Three levels of manipulation in Bigg Boss - Page 3

Originally posted by: NepaliArtist

Hm thats very interesting, especially for this episode in particular. Because out of all the Weekend ka Vaar episodes, this one is the closest Salman has come to showing some kind of unbiasedness. If your mom saw the previous episodes where he doesn't even raise a finger at Shukla, or even when he tells him to control his anger he does it as a backhanded compliment, ("how can you be so logical, yet so aggressive?" etc) I really doubt this fact is going over the showrunner's head.

See, the possibilities are two extremes for me. Either,

1. I am thinking way too much about this show that, at its core, is just mindless entertainment, and the makers are at a point where they don't care how they come off - they just want the drama to continue and the originally planned winner to remain whitewashed so he/she can be a face of the channel in the future.

2. There is some serious thought put into this whole thing about how meta they want to appear. Personally, I am leaning towards this one because not only did Salman openly say he disagrees with the channel today, but they also staged that ridiculous nonsense with making the boys go to the akhada, and then the channel changing it to girls against Salman's wishes. That was pure staged (otherwise it would have never aired) and was done just to separate the host from the showrunners as a concept, so the biasedness doesn't fall on Salman's name. Maybe the show is playing a weird game where they are forcefully pushing Shukla via promos, edit, etc. and pushing Asim via 'unfair behavior' designed to look manipulative so they can both go along until the final. Afterall, no matter what happens in the future in terms of patchup or breakup, the truth is Asim gave the show what it desperately needed - a worthy rival for Shukla. It seemed like it would be Rashmi, but she ended up just not having that personality at all to fill that role. Paras (in my opinion) is a total self-proclaimed mastermind dumbass who has made mistake after mistake (most recently trying to get disqualified on a task he WON that resulted in Himanshi being the captain 😆)and has shown himself to be a sleaze many times (most recently by bringing up Shefali and Asim's physical comfort with each other), so its hard to promote a guy like that as a 'lead,' much more suited to be a 'supporting' character who gets to the top 5-ish and then is booted. I think the last final-ball-of-the-innings attempt by the channel to give Shukla a good rival was to throw Vishal in the mix. But, he ended up trying to fulfill the Asim position as soon as it became available! LOL. That leaves Asim. The nobody from Kashmir with the weird accent, overconfident posing, and unnecessary picking fights in the first week has now emerged to be the voice of reason and decency by being the only person to show guts against someone who is not only a total kamchor, domineering, aggressive violent manchild, but is also HEAVILY pushed by the show as seen in every weekend episode. Frankly, Asim deserves to win this show. Don't know if the show would ever allow that, or if its even possible to out-win Shukla's huge votebank, but Asim's story arc in the show is so much more interesting than Shukla's in my opinion.

I agree, though now I’m sure Shukla is 100% winning this season. I also felt Salman wasn’t as harsh on Asim as I expected him to be. Was kind of the max fair Salman can be given his love for Shukla, but he didn’t put down Asim the way he put down Himanshi.

I think the channel also does realises Asim’s potential but probably don’t want to encash it so soon. A rivalry will be hard to sustain for the next 2.5 months. So they will probably go for like a distant relationship. Some sort of betrayal from someone in Shuklas team( esp if he plays with Paras and co.), asims isolation( Shefali and Himanshi will ditch him), Asim and Rashmi teaming together, Asim might be the one trying to patch things between Sid and Rashmi when Asim and Sid reconcile. Eventually last 2-3 weeks mein again a fight( not this aggressive) and last week will be reconciliation. I don’t think they want a rivalry for Shukla this season, as much as they want a topsy turvy relationship for him with all Sana, Asim and maybe Rashmi

