The Block 2019: Scott Cam, that was just cruel

Last night, The Block took a dark turn, with Scott Cam taking a ‘cheap shot’ at one vulnerable contestant, leaving her ‘humiliated’ and in tears.

OPINION

Last night’s episode of The Block took an oddly dark turn.

Perth mum El’ise was called into a meeting with host Scott Cam and a Suncorp flack to discuss her budgeting issues. It appears that her extravagant styling decisions have pushed her and husband Matt’s renovation budget out to a whopping $98,000 of the $250,000 each team is allocated for the entire build.

The short story is the Perth team needs to pull their spending into line if they’re going to make it to the end of the show.

The 33-year-old mum-of-three, with the same good nature she’s repeatedly demonstrated throughout the show, readily agreed with the experts’ assessment and promised to try harder to keep a rein on her finances.

“I was open to hearing what they had to say,” she said in a cutaway scene. “And I did. I accepted it. What happened after that did not need to happen.”

#TheBlock @TheBlock @ScottyCam9 & @Suncorp What an absolute disgraceful show of bullying and humiliating a contestant on the block. The show is losing the plot of renovation. Get back to the basics and stop the unfair advantages.

— RilesMedia (@rilesmedia) August 21, 2019

What followed appeared to be an extraordinary attempt to humiliate the likeable El’ise for no clear reason beyond goading her into distress. Because what is TV in 2019 if it doesn’t have an element of sadism?

Without warning, Scott Cam called another contestant, Mel, 30, into the meeting room to congratulate her for being the best budgeter on the show and the beaming Suncorp rep presented Mel with an extra $5000 as a reward.

A chastised El’ise plastered on a brave smile as Mel shrieked with tactless glee.

It was a cheap shot.

The voiceover in the next scene suggested that someone in the editing room suite at least was fully aware of the stunt they’d pulled on the hapless El’ise.

“El’ise heads back from her budget humiliation and it’s all too much,” says Cam as we cut to a series of scenes of El’ise crying.

El'ise was upset after being criticised for over spending.

“I didn’t deserve that,” she said, choking back tears. “You didn’t have to rub it. That hurts.”

“We’re all struggling,” she continues. “We’re here for a reason, we’re here for our kids, to make their life … ”

And with that she trailed off.

It should be noted that this isn’t the first time we’ve seen El’ise in tears on the show and it’s starting to look like she’s struggling to cope. Which you’d think hope would make her the last person on the show worth prodding into further turmoil.

It’s no secret that reality TV execs need their shows to ratchet up new levels of drama every year to keep their audiences interested.

One way to do that is to spotlight individuals’ bad behaviour and ask the audience to pile on as well.

We’ve done it again and again this year. The Jess and Dan cheating scandal on Married At First Sight. The controlling Ivan on Bachelor in Paradise. Worthy targets all.

It’s a sort of cultural catharsis; a way to demonstrate to ourselves and others the sort of behaviour we will and won’t accept as a society.

I’m not saying it’s not bizarre that cheap reality TV has become a de facto community arbiter — it is — but here we are.

It was a tough night on The Block for El'ise. Picture: Supplied

But there’s a simple rule that everyone — not just TV execs but everyone — should follow when it comes to singling out an individual for criticism.

That person should have shown us behaviours that makes them worthy of our censure in the first place. And El’ise simply hasn’t. She seems like a genuinely affable, hardworking woman who loves her family and is doing the best she can under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

Twitter users were quick to call out the disturbing scene, calling Cam and the show as a whole a ‘disgrace’ and saying the scene was a ‘dog act’ and ‘bullying’.

Horrible, unprofessional, humiliating behaviour from Scotty & Suncorp. Shocked. #theblock

— Amanda (@earthlingamanda) August 20, 2019

No mattet how poorly they have handled their finances it's not okay for @TheBlock to treat the contestants like that. #anythingforratings #Disgraceful

— Shan 💋 (@SooShanny) August 21, 2019

Sorry I just tuned out for a second. Did they just give Mel $5000 for her budgeting? After she just won money last night + the safe in week one. And in front of El’ise who is on the brink of a meltdown... #theblock

— Zoe - #neighbours (@neighboursfan95) August 20, 2019

If The Block wanted to have a go at one of their contestants there are plenty of others far more problematic than El’ise who could fit the bill. El’ise’s own husband, Matt, has a tendency to lose his cool, while real estate agent Jesse is perpetually smart-mouthing the judges with his belief that he knows more than them.

And then there is Tess who has said some pretty low-blow things to her husband Luke.

The show, like all of us, needs to be careful to punch up, not down. Because the former is standing up for good values. The latter is simply cruel.

Alex Carlton is a freelance writer. Continue the conversation @Alex_Carlton