Several
of Ivette's fellow houseguests have negative traits
that are similarly annoying, like Howie's relentless sexual
commentary, James manipulative behavior, Janelle's racist and
homophobic comments, and April's, well, overall personality.
But, with the possible exception of April, each of the houseguests
have prominent positive traits to offset the negative ones,
which earn them at least some respect from other houseguests
and viewers.
Howie
is frequently entertaining, James continues to win veto competitions,
and Janelle is very intelligent, despite her efforts to appear
otherwise (she's also wickedly funny, routinely slinging one-liners
like "This is like Hell with studio lights," and baiting
Beau with the taunt "You date older men!").
Ivette
has good qualities, too, like her strong sense of loyalty, and
her directness (although she also talks about everyone behind
their back), both of which are unfortunately, detriments to
winning this game. Ivette's obvious affection for her at-home
girlfriend, whom she mentions frequently, is endearing, and
she does have occasional flashes of dead-on insight about people
and situations.
But
except for the last one, none of these traits are very entertaining
or strategically advantageous, and they are greatly overshadowed
by the emotional outbursts and short-sighted thinking she employs
in the house. She's not stupid, and she'd probably make a good
friend (provided you aren't Muslim), but she lacks the self-control
and self-awareness to succeed in this game.
Interestingly,
Ivette's sexual orientation has had little effect on her standing
in the house, as no one but Janelle (who is "afraid of
lesbians," because they supposedly hit on her a lot) seemed
to care when Ivette finally came out to the other contestants
a few weeks into the show. The reactions from the other houseguests
ranged from idle curiosity to open support, and except for Janelle,
even those houseguests who can't stand Ivette have not made
the fact that she's a lesbian any kind of issue.
Sexual
orientation is clearly the least of Ivette's problems, which,
if nothing else, is a refreshing take-away from this season.
As
the houseguests are fond of repeating, this game can
change on a dime, so Ivette may yet emerge the winner of Big
Brother 6. But if she does, it will be despite herself.
Meanwhile,
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Maggie, the ER nurse from
Las Vegas who is almost the exact opposite of Ivette: mostly
level-headed, semi-thoughtful, somewhat athletic, calm, outspoken
but not obnoxiously so. Oh, and heterosexual. But then, no one's
perfect.
