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Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Big Brother 9 and its discontents
I'm now going to approach Big Brother. The question I ask myself is, why have I been avoiding it? Sheer laziness? Perhaps, but that would be too easy - the question is, what lies behind the laziness? I've been watching the show and enjoying it as much as ever, so why the reluctance to approach it in writing?
I think the answer lies in what surrounds Big Brother. It is as if one is forced to take sides every summer. One can no longer simply watch Big Brother, one must either love it or hate it. The difference in recent series is that whereas previously the side of community was on the side of loving, whereas now, the haters have their community and we are left to own devices. This may be a generalisation, and there may well be pockets of resistance, and it must also be noted that the haters have always tried to hasten the demise of the show, always looking for decline, and yet I feel that the actual climate has change, that the consensus is that the show is over - that it has died without knowing it.
I will add that this general feeling is heightened by my own personal experience - in previous years, among my friends, the group was split between those he hated it and those that loved it. I always found it strange that the haters took such pride in not watching it, detailing their avoidance strategies, as if it was somehow a virtuous thing to not watch Big Brother. That is still true - there is a strange pleasure to be had from hating Big Brother. The lovers were the smaller group always, getting smaller with each series, yet still we clung together. This series is the first I've watched alone. It is a strange feeling. And, as with the haters, why do i feel a certain unnecessary loss at having to watch it alone? Other programs I watch that friends don't and it doesn't bother me. For example, Heroes - I was for long time the only person I knew who watched it, and while I spent some time singing its praises I never actually felt alone in my watching - I never really thought of it in those terms.
So now I find the tables turned and I take a certain pleasure in the simple fact that I watch the show, it is a badge I wear with pride, and when the conversation comes up, as it still often does, the haters finding it hard to give up on their pleasure, I enjoy detailing the reasons Big Brother is the best thing on TV, and take pleasure from the bemused reactions of my audience.
I should here also mention the third approach (there is always a third way), that of watching it to hate it. The Guardian is a big fan of this approach, as anyone who reads their live blog of Friday evictions will testify - from the (changing) blogger to the majority of the commentators there is a pleasure taken in watching it solely to hate it. This sneering approach is the worst, putting a distance between themselves and the show, it is a refusal to commit, it is saying "I am above this!", it presupposes a viewer who "believes" wholeheartedly in Big Brother and uses this imaginary viewer to make them feel superior - "people take this seriously?! Not I! I know what this is all about - it is rubbish, but as media event I must watch."
And so I find it difficult to write on it. There isn't even the semblance of a critical distance to the show. I must praise no matter what. Let not the haters win.
And, to turn to the show itself, isn't the exact opposite now true of the show itself. That is to say, it is all critical distance. How many times have the housemates sat around and discussed the final 6, how they are perceived out side of the show. Yes, this has always happened, but I think the self-criticism, and the criticism of others has certainly reached some sort of critical mass. I am particularly thinking of the way Rachel has been questioned throughout the show, doubted for her reasonableness, as if because everyone knows only "freaks" go on the show, this person must be a freak, her normality must be a mask. In a similar vein is the criticism of Kat, but here the opposite is true - no one is that outlandish all the time, she is too much of a "freak", therefore she must be a freak. In BB8 the exception to this rule of self criticism was of course the twins, who were simply "themselves" (it is interesting that it took two housemates to act the unified self...) throughout, their behaviour was barely questioned as an act. The closest we got to this in BB9 is Bex, and yet here we see the danger of positing someone as "being themselves", for in BEx we saw first hand how the dynamics of the group change what "being oneself" actually entails. Bex's entrance to the house was a carbon copy of the way the twins entered the house, screaming, overexcitement - enthusiasm would probably be the most appropiate word, but the way the other housemates recieved this Bex forced a change. No one wanted this Bex, the house this year did not want such enthusiasm. This was apparent from the first, with the way the housemates looked down on Bex's version of the twins entrance straight away (as a sidenote, could this have been because the twins were blonde thin and pretty, whereas Bex is pretty much the opposite - what was cute from the twins became unbearable from Bex). It took a while for the enthusiasm to wear off completely, as Bex floundered for a new self, remember "Chipgate", in which Bex ruined the chips from simply wanting to help out - her enthusiasm. She eventually found her new self as the exact opposite of the person she went in as - the new Bex refused to do anything, every task was too much, tried without enthusiasm (her 4 minutes on the tyre being, of course, the great example), treated as an unpleasent necessity to be done only if absolutely forced. She moaned about everything, her original enthusiasm reduced to a tic - the constant showing of her breasts.
