I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but I've become hooked on "Big Brother 2." At first, I was attracted to two of the guys, Hardy and Will, both of whom are extremely attractive, and never seem to wear shirts. But even that soon became tedious, since neither of them are particularly likeable people.

What got me hooked was the intensity and complexity of the interpersonal issues that came up between the various house guests. It's actually the same reason why I love MTVs "The Real World", although, since MTV's people are younger and less-formed, the types of issues that come up are different. In the latter program, much of the conflict comes from throwing together some naive, corn-fed kids with sophisticated cosmopolites (who are frequently either non-white or homosexual). The appeal to me, in this case, is to see how the young people deal with these issues and grow (since they're still formative). For some reason, I do find myself touched by the striving of young adults to grow up. And it's not just the handsome boys either, also the girls.

On Big Brother, on the other hand, the conflict comes mainly from adults who've settled into their personalities and grown less tolerant of people who behave differently. And the appeal is just the inherent appeal of high drama as the unbreakable force meets the unmovable obstacle.

But I've been rather embarrassed by the gay house guest, Bunky. I'm not talking about his appearance - ooooh all that body hair. I'm talking about his lack of self-respect, his complete inability to control his emotions, and the way he openly kow-tows to the other house guests ("just tell me how to vote and I'll do it") . I don't think I've ever seen anybody cry as much or as frequently as Bunky. If this guy is representing gay men to the TV Nation, then we're in trouble.

The weirdest thing, though, is that Bunky is the most popular chacter on Big Brother. In online polls, he's rated at 71%. This completely confounds your perception of how Americans react to feminine, obviously-gay men. Unless, of course, the high poll numbers are the results of a gay "get out the vote" campaign that I'm not aware of.

Last night, though, I realized why he's so popular, and why most of the other house guests love him so much. It's because Bunky is just full of consideration for others. He's the kind of person who always puts the other people's needs ahead of his own. I do think that he goes a little overboard with it, and lets himself be trampled on too easily, especially in contrast with the other house-guests, most of whom seem to have Narcisstic Personality Disorder.

The caring nature of Bunky is a quality that is very attractive to me. And no, it's not just because that means I can take advantage of people like that. It's because I don't share that quality that I find it appealing and admirable. It's a quality I see in my friend Brett. But at least Brett doesn't cry as much as Bunky.