Big Brother has a lot to answer for. It has made us into the 'quick fix' society we live in today - these days you're more likely to be known if you've pratted around on TV in a house for a few months than if you've actually achieved something worthwhile in your life. How did we get this lazy?
Even from the first series, when I heard what it was about, I couldn't understand the fascination. People said it was "addictive" - but how? People-watching I get, but that's real. It's not run by a group of producers who chose certain people because they knew they'd clash and "make good telly"... It's called reality TV but it just isn't. You're quite deluded if you think it is.
Since its inception, we've had to endure countless other programmes in the same genre; Popstars (to Popstars: The Rivals, Pop Idol and The X Factor), Fame Academy, Britain's Got Talent, The Apprentice... All would foist 'undiscovered talent' on us, and for what purpose? Oh yes, to make them famous for a while. Admittedly some of the winners of these programmes have managed to survive for quite a few years, but that doesn't really make it better. Take The X Factor and its previous incarnations, for example. The point of that programme (as I see it) is to take some ordinary folk, see if they can hit one note out of fifty, dress them up like real-life dolls, force them to perform in as demeaning a way as possible and eventually find a 'winner' - slowly but surely sucking the individuality and character out of them, until they're just another Cowell clone, built to the specifications of that particular year. The whole point of music is that it means something to you, and the person singing it should feel it - I've yet to see a 'reality' singer who does that. I doubt I ever will.
After we got bored of Joe Public (I say "we", what I mean is the audience watching this tat) it was inevitable that the 'celebrity' versions would appear, or even brand new concepts especially for 'celebrities'. The only positive to take out of this is that we don't get a brand new 'talent' forced upon us, we just get reintroduced to the washed up and forgotten 'talent' from yesteryear, or even just a few weeks ago... So the kind of things we get are Celebrity Big Brother, Dancing On Ice, I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, Strictly Come Dancing, etc. I'll admit now that I do like to watch Strictly, quite how it snuck under the radar I don't know, but it did. The others can quite simply go to Hell! Charity versions of 'reality' shows are vaguely excusable (for example Comic/Sport Relief Does The Apprentice) - I still probably wouldn't watch them, but at least some good is being done.
Some good news is on the horizon for people like me, Big Brother is finally coming to an end. Not last night, as I was led to believe, but in just over a fortnight. How it has lasted this long is a mystery - nothing else would survive the drop in viewing figures over a matter of years, why is this excluded from the rule? It doesn't inspire me that something as utterly pointless as Big Brother has survived and other original ideas for programmes have been binned without the creators being able to realise the full potential. And people wonder why I get angry!
It's not a case of me wanting all the programmes I dislike to be taken off air - that would be great for me, but I do know what the word 'compromise' means (unlike some people I know). I also dislike pretty much all daytime TV (don't even get me started on Jeremy Kyle), but I'm willing to let that stay. Firstly, I don't ever see any of it - and I can't recall that any of it has had as detrimental an effect on society as 'reality' TV has. It sounds like I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, but I'm seeing the bigger picture. It's a matter of principle for me; a struggle against the underlying annoyance caused by it. Call me melodramatic if you like, I prefer 'enthusiastic'.
Talent will out.
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