Out in Reality TV: October 2006 Archives

"Big Brother All Stars" is history but I wanted to provide you with some excerpts of an article that the show's only openly-gay houseguest, Marcellas Reynolds, wrote for AfterElton.com. Marcellas says his image as a bitchy whiner was created by selective editing and that he was much lighter than the moments they chose to show. I was pretty turned off by Marcellas during the show but the truth is, reality show editors, who are fighting to be recognized as members of the Writers Guild oif America, do shape episodes in the same way writers shape scripted TV.

Here is some of what he had to say:

"I wish we could have just played the game instead of play “acting� with some other ulterior motive driving our actions. But why should I expect realness from my cast mates? The show is not real. There are writers, producers, directors and continuity people. The end credits read like a major motion picture. For every episode, a story is being created and each one of the houseguests is a character.

And this season my role was first gay sidekick to the blond bombshell, Janelle. That's not the role I wanted. I didn't go into the game to be Will to anyone's Grace.

Unfortunately for me, the producers didn't much care what I wanted. My relationship with Janelle, who was the biggest target and the deadliest sexpot to play the game, made me a target. The straight boys were after me very early on. What's a gay guy to do? Well, this one fought. I wasn't there to make friends. I was there to get respect, give respect, and play to win.

A game like Big Brother is about making moves that get you to the end. Much like chess, you must think about your moves in advance — in this case weeks in advance. This season I was quieter, more reserved than Season 3's Marcellas. I didn't want to be the over-the-top gay male. We've seen him before on shows from Will & Grace to The Real World to Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. He's done. This time I wanted to be silent and deadly. Shrewd. A threat, but not a villain.

The producers picked up on this and ran with it. Gone was the jovial Marcellas with a penchant for gnomes and hanging with the gals from Season 3. Enter the surly, in your face, adversarial, slightly cutthroat Marc. This guy didn't want to be called Marci, had no tolerance for ignorance, and didn't have a problem telling you the truth. He was a new spin on the gay reality show contestant. He wasn't a crier and he wasn't a victim. In all honesty he didn't fully exist, but thanks to a bit of creative editing, a new star was born.

I was shocked when I saw the final edit of Big Brother. Yes, I wanted a new image, but even so I was so much lighter in the house than I was portrayed on the show. However, I knew that in the end I had little control over the final version of “Marcellas� from Big Brother All-Stars. He was a character I provided the raw materials for, and the editors did the rest. "