The real tragedy of Big Brother
There’s a lot of talk in the news today (even in grown up papers) about racist taunts being used against Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty in this years ‘Celebrity’ Big Brother. This isn’t especially surprising and is a result of the following two factors: Firstly, Shetty is better spoken than the rest of the screeching banshees that make up the house, she’s blessed with good looks, is wealthier and comes across as reasonably intelligent. Naturally, some jealousy has set in. Secondly; The show is composed mainly of self-obsessed, not especially bright and very, very bored people. What should we expect when they are living alongside someone from another country? These aren’t going to be highly-tolerant Grauniad-reading libertarians, desperate to learn about another land and a different culture are they? No. They’re type A thick ignoramuses making snide childish remarks. Big surprise.
However, what’s really saddening about this is not how it reflects on society (seriously; who gives a damn about Big Brother contestants?), or on the media or anything else. What’s really sad is that MPs have seen fit to make statements about it. This includes Gordon Brown. It’s all a little ‘old men trying to get down with the kids’, like watching grandad trying to skateboard. Why do they care? Well, a more sinister view might be that it follows what Chomsky-types may suggest: Bullshit like this is fielded so that the real stuff, the stuff that matters, is drowned out by this petty unimportant crap. Remember; these are the leaders of our country! We’re embroiled in wars that aren’t going especially well right now, surely they’ve got something more important to talk about? Or do they think we should worry about more important stuff like the words of a couple of knuckle-dragging non-entities on some silly tv show?