[nodisharmony]

Link & Article below:-

http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/...bb-690711.html

Oh, brother! Basking in BB

Sunday June 03 2007


ORWELL would be proud. Okay, maybe that's pushing it, but this time around, the 1984 author might recognise something of his vision in Big Brother.


Not, of course, that he ever imagined it would become a reality that police would be paid to watch surveillance of the general public in order to pass or punish their behaviour. But then, even Orwell's grim imagining of the future did not foresee the deep desire to be observed and applauded or booed that has Big Brother entering its eighth series, this time with the police watching

Thanks to Jade Goody and her coven's bullying of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty in the last Celebrity Big Brother, a squad of British police have been assigned to monitor Big Brother: 8 for any hint of criminal behaviour. And, God help them, monitoring means watching everything and not just the Little Brother highlights with Dermot O'Leary. Yes, the world has come to this.

The line-up bears no hint at care taken over shaping the action post-Shetty. For a start, it's all women -- for now --which should do wonders for minimising the bitching and bullying. Further, the mix is classic BB, designed to cause trouble, comprising a militant; a conservative; some twits obsessed with the colour pink; a Posh-lookalike with wannabe etched through her like a stick of rock; a hottie who dates footballers; and a pair of older women no doubt expected to disapprove of the younger generation. Sending in some mammies, perhaps, is show creator, Endemol's idea of policing the proceedings.

When Big Brother began, it was all about voyeurism. It was grubby, but it was fun, until it morphed into a maker of minor celebrities who believe being watched equals being wanted. As Orwell saw it, constant observation was one of the worst things that could happen to a society. He wasn't wrong, as I'm sure the BB-watching bobbies would testify.

Sarah Caden






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