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Why We Watch...Big Brother |
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As I watched this year's troupe of sacrificial lambs giddily toddle their way into the eighth Big Brother house, I took some time out from wondering how many of them were taught the art of make-up application at clown school to consider just how much of my life the greatest pop cultural phenomenon of our time has eaten up…like a rabid Doberman of meaningless celebrity chewing away at the ticking clock of my existence.
And then I stopped. I stopped because I was scared of the truth. Scared to admit that only last week my flatmate and I successfully named over 100 former housemates in the order by which they were evicted. Scared to admit that my seven-year love affair with a camera-laden house largely full of idiots I'd emigrate to avoid is the longest relationship I've ever had. By four years. Scared to admit that I am an addict.
Instead, I thought of what it is about Big Brother that means every summer I and millions like me see less sunshine than the earthworms of Iceland, because rather than, you know, going to the park or the pub or interacting with humans, we prefer to watch someone we've long since decided is a git scratch their arse while eating toast.
First comes our fascination with the psychological profile of the average housemate. I get so tense at family weddings where I might have to speak to a cousin I've not seen for a few years, that I'd consider reconstructive surgery if it meant they wouldn't recognise me. Imagine volunteering to subject yourself to the company of imperfect strangers, chosen because you have absolutely nothing in common other than that you are likely to fight or sleep with each other within minutes of meeting. On television. It is something only a maniac or a moron would do.
Basically, all Big Brother housemates are essentially masochists. Why? Fame, that's why. See, they're not just masochists, they're narcissists too… And just as narcissists fascinate themselves, they also have the capacity to fascinate others. Namely us.
Don't get me wrong, these traits I describe may be loathsome, but if the housemates were really all such attention-hungry trolls then we wouldn't watch at all. Let's not get hasty. The truth is, they're not bad people. Even Nasty Nick Bateman's only real crime was to smuggle in a pencil and talk out of his arse.
No, we can empathise with the housemates because they are, as we are, sometimes awkward, sometimes foolish, sometimes selfish…just bloody human. Even Jade Goody. They are a cross section of society, albeit an extreme section, and as such they reflect real life.
We watch because that little microcosm of stupid tasks and fleeting relationships shows us more about the behaviour of people in the real world than any soap, film, play or political debate. And yet, at the same time, it's all completely pointless, as is anytime spent watching it.
Oh, God…I'm watching it right now.
David Whitehouse
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Is this you, are you addicted to Big Brother? Or do you loathe it with a passion? Mail us now at rtblogcomments@bbc.co.uk - the best comments may be published.
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From Ben Wilkinson:
I reckon we watch Big Brother because we recognise ourselves and the people we know in the housemates and their flaws. That's not meant to be a profound statement: it's just to say that BB serves as a kind of introspective peepshow, where we get to see sides of ourselves flicker in the actions of others. That those others happen to be increasingly narcissistic and frequently disturbing, then, is probably an accurate reflection of the growing cult of celebrity and our obsession with it.
Is Big Brother a revealing social experiment or a platform for a bunch of celebrity-hungry, talentless weirdos? I think half of the show's fascination lies in its odd fleeting between the two.
From K:
It would not surprise me in the slightest if Emily was a plant.
Surely it's a bit convenient that so soon into the show a housemate
was seen to make a racist comment which Endemol/Channel 4 could take a
hard (and for once appropriate) stance on, very publically chastising
and evicting the housemate concerned? Surely this could be an
orchestrated attempt to show that they are capable of dealing with
such matters correctly and so win back some of the viewers they had
lost over CBB earlier this year?
Emily was supposed to be "the clever one" and I find it very hard to
believe that someone with any kind of brain - no matter how
naive/arrogant - would use a term like that on national tv after the
controversy earlier this year.
From Andrew Watts:
I think Big Brother must have the same appeal as a medieval freak show.
If we put severely psychologically disturbed and mentally retarded people in a house together and watched them for entertainment purposes then I would hope there would be a public outcry as it is blatantly taking advantage of people who are not capable of making rational choices for themselves.
The problem with Big Brother is that it is very subtle in its immorallity. It often uses people who are quite far removed from the psychological norm but not enough so that they are committed to a mental institution.
Ultimately the majority of entertainment on Big Brother is through watching mentally unstable people suffer (if everyone was happy and content in the house all the time nobody would watch it).
Being entertained by mentally unstable people suffering cannot be a sign of a healthy society.
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