The Big Man is coming to campus, but what he may not be bringing is what's needed - an example of diversity.
The Big Man is, of course, the star of the new WB reality series Big Man on Campus, set to film on UCF's campus. In it, one man picks dates and a potential mate from 10 women.
Check the description on the "Coming Soon" section of the WB's web site: "On a beautiful college campus, in a beautiful setting with lots of beautiful people, things will get very interesting."
"They're asking for the blond, the beautiful, the stereotype," math major Katie Grayshan said. "They're not even trying to portray diversity."
When presented with the idea of negativity surrounding the show, casting director for BMOC Luke Conklin said, "For the most part, when we've been on campus, people have been really supportive. That [diversity] has always been our goal in casting."
Conklin also said that the show hopes to present the diversity of UCF's huge population. The UCF Creed states the same idea: "Community - will promote an open and supportive campus environment by respecting the rights and contributions of every individual."
But there is some evidence that leads students to believe that diversity is not in the minds of the show's producers or the school.
"Now, we are looking for your school's most charismatic, intelligent, and adventurous male and female students to take part in this exciting adventure!" This was the statement made in an e-mail sent out by Zena Coniglio and Eve Overland of the Big Man on Campus casting crew.
The e-mail was sent to presidents of many organizations on campus in hopes that they would recieve a diverse pool of applicants for the show.
"We reached out to a lot of organizations on campus. We want students whether [they're] in student government or a fraternity or a sorority, you can't have all the same types on a show like this." Conklin said of the applicant recruitment process.
The aforementioned e-mail and another containing further information was recieved by Danny Coeyman, a senior BFA visual arts major, through the listserv for the Gay Lesbian and Bisexual Student Union, of which Coeyman is a member. According to Coeyman, "The second e-mail gently reminded us that the show was strictly male and female dating." While this didn't seem like a big deal, Coeyman saw it as a small symptom of a larger problem. "I think [the show] was a stupid idea to begin with, so to be excluded from it is a blessing," Coeyman said. The exclusion of a large portion of the student body is a concern for other students, and it's not limited to that of gays, lesbians and bisexuals.
There appear to be other indicators of trying to weed out certain people from the show's production.
Item 11 in the rules stating that applicants must understand that if they are chosen as the "Big Man on Campus" or the "Single Ladies", they have the potential to be videotaped at all times. However, the initial e-mail sent out by casting agents states that members of fraternities and sororities need not worry about their letters being shown on television. Double standard? It may seem so, however the issue of not filming members wearing Greek letters or inside their houses goes up to the organizations' national offices.
In reference to the fraternity/sorority letters issue, Conklin said, "If they're [sorority or fraternity members] walking around campus wearing letters, we can just blur something out or just tell them to wear a different shirt. This is not a show about a fraternity or a sorority...[The producers] will do anything they can to blur things out on shirts."
20-year-old junior Janet Duvoisin said of the show's likely casting, "How can you pick one guy and and ten girls? I could just go pick out 10 girls and they could be the dumbest people ever." When asked about what kind of people will appear on the show, she said she thinks "[the girls will] all be from sororities, but they'll throw in one Asian, one black girl, one Hispanic, one dumb one, one with Tourette's syndrome or something."
Another 20-year-old junior, Amanda Belcher, sees the show's likely casting and its reflection on the university in much the same way. "National television! I don't want this to be what everybody thinks of UCF," she stated.
To many students, this show will only represent the stereotypical view of college students and specifically UCF students. As Coeyman asks, "Why are we reinforcing things that we're trying to get changed?" He feels that this show will make the students outside of the "cookie-cutter" mold promoted by this show feel somewhat shafted and outcast, as well as only attract future students fitting said cookie-cutter dimensions. While it's not a life or death issue, it will have a direct impact on the culture of our school, if it can be argued that UCF has one.
Grayshan refers to the show as she thinks it will be: "Every TV show portrays stereotypes. They're gonna portray the band geeks as the band geeks, etc., and not even try to break these images."
So it's just more of the same. However, as Coeyman said, "We're not putting words in their mouths when we claim that they're trying to represent diversity."
There's also the possibility that the best representative of UCF may not even come close to being on the show. But more people will probably be familiar with the BMOC winners than UCF's 2002 Rhodes Scholar, Tyler Fisher.
Coeyman said that maybe to balance the representation scales, "We should have a Big Freak on Campus."
Senior Brandon Harris, also a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, says, "It's good because it gets our [UCF's] name out there. As long as it doesn't show us in too bad a light, it can't hurt our image too much." He also says that a lot of people he knows didn't want to try out for it because they were going to pick some "dumb pretty boy, and one nice guy who will get his heart stomped on by girls, like every reality TV show."
The issue here is not so much what can be done about the process, since it is already in place, but whether or not the students here are complacent with it. This is something that calls for great examination.
What it comes down to is that we all know that no reality show, not even MTV's pioneering The Real World, can properly represent diversity of any one area or any particular demographic. This show will have an effect on the public perception of UCF and the Orlando area.
Conklin said, "I think people will be thoroughly impressed with what they see on the show." This, however, remains to be seen.