Bachelor Australia - Season 5 - Matty Johnson - Media Social Media - *Sleuthing Spoilers* #3

Laura is not an underdog (least likely to win) based on edit and media. Being an unpopular frontrunner is not the same as an underdog. jmo

@AllAboutLove @Storybook Fair points! I personally don't think she is an underdog either, at this stage...although she might become one if the Elise Train moves full steam ahead over the next few weeks! *choo choo*

Also @Billysmom, these mags we're talking about are like People. Take everything they say with a grain of salt! (Or more like a huge handful of salt!) Although one of them claims to be the official mag for the Bachelor I believe so that one might be slightly more reliable?

My question is, they're pushing her so much to be the front runner, so hard. So is she really the front runner? Would they really push the winner like this??? They pushed Nikki the same and once Matty appeared they pushed him too. (I was unspoiled last year and could have sworn black and blue Matty was F1). Not sure what to think JMO.

Yes the media is pumping Laura up but they can only do this IMO with help from the show producers. It's a red herring strategy that the producers have used to divert attention from the F1 at least in two seasons that we know about (Sam W and Richie's) so yeah unfair to Laura as it was to both Heather and Nikki since they were not the F1 but those two were beloved by the audience. The audience seems to be tired of the IMO producer shtick of having a front runner shoved down their throats and are IMO revolting by backing the underdogs at least via SM. So if any one is to blame yeah we can blame the show producers...jmho.

I can understand feeling sorry for an unpopular frontrunner - which was literally me cheering for Lee last year when he was an unpopular frontrunner. However, no way does that make the frontrunner an underdog. The underdog last year was Matty.

jmo

solaroo wrote:

Sundy wrote:Ok so the NW tag on IG is BS. Laura did not say such a thing. She was very nice towards all of the girls and comes across as a little insecure. They did mention the dating thing which is interesting and speculated by a few of us anyhow. If you wish to sleuth sleuth New Year's Eve and Kiki and Noni.

IMO, that seems like an example of the media being unfair to Laura, attributing words to her that she didn't say, words which make her seem like she has an attitude.

Which is what elicited my reaction....fwiw

Schnitty4lyf wrote:

Billysmom wrote:
I'm now seeing laura as the underdog, and (we shall see) possibly a bit unfairly targeted by the media,  so I feel I can now root for the underdog, ...

AllAboutLove wrote:
Can someone point me to some examples from the media where Laura is targeted unfairly and is an underdog?  I am really confused since I have seen examples of the opposite question

I won't presume to know exactly what @Billysmom thinks, but I think we've mostly been on the same page re: Laura. I think 'unfairly targeted' refers to the constant attention of every media outlet pushing her as F1, rather than anything particularly nasty. I brought this up in another thread but when you're trying to hide the result and every man and his dog thinks you're F1, I imagine it would be hard to figure out what to say in interviews/SM to keep suspense. Imagine Nikki last year, when everyone was saying she had it in the bag but she was actually heartbroken, it would have been very difficult to face the constant media onslaught I imagine!

In terms of being the underdog, perhaps it is not that she has been portrayed as an underdog, but that no one really wants her to win and she has minimal support, thus creating the underdog status? She's definitely still a frontrunner, but an unpopular one now. JMO

Thank you, schnitty, you expressed it far more clearly than I did!  Xo.

I clearly should've reread that post again before running off to mass. I fully intend to post less in the future...

Eta...these are the definitions I found on Merriam-Webster.  Underdog:
1
:  a loser or predicted loser in a struggle or contest
2
:  a victim of injustice or persecution

I was keying more on the second definition(though it's far more dramatic than necessary, ), not the gambling/contest definition. I do feel Laura's edit has done her a disservice, and was pretty upset when I was reading the reaction to what it appears may be an unfair and inaccurate headline. I am not calling her a saint, nor do I have any reason to dislike Elise. But I do wonder if there is a tendency, as I've posted before, to look for the chinks in the armor of the supposed statistical front runner. If Laura indeed has real feelings for matty, that makes me sad. I will also be sad if Elise is hurt, but at this juncture it's not looking like any hurt will be coming at Elise from the edit or the media, unless the bus suddenly changes course. All j.m.o.

IMO, from a sleuther's point of view only, it would be possible to consider Laura as potentially the underdog at this point because we all know that traditionally the person receiving so much positive media attention prior to the FRC is in fact the least likely to win. To turn things around for Laura, I think the media would have to start ramping up Tara/Elise in a major way as most likely for the win so that Laura disappeared into the background, allowing TPTB to produce the surprise ending they love. JMO.

IMO, from what has been sleuthed, meaning patterns for F1 (Ep 3 SD, shown in promos, storyboard of an obstacle) and especially for an obvious F1 edit (obvious in begnning -- becomes more hidden/doubt in middle - back to obvious at the very end) Laura's edit is exactly a typical F1 edit especially if her edit is a negative one going by last year which is when the USA took over production and going by USA shows where the obvious F1 pretty much goes exactly how I've seen Laura's going.

jmo

I disagree I think Laura has all the classic signs of being F1 even from a sleuthing perspective - episode 3 SD, preview before premiere, constant appearance throughout even if its for minor narration, second SD + SQT (therefore lots of time with lead). All IMO.

Regarding underdog - that term itself for this show is synonymous with dark horse/slow burn etc. Not frontrunner.

As for negativity - reactions from either media or SM. That's par for the course for any contestant and can be argued for or against for that contestant depending on POV.

Elise has already got memes mocking her, same as Laura has. Elise has been called negative things by Jen in media and by NW mag as "ain't a threat" and by being pushed by Matty to be a slow-burn and the show itself - so not a "winner" and the show itself hasn't pushed for Elise and has pretty much acted like she was MIA and not important.

Switching these things up later in a season is a typical Lee/F1/too-smooth edit vs Matty/F2/slow-burn edit, imo.

So far, this season to me has been exactly like GL's season, with almost the exact same script... except one frontrunner is OTT and the slow-burn is even more extreme.

jmo

I can definitely see all those points, absolutely, but my feeling from reading the sleuthing on the forum is that there are a large number of smaller signs pointing away from her, the largest of which is the OTT media attention. Has a contestant ever received this much affirmation of being the likely winner from the media all the way through the season and still come out as F1?