People are interested in Big Brother whether they like it and watch it or hate it and don't, so why do so many bang on about how bad it is for society when they obviously read the articles about the contestants in their gossip magazines or watch the reports about the latest exploits on the evening news?
Accusations thrown at the show often include things like - 'It's just a bunch of wannabe airheads' or that 'it's boring to watch people sitting about eating and sleeping.' The latest one is - 'Channel 4 puts argumentative folk into the house on purpose to cause tension and abusive behaviour.' However, the whole point of BB was to have a "social experiment."
If Channel 4 chose only nice, normal people, it would not be much of an experiment at all, rather a fly-on-the-wall show based around a church coffee morning or something. Viewers would complain that, on some level, it was 'political correctness gone mad' or 'positive discrimination', or other such tedious phrases bandied about so frequently today.
Big Brother is, if you think about it, a public service. When the Jade/Jo/Danielle vs. Shilpa argument occurred, I was naturally appalled but also somewhat glad. It represented certain members of society and showed that abusive bigots are still out there, as well as those who find it acceptable to mock another person's culture.
I am a fan of the show, yet I don't feel guilty for it. Yes, I watch it because it's simple entertainment but also because it's interesting to see how stupid people like this year's Alexandra can be. She ought not to be evicted by Big Brother; instead she should be voted out by the public and face the music so that she can learn a lesson from the hordes of people who will undoubtedly be waiting to boo her smug face clean off.
Alexandra was reprimanded by Big Brother for her actions and she has since calmed down. My theory is that if she is kept in but told off it gives the message to other bullies that such actions are inappropriate, as opposed to chucking her out quickly and pretend she never existed. The audience aren't suddenly going to be inspired by her and shout at their mother for burning the chips. For, if we say we should end the show on the grounds that some (naive) people are influenced by what they watch, then we'd have to ban football for causing violence, hooliganism, binge drinking, and annoyed partners. I'm sure few people, other than myself, would want to see soccer coverage off our screens.
Seriously, people - get down off of your high horse and tune in for goodness sake. You might just learn something.
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