9. The Return of British Big Brother
Yes, I confess! I have been a Big Brother fan but I think that the recent BB celeb edition has cured my addiction. This latest edition of the franchise was thrilling and it must have fed many a family or work group chat. Many clamored in expectation when news spread that the next season of Big Brother was announced and auditions were to be made. But the success of celebrity big brother rested on the "famous" peoples personas and ego. The last civilian BB was decried as trash television and failed to pull in the ratings. Will the next seasons pantomime of bland wannabies drinking and acting badly be any different from last years wannabes?
It is one thing to see the once famous and the nearly famous get defeated by a total non-entity but it is another to see a parade of hapless contestants try and wow the electronic audience with their poor behavior. Once you have seen an eloquent politico pronounce "Do you want me to be the CAT?", one dare not hope to have that aced by something even more astounding. AND please don't mention the fourth place contestant Kinga and the glass bottle from last big brother!
The problem was that we all thought that the Big Brother franchise was tired. In Europe it has devolved into pornography, in other countries pure theatre with the contestants playing roles. But in Britain Big Brother 5 and 6 failed to capture the magic of the previous Big Brothers with the contestants finding even shorter Z-List shelf lives than previously had been the case. Many pundit prophisized the end of the show but despite the initial "Who are they again?" response to the celebrities, they soon won us over with their mind games, mental anxiety and petty arguments.
Of all this years contestants I kind of like George Galloway, I disagree with a hell of a lot of things he says and does but at least you know what you get with him; he's an old school politico who can string a tale and carry an argument with just rhetoric and gravitas. On the other hand, who the hell is Preston and Chantelle? The first is a working class tattooed boy with upper class antecedents who is so in love with his sophisticated French girlfriend that he cant help but fondle Chantelles bottom while complaining about media manipulation as he openly tells conflicting stories to different newspapers. As for Chantelle; she chose to ape the most vacuous self-indulgent "celeb" on the planet and yet the public where wooed by her down to earth nature. Can't wait to see the green digital movie of her and Preston while they "keep it real" in between their affirmations that its "just friendship". I woudn't mind this circus freak show but he's yet another cloned "here today gone tomorrow" boy toy and she's not very presentable. In fact I am amazed at how popular she is despite having no apparent talents or modicum of personality.
That might not seem fair for this plasticine couple but Preston is a big fan of BB and so should know the game and as for Chantelle, I think she's smart - after all she pulled one over the British public; it can't be that easy, can it?
The big question is whether it is an infatuation stoked by the media hype, a cynical publicity stunt or "true love". I put that in inverted commas because being kept behind high walls, putting up with second rate BB voices and the superficial adulation or hostility of the crowd, I'm sure such affairs of the heart can be explained away as a form of the Stockholm syndrome!
ANYWAY THAT'S ENOUGH. This sort of self indulgent rant should be kept over at my other site. Apologies to all!
NEWS FLASH: Chantelle and Preston are officially a couple! Chantelle, over eager to appear contrite least she loose the public vote, gushed that it wasn't completely her fault. This was mentioned at length in an unusually, for her, coherent interview in a throw away glossy magazine and which must come as some small comfort to Preston's long suffering ex-girlfriend; just think you loose your man out of the blue, in public and to a woman like that - all with the vacuous publics blessing! To think that this is the 21st century; no rocketships, no sentient androids and no moon base. Instead we have Preston and Chantelle; the slightly talented sucking the face of the untalented all for our delectation. Set phasers to kill!
It is one thing to see the once famous and the nearly famous get defeated by a total non-entity but it is another to see a parade of hapless contestants try and wow the electronic audience with their poor behavior. Once you have seen an eloquent politico pronounce "Do you want me to be the CAT?", one dare not hope to have that aced by something even more astounding. AND please don't mention the fourth place contestant Kinga and the glass bottle from last big brother!
The problem was that we all thought that the Big Brother franchise was tired. In Europe it has devolved into pornography, in other countries pure theatre with the contestants playing roles. But in Britain Big Brother 5 and 6 failed to capture the magic of the previous Big Brothers with the contestants finding even shorter Z-List shelf lives than previously had been the case. Many pundit prophisized the end of the show but despite the initial "Who are they again?" response to the celebrities, they soon won us over with their mind games, mental anxiety and petty arguments.
Of all this years contestants I kind of like George Galloway, I disagree with a hell of a lot of things he says and does but at least you know what you get with him; he's an old school politico who can string a tale and carry an argument with just rhetoric and gravitas. On the other hand, who the hell is Preston and Chantelle? The first is a working class tattooed boy with upper class antecedents who is so in love with his sophisticated French girlfriend that he cant help but fondle Chantelles bottom while complaining about media manipulation as he openly tells conflicting stories to different newspapers. As for Chantelle; she chose to ape the most vacuous self-indulgent "celeb" on the planet and yet the public where wooed by her down to earth nature. Can't wait to see the green digital movie of her and Preston while they "keep it real" in between their affirmations that its "just friendship". I woudn't mind this circus freak show but he's yet another cloned "here today gone tomorrow" boy toy and she's not very presentable. In fact I am amazed at how popular she is despite having no apparent talents or modicum of personality.
That might not seem fair for this plasticine couple but Preston is a big fan of BB and so should know the game and as for Chantelle, I think she's smart - after all she pulled one over the British public; it can't be that easy, can it?
The big question is whether it is an infatuation stoked by the media hype, a cynical publicity stunt or "true love". I put that in inverted commas because being kept behind high walls, putting up with second rate BB voices and the superficial adulation or hostility of the crowd, I'm sure such affairs of the heart can be explained away as a form of the Stockholm syndrome!
ANYWAY THAT'S ENOUGH. This sort of self indulgent rant should be kept over at my other site. Apologies to all!
NEWS FLASH: Chantelle and Preston are officially a couple! Chantelle, over eager to appear contrite least she loose the public vote, gushed that it wasn't completely her fault. This was mentioned at length in an unusually, for her, coherent interview in a throw away glossy magazine and which must come as some small comfort to Preston's long suffering ex-girlfriend; just think you loose your man out of the blue, in public and to a woman like that - all with the vacuous publics blessing! To think that this is the 21st century; no rocketships, no sentient androids and no moon base. Instead we have Preston and Chantelle; the slightly talented sucking the face of the untalented all for our delectation. Set phasers to kill!
posted by Laclos at 6:00 pm
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