2. There is some serious thought put into this whole thing about how meta they want to appear. Personally, I am leaning towards this one because not only did Salman openly say he disagrees with the channel today, but they also staged that ridiculous nonsense with making the boys go to the akhada, and then the channel changing it to girls against Salman's wishes. That was pure staged (otherwise it would have never aired) and was done just to separate the host from the showrunners as a concept, so the biasedness doesn't fall on Salman's name. Maybe the show is playing a weird game where they are forcefully pushing Shukla via promos, edit, etc. and pushing Asim via 'unfair behavior' designed to look manipulative so they can both go along until the final. Afterall, no matter what happens in the future in terms of patchup or breakup, the truth is Asim gave the show what it desperately needed - a worthy rival for Shukla. It seemed like it would be Rashmi, but she ended up just not having that personality at all to fill that role. Paras (in my opinion) is a total self-proclaimed mastermind dumbass who has made mistake after mistake (most recently trying to get disqualified on a task he WON that resulted in Himanshi being the captain 😆)and has shown himself to be a sleaze many times (most recently by bringing up Shefali and Asim's physical comfort with each other), so its hard to promote a guy like that as a 'lead,' much more suited to be a 'supporting' character who gets to the top 5-ish and then is booted. I think the last final-ball-of-the-innings attempt by the channel to give Shukla a good rival was to throw Vishal in the mix. But, he ended up trying to fulfill the Asim position as soon as it became available! LOL. That leaves Asim. The nobody from Kashmir with the weird accent, overconfident posing, and unnecessary picking fights in the first week has now emerged to be the voice of reason and decency by being the only person to show guts against someone who is not only a total kamchor, domineering, aggressive violent manchild, but is also HEAVILY pushed by the show as seen in every weekend episode. Frankly, Asim deserves to win this show. Don't know if the show would ever allow that, or if its even possible to out-win Shukla's huge votebank, but Asim's story arc in the show is so much more interesting than Shukla's in my opinion.

I really like this thread - much like the show these forums are also a little crazy so this bit of intellectual conversation is appreciated, Cheers!

So much of what you’ve noted makes sense. Your points are reinforced even in this weekend ka Vaar where Paras has not been reprimanded at all.

This could eventually make Asim feel like perhaps he was wrong and could tone him down from standing up to the bullies in the house (Paras and Shukla mainly). This game really is a game of the mind. You have to be really mentally strong and have crazy faith in what you know to be true and right in your heart. I bet Asim was waiting to hear some form of conversation around all the crap that Paras had spewed. The fact that there was zero mention could make Paras feel even more entitled, as if he was right in what he did.

Although I have a small theory about that. BB does this on purpose let the so called villain go free for a while until really it’s too much and then finally gives them a sharp scolding eventually one fine weekend ke Vaar (a little too late) but this get conversation going outside the house with people watching and we become more and more invested in the person who’s being wronged. For example last year with Surbhi terrorizing everyone and I think another year where Gautam Gulati was being singled out quite a bit. What an awesome feeling we as viewers get when there is eventually poetic justice served.

So essentially there’s a game played inside and outside the house both and as you said everyone is being manipulated. The rabbit hole goes deeper 😛

what I find interesting is how many people outside the house (as in us the viewers) can’t see right from wrong. This is evident from the crazy support that Shukla has outside with the viewers.

Oohh this is a nice discussion to be had over chai and pakoras 😂🤣

So, as mentioned here as a guess, Asim was barely even mentioned in today's Weekend Episode. They know very well that Asim vs Sid is THE rivalry of the season (TRP wise, as well as social engagement wise), yet they chose to completely focus on Shukla/Paras/Sana/Bhau and have Asim be completely in the background tonight. Plus, there was a huge issue with Paras this week (the money/fame humiliation and the comments on women) yet they didn't address it. When Sana even alluded to it, that was a perfect opportunity for Salman to let Paras have a piece of his mind, but he ignored it completely. 2 potential reasons:

- Surface Manipulation

Asim has outlived his potential and Vishal is a big investment. Plus, his ex-girlfriend is coming, who he already has a rough relationship with, so focus on him and start moving Asim to the background.

- Meta Manipulation

Double-down on the Shukla bias. Make it seem very obvious that the show is ignoring Asim even though he was very popular during the week and he got alot of screentime as well. Get the conversation going that BB is holding Asim back. Save this under the sheets for now, since Feb tak time guzarna hai. Then, at the last stages, unleash Asim on Shukla and rekindle the rivalry that made this season such a success in the first place.

Thoughts?

Equally plausible that the viewer is being manipulated to feel sorry for Asim and in turn liking him.

Its the editing team that is showing you whatever they want to show you, right? They could easily cut out Shukla's outbursts. They could easily cut out Asim's monologue on "Gareebi".

They had no reason to keep cutting the Asim-Paras fight every few seconds to show a very biased Himanshi except to.....show Asim in a positive light.

Even the Shukla bias is working in Asim's favor...majorly.

we're certainly being manipulated but I would argue its for Asim, not against.

Yeah, its become very interesting at this level for sure. If you just search the hashtags #BiggBoss13 and #BB13 on Twitter right now, most of live tweets right now is Sidnaaz fans excited about the upcoming video (🤢) and Asim fans furious at how Salman not only ignored him, but also ignored the entire Paras episode. One way or another, people are talking.

