This is just sad; that anyone could think that slapping a woman's face with his penis was acceptable, no matter what the circumstances, is a sad, sad, sad indictment on our society.
BIG BROTHER'S ASH: Sick and sorry Peta Hellard 09jul06
SHAMED Big Brother contestant Michael "Ashley" Cox has apologised to Australia for causing any offence - but he maintains he did not do anything wrong when he rubbed his groin in the face of housemate Camilla Halliwell.
Cox, 20, said he was horrified after initial reports labelled the incident - which saw him "turkey slap" Halliwell while she was restrained in bed by fellow housemate Michael "John" Bric - an alleged sexual assault.
"I felt sick when I heard that," he said.
"I would never hurt a woman.
"Sexual assault to me is where someone has actually been assaulted and I didn't feel Camilla was assaulted at all.
"It was just a joke - a fun gesture with no malice - with someone I've been living with 24 hours a day for 70 days. There was nothing sexual in it.
"The whole thing was totally blown out of proportion."
Cox - who was removed from the compound with Bric, 21, by producers 12 hours after last week's Saturday morning incident - said he did not feel he did anything wrong to his female housemate.
"If I have offended anyone - especially any women around Australia - I am very sorry," he said. "If Camilla considers it to be wrong, then I will definitely apologise to her. We never felt she was ever distressed in any way or angry - she was laughing with us and tickling me and John afterwards.
"We're such good friends and if Camilla had it her way, we would have stayed in the house."
The self-employed suburban Perth bricklayer, who returns to work tomorrow, said he was distressed and angry about being forced out of the house and missing out on saying goodbye to his friends.
He said the program's handling of the incident, which proved a publicity boon, had severely damaged his reputation.
"If they didn't make it an issue by kicking us out, it wouldn't be such a big deal," he said.
"Last year, two similar incidents occurred and both of them didn't get kicked out. They (producers) could have put Michael and I both up for eviction and seen if our actions made voters want us to be out of the house.
"I don't want to be known as the sleazy guy from Big Brother. I'm just an everyday bloke who made one mistake that everybody is judging him on - I feel very embarrassed.
"I hope people will judge me for the whole 10 weeks and think 'this guy's not too bad', rather than on the one little stuff-up."
He said he was shocked that the incident had prompted widespread criticism and calls for the program to be taken off the air. "I was dumbfounded when I heard about John Howard and the other politicians getting involved and wanting to scrap Big Brother," he said.
"It's just a reality TV show."
Cox, who has had counselling sessions with the show's psychologist every day since being booted off the program, counted the fall-out as one of the worst experiences of his life.
"Emotionally, it has been very stressful - you are in the house all lovey-dovey with everyone and then, bang, you're out the next minute," he said.
"It has been a rollercoaster - not to the stage where I was crying and heartbroken, but pretty close.
"I definitely do feel robbed - if I'd stayed in there, I could have won and it would have made my life a lot easier. I've come out of the house in more debt than when I went in, with the mortgage and car repayments and all the bills.
"I would have liked a change in my profession but under the circumstances, I think it has ruined my chances now."
Cox, who missed out on the prizes given to each housemate after eviction, is yet to find out whether he and Bric will be allowed to take part in the show's upcoming reunion finale episode.
One thing is for sure - Cox will never "turkey-slap" anyone ever again. "It was a first and, obviously, it's going to be a last - that's a lesson I've learned," he laughed.
Everyone makes stupid little mistakes ending up costing big bucks.
And young people are prone to them as it is part of learning.
However, I think society is to blame for this incident.
People want to see smut on TV. And Big Brother is giving it to them.
The contestants are encouraged by Big Brother to let their sexuality out. It is part of the criteria to be admitted as a contestant.
Big Bother wants to schock so that people will watch.
So Big Brother got what it wanted. Ratings.
And Cox lost everything, including his dignity.
But the question remains...
In which civilise world did Cox learn about "turkey slap"?
Is this the new joke of the 21st Century?
I could understand someone doing that as a joke with his girlfriend.
But do you do this with a friend?
Where is Cox sense of decency?
Even if we should forget about the "turkey slap"...
Is it decent to expose yourself to a female friend?
I think there is a law against that.
Well... There was... Last century.
How can the law accept that sort of behaviour on television, but condone it on the street? Big Brother is teaching teenagers how to go directly to jail and stuff up their life.
Meanwhile Channel 10 gets richer at the expense of those kids.
Ratings are fictional anyway and do not represent the majority.
Anyway, even if they are down...
Does that mean we should forgive Big Brother?
I don't think so.
And another thing I don't understand about Big Brother...
We have laws right, left and centre in this country about protecting every teenager under 18 from all the vices of society.
How come it is alright to expose a 15 year old to those vices by letting him/her watch Big Brother. Is it really smart to show a 15 year old that it is alright to drink, swear and expose yourself?
There are far too many double standards in this world. I would love to know who Big Brother is paying off in order to get away with it.
You can't blame Big Brother 100% of the time...a 15 year can easily go to the local video shop and hire out a MA 15+ movie full of violence, sex reference/scenes, explicit language etc etc..
