Excessive Opinions

So a new season of Big Brother started last week, I think it’s even the last season, so it’s kind of interesting. Over the years Big Brother takes various different primary stances, trying to get people to act or behave in different ways, utilising twists and the types of people to create a somewhat entertaining show.

I watched the first season of this show slightly, I was young and so was only allowed to watch the Friday shows and barely remember much. It was originally advertised as a social experiment and seemed like something everyone can watch. Appealing to those trying to seem like intellectuals aiming to understand the sociological theories which can be gathered, to the average person who just wants to snoop on someone else. As an idea, it was sold quite well I thought. A lot of people watched what was basically just “Put a group of people in a house, tell them their only goal is to be appealing to the entirety of Britain and see what happens.” I personally found it weird watching people completely cut off from the outside world.

More recently, of course, it’s a lot less of a sociological experiment and a lot more of a voyeuristic view at a bunch of emotional extroverts trying to get famous. If you look at the house itself in this new season, with glass walls and lack of a private shower, the withholding of food and forcing a man to live in a “mole hole” full of ants… The first set of house mates would have just walked out by now. Channel four would’ve been told to shut it down and the press would be aflame in disgust. Now, it’s pretty much just accepted as what “Big Brother” is.

I find it interesting that the public’s opinion of the show has managed to shift so much over the years. It’s not so much a big deal that they don’t have access to the news or their friends. The show is now more about simply what Big Brother sets them as tasks, which housemate is most likely to take their top off and how many arguments you can have about food. It’s quite an achievement that the producers of the show have managed to create this show without any real complaint from the general public. It is important to note though, some of the contestants over the years have been ridiculously annoying.