Compared to the Hollyoaks lot he is a perfect housemate but since the arrival of Aisleyne and Susie his maturity is shaky in comparison.
The difference being that neither Aisleyne nor Susie has yet been in the situation where they've had to defend a) themselves, b) anyone else, or c) the group as a whole. One can take issue with Richard's acceptance of the House Daddy role, but I don't think it's particularly fair to suggest that his "maturity" is in question (compared to Aisleyne, who never had to deal with Shahbaz, and Susie, who never had to deal with Shahbaz or HoochGate) simply because he's assumed a degree of responsibility for 'fairness' within the group.
His behaviour with Shahbaz is frequently thrown up as a supposed counter to this, but as previously discussed within this thread, I don't think Dickie's actions were unreasonable. I think he's concerned with group cohesion and, by the time Richard & co were blanking him, Shahbaz had done his damnedest to isolate himself from the group and undermine any sort of harmony.
Mikey was quite astute I think in seeing that Richard will rise up to people when he feels he has the group behind him, eg the thing with the crisps in the garden against Shabbaz once Sezer had already locked him out.
I think you'll find it was Sezer (himself Muslim) who suggested the crisps think. I also don't think it's especially fair to cite a particular decontextualised incident in isolation - and, frankly, I'm not sure the words "Mikey" and "astute" fit terribly well in the same sentence. I think that, in the early days, Richard felt that, as the oldest and 'alphaest' male (the others tending to take fairly passive positions), he represented the group and was in some way responsible for it. I don't think he used the group as justification for his own eeevil bullying tendencies, as Mikey appears to be suggesting here. Since then, I think Richard's found himself much more on the receiving end of unpleasant group dynamics - and yes, bullying.
Richard’s ambivalence between not bullying and standing up for people in the house seems to be a little disingenuous.
I don't see the ambivalence. He stands up for people he feels are on the receiving end of sharp, pointy group nastiness - even (and I think this is part of the reason he's been stigmatised) if these means taking issue with 'allies'. In standing up for Sam, he antagonised (Stupid Fucking) Lea. If, as seems highly likely, Suzie becomes a focus of undeserved hate and he stands up for her, he'll doubtless draw more venom.
Ambivalence? Don't see it.
Richard can smell blood and senses that the Hollyoak/plastic gang are all but finished, which they are and which makes his attitude all the more puzzling. Why re-open the b*tch*ng and b*ckst*bb*ng against those he thinks are bullys when they are this close to being vanquished? Surely now is the time to sit on their collective laurels?
Like fuck it is. Richard can smell Suzie's blood, as the anti-Suzie bitching escalates and is generalised to those who were perceived to have "arse-licked" her. Of those invited to the Golden Party, Lea escaped scapegoating by heading for the bedroom immediately afterwards to bitch about Richard. Glyn is largely unscathed, but has been the recipient of 'advice' from Mr Astute himself, along the lines of "you don't need to be so nice around people (Suzie, Richard) anymore; joinnn usss", and more aggressive anti-Richard propagandising from Lisa et al. Aisleyne is disliked anyway.
Richard has drawn most of the fire from the Golden Party and Big Brother's subsequent tasks aimed at making things difficult for the Golden Housemate. Far from being "vanquished", the amount of paranoid unpleasantness directed at him and Suzie (and, to an extent, Aisleyne) is on the rise - with the Gracists becoming bolder in expressing their dislike.
I suspect this is all very difficult for Richard. He's not used to being reviled by women (with whom he seemingly gets on better than with men, generally speaking), and having the majority of the female Housemates united against him must be both puzzling and frustrating. His attempts to build bridges (dinner with Imogen, the "Richard's not so bad" conversation with Grace) are thrown back in his face, and he's right in saying he defended Lea's corner in the early days, only for her to crap on him. I think the turning point for him was the evening of Hoochgate, when he became the single target of Team SmugHet, ostensibly for the heinous sin of stealing alcohol, which was actually carried out by Passive Pete and Lisa - and which since been repeated by Grace et al.
I'm not surprised Richard's feeling isolated, aggrieved and a little angry. Considering the above, I think he's being remarkably restrained in his criticism of other Housemates. |