For a similar thing one can look to Luke and the way that his involvement in the original secret mission has created him as the insider, going form group to group seeing how the land lies before reporting back, friends with everyone, friends with no one.
And Rex. Rex has the most interesting moment of the season in his epiphany. He went in the house to find himself - and he says he succeeded - and from that moment he has gone from arrogant, materialistic, snob to ... arrogant materialistic snob. He has fully accepted his role as his self. For this, if not much else, he must be admired.
The great danger of Big Brother is that of a certain humanism. Watching people day after after it is very hard to continue hating, so that even the arrogant, inherited wealth and confidence of Rex becomes strangely likeable. That, and the current campaign by Stuart, Dale and Rex to try and be nasty so that they get nominated, prove the lie of Morrisey's statement that "it's so easy to hate, it takes guts to be gentle and kind". It takes a great effort to adhere to a position against the inevitable tide of convenient liking.
In terms of the actual show, I think that this series hasn't actually been as dull as the haters make out. The very fact that there is no clear cut winner, or at least no clear cut candidates from day one, makes it a bit of a novelty for Big Brother. Plus there has been some stand out moments - the Jen painting argument being up there with the highlights from all series.
I think the answer lies in what surrounds Big Brother. It is as if one is forced to take sides every summer. One can no longer simply watch Big Brother, one must either love it or hate it. The difference in recent series is that whereas previously the side of community was on the side of loving, whereas now, the haters have their community and we are left to own devices. This may be a generalisation, and there may well be pockets of resistance, and it must also be noted that the haters have always tried to hasten the demise of the show, always looking for decline, and yet I feel that the actual climate has change, that the consensus is that the show is over - that it has died without knowing it.
I will add that this general feeling is heightened by my own personal experience - in previous years, among my friends, the group was split between those he hated it and those that loved it. I always found it strange that the haters took such pride in not watching it, detailing their avoidance strategies, as if it was somehow a virtuous thing to not watch Big Brother. That is still true - there is a strange pleasure to be had from hating Big Brother. The lovers were the smaller group always, getting smaller with each series, yet still we clung together. This series is the first I've watched alone. It is a strange feeling. And, as with the haters, why do i feel a certain unnecessary loss at having to watch it alone? Other programs I watch that friends don't and it doesn't bother me. For example, Heroes - I was for long time the only person I knew who watched it, and while I spent some time singing its praises I never actually felt alone in my watching - I never really thought of it in those terms.
So now I find the tables turned and I take a certain pleasure in the simple fact that I watch the show, it is a badge I wear with pride, and when the conversation comes up, as it still often does, the haters finding it hard to give up on their pleasure, I enjoy detailing the reasons Big Brother is the best thing on TV, and take pleasure from the bemused reactions of my audience.
I should here also mention the third approach (there is always a third way), that of watching it to hate it. The Guardian is a big fan of this approach, as anyone who reads their live blog of Friday evictions will testify - from the (changing) blogger to the majority of the commentators there is a pleasure taken in watching it solely to hate it. This sneering approach is the worst, putting a distance between themselves and the show, it is a refusal to commit, it is saying "I am above this!", it presupposes a viewer who "believes" wholeheartedly in Big Brother and uses this imaginary viewer to make them feel superior - "people take this seriously?! Not I! I know what this is all about - it is rubbish, but as media event I must watch."
And so I find it difficult to write on it. There isn't even the semblance of a critical distance to the show. I must praise no matter what. Let not the haters win.
