Nick Viall - Bachelorette 11 - *Spoilers - Sleuthing* - Discussion #5

I think it all depends on if you like the guy or not. If you follow him and you think he's a great guy, the pics are wonderful. If you don't care for him, then it's attention seeking and self promoting. The latter is what I said about the recent armpit pic.

Cecilia wrote:Yes, I held him to a higher standard because I thought he was real and cool the first time around.  And he himself called shirtless posts douchey last year in a post of himself, without a shirt, but asking people to come to a charity event he was hosting.  I liked that.  10-20 posts later of professional half-naked pictures with his pants unbuttoned...Sigh.  I'm just over it.  And a personal trainer can do it all the time because it's his job and marketing.

I actually don't think he is coming across poorly on the show but some of his SM media activity is making me less of a fan.  JMHO.

IA, Cecilia. It's enough. I really don't get it either, since it seems so very different from the persona he projected last season.

I promise if Chris Siegfried (or other faves of mine) posted a pic of him with his pants unzipped with his undies showing, I'd die of 2nd hand embarrassment and think it was ridic, maybe even moreso than Nick because I like him so much .

That said, it isn't a huge deal, just one of those things that makes me cringe when anyone does it.

GuardianAngel wrote:I think it all depends on if you like the guy or not. If you follow him and you think he's a great guy, the pics are wonderful. If you don't care for him, then it's attention seeking and self promoting. The latter is what I said about the recent armpit pic.

Haha, I don't fit into either category! I'm a huge Nick fan (favorite part of the season by far) and I HATED the half-naked pictures and the ambiguous tweets, for that matter.

I think the biggest thing for me is to just enjoy these people on TV and see them as "characters", instead of real people. My favorites have always disappointed me, in some way or another, in real life. I'm going to enjoy TV Nick, but I admit that I don't know him IRL. Sometimes, I do see things that make me think "oh, crap, RS was right. He has changed because of the attention he gets." It's just best to enjoy him on-screen and not put him on some pedestal.

The most interesting thing I have noted by comments/posts is that it seems Kaitlyn and Shawn can be flawed and liked because of that but Nick being flawed is reason to dislike him.

Cecilia wrote:Yes, I held him to a higher standard because I thought he was real and cool the first time around.  And he himself called shirtless posts douchey last year in a post of himself, without a shirt, but asking people to come to a charity event he was hosting.  I liked that.  10-20 posts later of professional half-naked pictures with his pants unbuttoned...Sigh.  I'm just over it.  And a personal trainer can do it all the time because it's his job and marketing.

I actually don't think he is coming across poorly on the show but some of his SM media activity is making me less of a fan.  JMHO.

I don't think he said shirtless posts were douchey, I think he said douchey morning selfies.

"I don't usually take douchey morning selfies, but when I do it's to remind y'all to COME HANG OUT with me TODAY! We're raising money to fight breast cancer. "

Not that it matters.

It seems whether people like Nick or dislike Nick he is held to some different/higher standard.

I guess that is what makes him unique.

bleuberry wrote:I promise if Chris Siegfried (or other faves of mine) posted a pic of him with his pants unzipped with his undies showing, I'd die of 2nd hand embarrassment and think it was ridic, maybe even moreso than Nick because I like him so much .

That said, it isn't a huge deal, just one of those things that makes me cringe when anyone does it.

I agree. I'm not crazy about anyone(male or female) doing it unless they are underwear/swim suit models doing it for an ad. It's just me.

AllAboutLove wrote:It seems whether people like Nick or dislike Nick he is held to some different/higher standard.

I guess that is what makes him unique.

bleuberry wrote:Technically there are 6-7 separate pics (some in a collage - like why?! ), all posted within the last month. Looks a little try hard/douchey, but I guess when the novelty of his new ripped figure wears off, so will the pics (hopefully).

It's not new, he always had it. He was just always clothed during Andi's season, apart from the FD, which made me go woah. His physique was such a welcome change to all the overly pumped gym bodies. Lean muscle, just the kind I like.

AllAboutLove wrote:It seems whether people like Nick or dislike Nick he is held to some different/higher standard.

I guess that is what makes him unique.

Yes this times 1000!  Why is that?

IMO, it's because he usually holds himself to a different standard.

I think the change that many Nick fans are noticing is the fact that Nick has attempted to deny one of his basic character traits this season...his logical analysis of situations.  He has said over and over this season that he is letting his heart lead.  That is not natural for him.  He usually leads with his intellect, his mind.  

We all saw where that got him last season: He didn't get the girl.  Some of the guys criticized him for attempting to analyze every little detail ad nauseum.  The viewers called him insincere, a jerk, even a villian.  Everyone questioned his character...his motives.  Even Andi told him that the main reason that they did not work out was because of his over analysis.  

So this season he went into the experience with a different mindset.  He is trying to prove to himself, to Kaitlyn, to the guys, to the viewers, to the whole world that he can grow and change and learn from his mistakes.  To be something different.  To be led by his heart and not his mind.  You can see the struggle for him.  He broke down a few weeks ago with Kaitlyn because his mind was starting to take over again and he was starting to doubt himself and his connection with Kaitlyn because of what his mind was telling him about the situation.  And then he reined that mind in and reminded Kaitlyn why he came and in doing so reminded himself...he came to follow his heart for Kaitlyn.  

However, by Nick denying that analytical mindset when it comes to the show, we as long time fans of Nick see an inconsistency from his true character.  We see him not making the conservative, wise choices he has made in the past when it comes to his self image portrayal.  We see him giving caution to the wind and revealing a more superficial version of the "Nick" we have come to love.  However, I think this "new" Nick has always been hiding underneath...and has only been let out to play when he actively suppresses his more wise intellectually guided mind.  

At some point, in order to go back on the show, he had to have just said, "What the h*ll, I'm going for it.  Scr*w the consequences.  I'm going to do whatever it takes.  I'm going to have to supress my mind and let my more carefree heart lead in order to get through this in one piece."  

So now we Nick fans see his "new" attitude and think that he has changed.  But in reality, he is the same good old Nick underneath.  He is just putting on a good face to get through the adventure that is the Bachelorette.  He is just putting his natural tendencies to use his mind to lead in the back seat and allowing his "heart", his more emotional, more mellow, more happy go lucky side drive this thing home.

IA. Nick is the same guy... he is complex and multi-faceted and a deep person.

Even in the EW interview posted today Kaitlyn says they have deep conversations.

Imo, if Nick is showcasing a more shallow/superficial side (his recent shirtless posed photos were taken by a photographer not by himself) it is probably just his way to balance himself and stop himself from drowning in his usual deep thoughts.