'BMOC' is reprehensible
Boys, if you go around grabbing young women's butts, you could end up charged with a crime. And, girls, if a boy grabs your butt, it's not a compliment.
That seems obvious, but "BMOC" viewers will be left with the opposite impression after tonight's premiere. Which is why the show crosses over from being simply tawdry and stupid to reprehensible and irresponsible.
The new series is, for the most part, standard reality TV stupidity. Fifteen co-eds at the (sarcasm alert) academically oriented University of Central Florida move into a "Real World"-cool sorority house. They choose the Big Man on Campus, which they do by "scooping out" all these "hotties" across campus, asking them to remove their shirts (and, in one case, their pants) in their search for the perfect guy.
They make their choice tonight; next week the show turns into "The Bachelor" in college as the BMOC whittles the group of 15 girls down to his One And Only. (Yeah, right.)
This show celebrates "wild and crazy" behavior as not only acceptable but desirable. And, in the process, provides an outrageously bad message to its young audience. (Keep in mind, that the WB programs toward a 12-to-34-year-old, primarily female, demographic.)
She was far from offended, however. "It was cute, though," Diamond says with a big smile on her face. "It shows that he's sweet and that he can be a little bad boy. I like that."
When all 15 girls gathered to evaluate their candidates, the one who took Billy's picture described him as "my BMOC for the day." One of the other two giggled as she described how "he totally grabbed our butts."
Diamond's comment is jaw-droppingly unbelievable. "I didn't think it was disrespectful, because it's a turn-on for me when a guy grabs my butt."
The girls went on to describe Billy as "adorable," "snuggly" and "a keeper"; thumb's up.
Let's imagine, for a moment, the 12-year-old girls that the WB hopes will be watching this show. They're going to get the impression that it's not only acceptable if a guy manhandles them, it's a compliment.
Girls, it's assault. It's a sex crime. Guys who grab onto body parts of girls they've just met are not cute, cuddly and adorable. They're lecherous. They're criminals.
And you teenage boys who might be watching ought to keep that in mind. This is not the way to make girls like you. You could end up in trouble with the law. You could end up in jail. You could end up having to register as a sex offender.
Even if we assume that Billy is too dumb to know what he's doing is not only tawdry but criminal, and even if we assume that Diamond is too dumb to know she's being insulted, not complimented — what excuse do the show's producers and the WB have? None.
Network executives try to deny that programming influences behavior, but that's a patently ridiculous argument given that network television is built on the principal that advertising influences buying. What the WB and the producers of "BMOC" are doing with this show goes beyond insulting viewers' intelligence.
Reprehensible is the word that once again comes to mind.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com
You can be the first to comment on this story.