And, to turn to the show itself, isn't the exact opposite now true of the show itself. That is to say, it is all critical distance. How many times have the housemates sat around and discussed the final 6, how they are perceived out side of the show. Yes, this has always happened, but I think the self-criticism, and the criticism of others has certainly reached some sort of critical mass. I am particularly thinking of the way Rachel has been questioned throughout the show, doubted for her reasonableness, as if because everyone knows only "freaks" go on the show, this person must be a freak, her normality must be a mask. In a similar vein is the criticism of Kat, but here the opposite is true - no one is that outlandish all the time, she is too much of a "freak", therefore she must be a freak. In BB8 the exception to this rule of self criticism was of course the twins, who were simply "themselves" (it is interesting that it took two housemates to act the unified self...) throughout, their behaviour was barely questioned as an act. The closest we got to this in BB9 is Bex, and yet here we see the danger of positing someone as "being themselves", for in BEx we saw first hand how the dynamics of the group change what "being oneself" actually entails. Bex's entrance to the house was a carbon copy of the way the twins entered the house, screaming, overexcitement - enthusiasm would probably be the most appropiate word, but the way the other housemates recieved this Bex forced a change. No one wanted this Bex, the house this year did not want such enthusiasm. This was apparent from the first, with the way the housemates looked down on Bex's version of the twins entrance straight away (as a sidenote, could this have been because the twins were blonde thin and pretty, whereas Bex is pretty much the opposite - what was cute from the twins became unbearable from Bex). It took a while for the enthusiasm to wear off completely, as Bex floundered for a new self, remember "Chipgate", in which Bex ruined the chips from simply wanting to help out - her enthusiasm. She eventually found her new self as the exact opposite of the person she went in as - the new Bex refused to do anything, every task was too much, tried without enthusiasm (her 4 minutes on the tyre being, of course, the great example), treated as an unpleasent necessity to be done only if absolutely forced. She moaned about everything, her original enthusiasm reduced to a tic - the constant showing of her breasts.
For a similar thing one can look to Luke and the way that his involvement in the original secret mission has created him as the insider, going form group to group seeing how the land lies before reporting back, friends with everyone, friends with no one.
And Rex. Rex has the most interesting moment of the season in his epiphany. He went in the house to find himself - and he says he succeeded - and from that moment he has gone from arrogant, materialistic, snob to ... arrogant materialistic snob. He has fully accepted his role as his self. For this, if not much else, he must be admired.
The great danger of Big Brother is that of a certain humanism. Watching people day after after it is very hard to continue hating, so that even the arrogant, inherited wealth and confidence of Rex becomes strangely likeable. That, and the current campaign by Stuart, Dale and Rex to try and be nasty so that they get nominated, prove the lie of Morrisey's statement that "it's so easy to hate, it takes guts to be gentle and kind". It takes a great effort to adhere to a position against the inevitable tide of convenient liking.
In terms of the actual show, I think that this series hasn't actually been as dull as the haters make out. The very fact that there is no clear cut winner, or at least no clear cut candidates from day one, makes it a bit of a novelty for Big Brother. Plus there has been some stand out moments - the Jen painting argument being up there with the highlights from all series.
Friday, July 25, 2008
A Test
This is just a test post from my new phone. Some sort of actual big brother post will follow, hopefully tomorrow, as promised.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The Billionaire Idiots Club
I haven't posted on here for a while, and then, having decided to do a long intended post on this series of Big Brother (tho admittedly not having actually started that post), I saw a story that just seemed so insane that I had to post it. The story is here :
Bill Gates and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced on Wednesday that they will spend $500 million to stop people around the world from smoking.Now, I know there is a certain type of billionaire who gets a kick from the whole foundation thing, giving money away in their own name to combat disease or illiteracy or poverty or whatever, but an anti-smoking campaign?
The campaign will urge governments to sharply raise tobacco taxes, outlaw smoking in public places, outlaw advertising to children and free giveaways of cigarettes, start antismoking advertising campaigns and offer their citizens nicotine patches or other help quitting. Third world health officials, consumer groups, journalists, tax officers and others will be brought to the United States for workshops on topics like lobbying, public service advertising, catching cigarette smugglers and running telephone hot lines for smokers wanting to quit.How patronising is all this? Third World Officials being bought to the US to be taught on lobbying? Genius. The lobbying system in the US certainly doesn't need changing does it? Let's export it to the world.
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