one million over 40 years. It was only after leaving that we got the whole story by guessing at things and pestering people in the know for confirmation. But by that time we were already gone, so while you are watching, presume they don't know the game. I've talked to Dan about the scam, and he never indicated he knew anything about it while we were doing the show. I would guess all the guys are just as in the dark as the girls from part 1.

Had I known that "romance" reality shows were set up to have some twist to take advantage of the good faith of participants, I would not have done it. It probably sounds disingenuous to say, but I really had no idea what was happening, other than a nagging sense I should not let myself feel any real emotion for the benefit of the cameras. The "game" could have been fun if it had been made clear that that's all it was. I conducted myself as if there were real emotions involved, and I think that's what the other guys did too... don't give us too much credit for reality show savvy... y'all know far more about these shows than we do (which is why you never make the mistake of signing up to go on them!

It was fun to watch for a while, but I've got no interest now. I can't imagine a real happy ending no matter what they script, and I wass never watching it solely to make fun of people (ok, well, maybe 90%). And now that I know the people a little, it's less fun.

But that's all just my opinion, and experience. I could be wrong. If anyone wants any specific info, feel free to PM me, but my posting days are done.

[Yesthey'rereal]

I thought Sean made the most gracious exit of all the bachelors last week when he told Erin goodbye, and I loved the way he picked up her hand and kissed it so delicately. What a gentleman! I don't doubt it sucked to be eliminated right off the bat, and I also don't doubt the guys she chose to kick off were the ones she knew were far too smart to fall for her manipulations.

[Christine]

Remember, it was never supposed to be a game. It was supposed to be The Bachelorette... 15 guys, 1 girl, she chooses who she likes the best, so some guys, when they got cut, wondered why, especially if they had felt they 'connected' with her.

I'm not convinced that Erin's choices last week were all about strategy to win $2 million. She had plenty of room to work with 10 guys and if any concerns about Chris had come to fruition she could have cut him later on. Since Chris was apparently vulnerable to Erin, the cutting-him-to-win-$2 million theory doesn't make sense in any case.

At the risk of offending the romantics out there, I think adults need to get a grip on the fact that lifelong commitment is not about instant sparks, love at first sight and scouring the globe for a soulmate. Money or no money, the chances of someone as seemingly sensible as Erin falling in love with one of these guys in such a short period of time is just about zero. This should be apparent to anyone with common sense and is independent of the money and any manipulation by the creators of this show.

I understand many of the reasons participants in this show would feel deceived and cheated, but I don't think being dumped on day six when you had unrealistic hopes should be one of them. Even if this show had been 100% aboveboard this was bound to happen, as was the public rejection suffered by all but one of the 14 men. Whether the competition was about love or money everyone knew there could only be one "winner".

[Yesthey'rereal]

And I have no doubt that Erin knew going into this show that her biggest and best hope was to find money, not love. You're right, she's too sensible. And she really, really wants that money, damn the torpedoes, and damn their silly little foolish hearts.

[Christine]

"The Bachelorette" was the phoniest most "On" game of them all until "For Love or Money" came along. There were no babes in the woods left by the time that show aired. Let's face facts and take some responsibility here.

Cali, can you elaborate on that? I only saw the last couple of epsiodes but got the impression at the time that it was a relatively legitimate undertaking (at least compared to FLOM). Trista has subsequently turned into a media whore like no other, but I don't blame that on the producers of Bachelorette.

Erin is entirely motivated by the money and I suspect she doesn't feel too many qualms about it because she knows the men are also after $1 million just as she was. Because she is not the type to fall in love in a couple of weeks she probably has a hard time empathizing with anyone who might get their heartbroken in this situation.

[Christine]

But that's all just my opinion, and experience. I could be wrong. If anyone wants any specific info, feel free to PM me, but my posting days are done.

I'll miss that caveman humor...and your dogs. Please dish all the dirt about the Vegas trip on your blog. I have a feeling the girls will be a lot more fun than Erin and it will more than make up for the lost California holiday.

[Yesthey'rereal]

.... As soon as we decided what the plot was after getting kicked out (and got confirmation from some folks who worked on the show), ..... It was only after leaving that we got the whole story by guessing at things and pestering people in the know for confirmation. But by that time we were already gone, so while you are watching, presume they don't know the game. I've talked to Dan about the scam, and he never indicated he knew anything about it while we were doing the show. I would guess all the guys are just as in the dark as the girls from part 1.

Thank you. That's exactly what I wanted to know. Mystery solved.

I was confused because of what you had posted earlier:

"Sometime after we filmed the fake cab ride, and while in the van on the way to LAX, one of the guys pieced together the whole plot, and then spilled his theory for us, which we confirmed with our own suspicions. No one told us what really happened; it was really just the deductive power of one of the contestants, combined with the clues we all had that made us pretty sure we knew the whole story."

It just makes sense that SOMEONE who knew what was going on behind the scenes MUST have filled you in. There's no way you could have figured it out to the degree that you did unless someone filled in a lot of blanks (or unless you're completely psychic). I'm just happy to know that the rest of the guys left behind on the show are not aware of the whole plot. It makes for far more interesting viewing.