Big Brother

Okay - so Big Brother. Love it or hate it; it doesn't appear to be going anywhere. Allegedly began as more of a social, psychological experiment, it had connotations to George Orwell's novel 1984, and now its become more about entertainment; a voyeuristic experience mainly geared toward how much they're drinking, *****ing and having sex - basically there to highlight the deplorable aspects of human nature.

Now i'm mainly talking about the English Big Brother, though I have watched some of the American Big Brother. But what are your thoughts on it? Please state which BB you are referring to.

I can see how the show could be interesting, placing a variety of people in a confined space and watching how they react to weird ****, but it's so full of annoying people and the terrible gimmicks they add on every year (Friday Night Live for example, and they're sending PAMELA ANDERSON into the house on the weekend. PAMELA ANDERSON) that any value it could have had is gone.

I watched a bit last year, but that is just because there was an irresistably attractive housemate.

(This is the Australian one)

I started watching the American one part-way through season eight (for reference, the tenth season is going to start in a few weeks).

I think it works as a social experiment, because you really do get to see people melt down and sort of lose it, being confined to a finite space with the same people 24/7 for like three months, with no access to TV or the internet or anything.

Of course, it always depends on the people that are in the house. The season I started watching was super-interesting because one a) the gimmick was that for three of the houseguests they put in someone they hated along with them and b) one of the houseguests would intentionally goad and drive people up the wall by being as rude and crude as possible. It was amazing to see this guy being such a jackass, and then calmly explaining to the camera exactly why he was doing what he was doing.

Last season had an interesting twist in that they paired everyone up with their "soul mate" based on compatibility. The only bad part being that by the end pretty much any person that was vaguly interesting had been kicked out, so the last three or four weeks was pretty boring, and I didn't bother watching all of it.

Basically, I watch Big Brother because I am a drama whore.

I've always been a reality show whore. I've watched Big Brother since the first season in America. The value of the show has really degraded, now it's just like everything you see on MTV, drinking, sex, etc. But I don't really mind watching it.

This show is an insult to Nineteen Eighty-Four. The only thing it has in common is the fact that these people are watched 24/7. So if I want to make a reference to Orwell's work, and say "Big Brother is watching you", unless I'm certain they've ever read a book in their life they'd probably end up thinking I'm talking about this pathetic excuse for a TV show. It serves the same purpose as a soap opera - so that the viewers can talk about the lives of others because their own aren't very interesting.

And something that infuriates me is that pretty much every time I see Big Brother, there's at least one flaming homosexual, and at least one rabid homophobe, almost specifically chosen JUST to stir up some tension.

I think we've only had one flaming homosexual. And he was the hot person who made me watch some of it one year...

Originally Posted by Holic

I think we've only had one flaming homosexual. And he was the hot person who made me watch some of it one year...

Wouldn't that be like watching a playboy special full of nuns? Something fit that you couldn't have even if you actually met them.

I wouldn't able to have any of it either way And it wasn't "I want to sleep with that" so much as "In an ideal situation, I would just have him stand perfectly still and scantily-clad in front of me so I could oggle him for a while"

Originally Posted by Holic

I wouldn't able to have any of it either way And it wasn't "I want to sleep with that" so much as "In an ideal situation, I would just have him stand perfectly still and scantily-clad in front of me so I could oggle him for a while"

Which is more than can be said about nuns and their all-covering habits >_>

Still, you can't deny they just get one gay guy every series just so they can make a big thing about having this gay guy in the middle of as many other misfits as possible (which I'm sure gay people get offended by, since the only thing that could be considered abnormal about this guy is that he's gay).

I haven't paid that much attention but I'm pretty sure they haven't done that in our version, just that one time.

Although we have a really squeaky dude who seems kind of stereotypically homosexual but isn't? And everyone whines about him constantly?

And of course he is putting that voice on must likely. Why did my Mum and Dad have to become fans of the housemates this year. Make it stop. Thank God I can retreat to the safety of my room, DVDs, games and the internet. Anyhow I will never become a fan and try to avoid watching the show. I will however rush to the t.v. if I ever hear the words release the tigers or sharks. Then I will watch it.