Taylor Hale finally achieved the “impossible.” 22 years and 24 seasons after its premiere, the 24/7 reality TV competition show, Big Brother, finally “crowned” its first noncelebrity, Black woman victor. This is to the overwhelming delight of most longtime watchers, lifelong fans (such as myself) and with extreme support from those on social media (especially Twitter) who have been waiting for a little excitement in this game for a number of years.
After 82 days in the house, Hale beat out fellow houseguest and showmance Monte Taylor, a Black man from Delaware, in an eight to one jury vote. This makes her not only the first Black woman to win the game but also cements her as the winner of the highest cash prize in all 24 seasons. As the first houseguest in the history of the show to win both the game itself and America’s Favorite Player, also an added $50,000 check to the houseguest most beloved by an online popular vote.
For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, let’s go over some facts. The original concept of Big Brother is as follows. The international reality TV show, which first debuted in the Netherlands in 1999, follows a group of people completely isolated from the outside world as they coexist and live together in a house outfitted with 94 HD cameras and 113 microphones, recording their every move 24/7. Each week, a Head of Household competition is played, determining the player responsible for putting two houseguests on the chopping block, where one will be voted out of the house by their fellow houseguests. Through this process, the last remaining Houseguest receives the grand prize of $750,000.
Over the many years of the American version of the game airing on CBS, the show’s production has adopted a number of twists. Permanent facets of the game itself such as the weekly Power of Veto competition used to save a houseguest from the threat of eviction, as well as the jury voting system and yearly themes outlining the house decor, competitions, new twists and chances to gain and lose power in the house, all highlight the show’s slogan of “Expect the Unexpected.” More on the game itself, different ways to win, and its complexities here.
You might be asking yourself, why should I care? Why does this matter? How does this affect me?
The answer is simple, it’s all based on representation, morality and selflessness. Hale, a beauty queen from Michigan and a noted lover of Lays potato chips, was an early threat at the beginning of the summer and the target of intense bullying by a handful of houseguests who participated in her mistreatment and attempted character assasination within the house as well as around the country.
Season 24 also saw the attempted beginnings of an all-white alliance in the wake of the previous season’s successful “Cookout” alliance whose overall goal to have the first Black winner of the show did not go to waste with the final check made out to Michigan’s Xavier Prather at the end of Summer 2021. However negative and extremely emotional this season was, each week we saw Hale choose kindness, maturity and respectability as alliances formed at her feet as her social game blossomed out of its negative adolescence.
As a fellow lifelong “Big Brother” fan, woman of color and fellow “Taylor,” this is a big deal in my household. We as an audience are shown the same plot, games, strategies and overall storyline on how a player can get to the end and how the lack of diversity was expected. However, this season in conjunction with the last was dynamic and exciting as well as portrayed a sense of optimism for television as the seasons and their outcomes gave us a glimpse into a slowly but surely changing media atmosphere. Hale is one of a handful of women winners and is only the second woman of color to win the game as Jun Song won all the way back in 2003. Hale represents an entire population of Americans and consumers who just want to see themselves portrayed in the media they consume.
As for the future of the game, the ever-so-slightly changing media landscape, and what Hale is going to do with all of that cold hard cash, all I can do is “expect the unexpected.”