You can't blame Big Brother 100% of the time...a 15 year can easily go to the local video shop and hire out a MA 15+ movie full of violence, sex reference/scenes, explicit language etc etc..
Maybe so... But he would need to ask his parents permission to do so, as he needs his parents membership card to get the video, and probably their money to.
But beside that...
Everyone knows that movies are fictional.
Reality TV is meant to be real. Which mean that if it can be done in real life, and on TV for everyone to see, it must be alright and acceptable.
Maybe so... But he would need to ask his parents permission to do so, as he needs his parents membership card to get the video, and probably their money to.
When I was 15, I could of easily hired out a movie. All you need is to give your surname or phone number. Do you think the shop assistant cares whether or not your parents gave you permission to hire out a MA 15+ movie? They dont give a toss, as long they get your money. I also had a job at the time, so money wasn't an issue.
Quoted from Aussies_Online
But beside that...
Everyone knows that movies are fictional.
Reality TV is meant to be real. Which mean that if it can be done in real life, and on TV for everyone to see, it must be alright and acceptable.
I really don't see the difference if its "reality tv" or if its a movie. For teenagers, it doesnt matter. There was a study not long ago about the affect video games has on kids and teenagers. Apparently, they were highly influenced and some seemed to copy what was in front of them (violence etc). Video games are highly fictional, and yet teenagers were affected by them.
Even before the days of BB, wasn't there already teenagers swearing, drinking alcohol and having sex? I'm not saying BB doesnt play any role in this anti social behaviour, but there are other things much, much more worse. Teenagers can easily access porn on the internet. Porn, to me, is way more worse than what is shown on BB. At least they axed 'Adults Only'. I think porn is just about as accessible as watching BB, because you'll find that a lot of teenagers spend longer on the computer than watching television.
I'm not saying BB doesnt play any role in this anti social behaviour, but there are other things much, much more worse. Teenagers can easily access porn on the internet. Porn, to me, is way more worse than what is shown on BB.
Well, common porn is not anti-social. It is a natural act involving nudity and sex. I could never understand why adult people are offended by porn.
As for easy access on the Internet, you only get access to the promotional stuff which is usually pretty mild. You might get the odd picture which will shock you, but most of it is not even hardcore. 70% of the stuff are just pictures of naked women.
For a 15 year old, some porn might be worse than BB. I agree. But at the same time, a picture on the Internet does not have the same influence than people discussing sex on TV.
Anyway, this is my last post as I will be off the Net for a couple of weeks. See you all later.
Just because 15 yr olds watch something it doesn't mean they think it's right and will immediatly start copying it. And what's this sudden study on 15 yr olds?
There was some study about finding the affects of violent video games on kids and teenagers..I heard about it a few years ago, but they recently brought it up on the news.
Quoted from Aussies-Online
Well, common porn is not anti-social. It is a natural act involving nudity and sex. I could never understand why adult people are offended by porn.
I disagree. How is two or more people having sex in front of like 5 different cameras and cameramen, "producers" and "directors" natural. Its totally perverted. People are offended by porn because of how degrading it is to society and the human race. All it does is give people unneeded thoughts and ideas.
Quoted from Aussies-Online
As for easy access on the Internet, you only get access to the promotional stuff which is usually pretty mild. You might get the odd picture which will shock you, but most of it is not even hardcore. 70% of the stuff are just pictures of naked women.
Mild? I highly doubt that. Most likely, porn which is on the internet is gonna be way more hardcore than store bought porn, because its so hard to control whats on the net and nothing is stopping people from putting the most disusting and sickening videos and pictures. Thats why theres the whole issue of child porn, and bestiality. You can't buy those type of porn at shops. Of course a teenager isnt going to go to the store a buy porn, they'd be too embarassed. And why would they want to cough up the money, when there's thousands of free sources on the net.
Quoted from Aussies-Online
For a 15 year old, some porn might be worse than BB. I agree. But at the same time, a picture on the Internet does not have the same influence than people discussing sex on TV.
I think a 15 year old would get more info about sex, if they watch it. Hrrrmm...I wonder where Ashley got the idea of a "turkey slap"???? And I doubt that a teenager would be looking for pics on the net...they would go straight to the hardcore videos. And anyways, Adults Only is taken off air now, so BB is virtually clean from all swearing and sex. But I agree, when Adults Only was on it was quite detailed. I think that was the only problem. I mean, the daily show is fairly clean.
I don't think it's so much the 'sex' and 'debauchery' that people object to, it's more the lack of common decency/courtesy and values that the show projects. You can have sex and swear like a trooper, but still be decent. The residents of the BB house appear to display none of that; and indeed the show seems to demand they act in this manner, even at the interview stage.
Yeah, thats true I guess. But there are also other shows, eventhough they are 'non-reality', which projects the same sort of thing. I believe, that whether a show be reality or not reality, it will have the same influence on people, in particular, teenagers.
I think BB does, to some extent, display a real version of how people act in society as in arguing, bitching, disrespect and so on. Maybe the people on the show are a bit extreme I guess. But people have been acting this way for years, even before BB, and all I'm saying is that I don't think its fair to completely blame BB for the problems society has.
And also, I dont really care if BB gets axed tomorrow. I mean I'll watch it if its on, but if its not, I just forget about it.
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