Problem is, I think its an interesting experiment but won't work in terms of votes. The average viewer, the 'casual' fan doesn't follow, discuss, and dissect the show like we in the audience do. For the casual fan, its just about who they see and they have a short memory because they don't care enough to wonder who is being treated fairly and who isn't. So, I really hope this weird experiment (if it is real) doesn't work against Asim. After all, there are WAY more of casual fans than fans like us who are more deeply into it.

Originally posted by: NepaliArtist

So, as mentioned here as a guess, Asim was barely even mentioned in today's Weekend Episode. They know very well that Asim vs Sid is THE rivalry of the season (TRP wise, as well as social engagement wise), yet they chose to completely focus on Shukla/Paras/Sana/Bhau and have Asim be completely in the background tonight. Plus, there was a huge issue with Paras this week (the money/fame humiliation and the comments on women) yet they didn't address it. When Sana even alluded to it, that was a perfect opportunity for Salman to let Paras have a piece of his mind, but he ignored it completely. 2 potential reasons:

- Surface Manipulation

Asim has outlived his potential and Vishal is a big investment. Plus, his ex-girlfriend is coming, who he already has a rough relationship with, so focus on him and start moving Asim to the background.

- Meta Manipulation

Double-down on the Shukla bias. Make it seem very obvious that the show is ignoring Asim even though he was very popular during the week and he got alot of screentime as well. Get the conversation going that BB is holding Asim back. Save this under the sheets for now, since Feb tak time guzarna hai. Then, at the last stages, unleash Asim on Shukla and rekindle the rivalry that made this season such a success in the first place.

Thoughts?

There are multiple reasons.

Firstly, Asim vs Sid is the rivalry of the season. Since BB is extended till Feb the channel doesn't want to waste this rivalry so quickly. They will take it slow and milk it till the end of the show.

Secondly, they have invested a lot in Vishal and Rashmi so they obviously have to get their returns on them. Thus the entry of the exes. Arhan's proposal to Rashmi and Vishal and Madhurima fights might bring profitable returns to the channel.

Lastly, the channel being biased strategy has worked in Gauhar Khan's season so this might possibly be a strategy by the channel to generate more sympathy for Asim.

I mean if the channel really wanted to ignore Asim then they would have edited out his speech against Paras (which imo made Asim a star) or he wouldn't in the front of that opening pic of the show with Sid.

The fact is that BB has showed a lot of footage which paints Asim in a great light. If they really wanted to ignore him they would've edited out his scenes like they do to Rashmi.

Plus another thing that works for Asim imo is that Salman likes him and Salman liking a housemate is always beneficial.

Just re read your post, it’s so so true, I’m left so confused by their manipulations, that im doubting if something is wrong with me, that I’m not consistent in my opinions about these contestants. I’ve stopped watching regularly too.

I/we have better things to do life than watching this crap and spoiling our minds. Feel. It’s just not worth it. I think I’ve reached my saturation point, don’t feel like watching it anymore.

Originally posted by: Priya9.

Just re read your post, it’s so so true, I’m left so confused by their manipulations, that im doubting if something is wrong with me, that I’m not consistent in my opinions about these contestants. I’ve stopped watching regularly too.

I/we have better things to do life than watching this crap and spoiling our minds. Feel. It’s just not worth it. I think I’ve reached my saturation point, don’t feel like watching it anymore.

Yup, I can slowly sense this feeling creeping up on me as well. When they announced the new finale date after the extension, it suddenly hit me that this is going to be a part of my life for another 2.5 months (almost a quarter of the year). Its really exhausting, and it would be so much more watchable if all this blatant manipulation tactics weren't used to tire everybody's brains out.

For example - I searched #BB13 on Twitter, and a majority of the tweets coming are pro-Asim and pro-Rashmi (especially pro-Rashmi since Sid was seen laughing at her in tears today infront of Karthik, Bhumi and Ananya). One way or another - the show is pushing them aside and skyrocketing their popularity. Meanwhile, the show is actively promoting Sid and Sana, and skyrocketing their confidence in the house. Its a sadistic game, and I honestly cannot imagine just how exhausted everybody watching is going to be by mid-February. Housemates ki toh baat hi chhod do, I understand why there have been instances in past seasons of people just wanting to get out.

Completely agree artist ji

Brilliant post. I have felt this too after wondering why would the show want to take the blame of being biased. It gets more people talking. We are riled up about the blatant favoritism shown towards Shukla. More tweets, more discussions and more questioning. If everything was fair or close to being fair, it definitely won't generate this much discussion. Sadistic but makes more sense to our why's