Big Brother

[emmelinemay]

I used to love big brother, as you probably know, and over the years it got SO dreadful that i just couldn't watch anymore. Last series was the last straw - it had become an endurance exercise rather than an entertainment. It got to the point where I wasn't watching at all - merely catching up via the big brother LJ community I was on.

It was a great community, we had drama, rows, in depth discussions, stalkers, trolls, meet ups, visits to the eviction, and I know several of the people on my flist would not be here without it. Indirectly, it's how I met Mr Peacock!

But when I reached the point of I FUCKING HATE THIS SHOW IF ONE MORE PERSON MENTIONS J*DE G**DY I WILL COMMIT MURDER, I decided time was time, and I left the community.

I'm not watching this series. I'm quite glad, it sounds HORRENDOUS. All women? My idea of a total nightmare.

But I've had more than 4 people, only one of whom I know in real life, separately tell me that 'the community isn't the same without you' and 'we miss you'.

On the scale of internet sadness, this is right up there, isn't it? I'm an internet saddo. LJ people miss me in an LJ community about Big Brother.

Comments

[shackers.livejournal.com]

obviously I am not watching it as I am too far away, but I did see on the world news today that 4 men (described as hunks) are entering the house tonight.

[fluffydave.livejournal.com]

Haha I flew to Seattle for the wedding of two people I've never met except for an online world where we fly spaceships together. ;)

I think we need to re-define sad because you and I are too cool for that moniker.

On a more thoughtful note I think it's a great demonstration of the changing nature of relationships and how the internet has altered social norms. I'm hearing people who have never played computer games using terms like 'Fail' and 'W1n' probably without realizing it's origins. All speech patterns we've picked up from online friends no doubt.

A couple of weeks ago I was having a chat with my mate James/Insight when we realized that we hadn't seen each other for well over a year yet spoke online almost every day and on the phone every couple of weeks. In fact you and I haven't seen each other for a period of time which measures in the year! Yet you're never a million miles away from my thoughts.

In a previous world we'd be estranged friends, but thanks to the internet we can surf free porn and keep in touch ;)

[gurlesque.livejournal.com]

Big Brother just seems to be made up of people [girls] shouting at each other this year. Not interesting at all. I generally do the 'not watching but following it online' thing, but can't even be bothered with that.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

The first 3 series were fascinating, the relationships the people all formed, and the tasks were brilliant. There was a much better mix of people, much less emphasis on getting a break into tv, and more about enjoying BB for what it was (I blame J*de for changing all that...). They all gave a shit about the tasks, and really went for them, and the show was far more about the people playing the game, than about a bunch of people sitting around bitching and fighting (that i blame on 'fight night' with Emma and Victor in series 5).

I think it's gone from being an interesting show with the basic premise of watching what happens when a bunch of people are stuck in an unnatural situation and watched, to a tv company deciding that what the viewers want is fighting, backstabbing, flaunting, and titillation.

Sadly, that does seem to be what a lot of the viewers *do* want. It would be interesting to see the demographic, and see if the viewers of those first few series are the same as the viewers now.

[gurlesque.livejournal.com]

I was really into the first series, it was really interesting.
I can't remember what other series I saw, other than last years. It's wierd to look back at the clips of the first one and see how like, basic and not-really-a-big-deal it was. The design of the house and everything, was really simple.
The presentation [as in the way BB is talked about and promoted] has changed since the first series and I imagine the reasons that people go into the house have changed a lot.
As for the demographic, I'd guess that the viewers, like the housemates, have got younger over the years...
This is something random that you might remember - in the first BB, did BB set them 'dicussion topics' for group conversations? I have this vague memory that they did, but then haven't seen that in any other BB's.

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

yes! i remember that. That's how Nick's lying came out, he told everyone he's had a wife who died or something.

Nowadays they just twist things to try and make there be as many fights as possible, and get people to have sex. If something isn't going the way they like, they just fix it. The earlier series were much more natural, the producers took their lead from what the contestants were doing, rather than the other way round.

I remember in one series (one of the first 3, i think it was the 2nd) they has this task where they had to break a world record. That was brilliant, and genuinely entertaining to watch!

Nowadays, interesting people just don't apply, i guess - who else can take a whole summer off other than the unemployed, students, and 'promo girls'? What sort of person who has a good job wants to risk that and their reputation on what the show is these days?

They also seem to choose contestants for maximum drama potential, rather than in the first few where they seemed to go much more for people that were representative in some way of the people watching.

Christ, if the people in there *now* are representative (well, i can't speak for this series, but certainly the last 3), stop this ride, i want off.

[publicansdecoy.livejournal.com]

I wish you'd come back too!

This series is rotten, mind.

-x-

[girfan.livejournal.com]

I don't watch Big Brother for many reasons-I only know about the eviction of Emily since it was on our local news (she lives not too far from us).

There are some who probably think that J and I are sad to have met online (this was certainly true 11 years ago).

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

I think meeting your partner online will become more common in the future than meeting in real life in the not too distant future. It's fast becoming the norm now!

[kynon.livejournal.com]

I think they're being more sad than you.

After all, you left.

Iconage = appropriate.

[angel-emma.livejournal.com]

:(

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

:( ?

[angel-emma.livejournal.com]

I said I missed you at the BB community, and you think I am sad & have no life :(

;)

[emmelinemay.livejournal.com]

i meant it was sad that *I* was missed - i meant it showed i spent far too much time there!! I didn't mean it as a reflection on the people that missed me!

[tintintin.livejournal.com]

I must confess I'm quite into it this year, despite generally despising everyone on the show. They've pretty much all got raging entitlement issues ("I must be famous! It is my right!") apart from Carole, the older campaigner and Tracey, the late-30s rave casualty. Oh, and comedy Greek gay academic Gerry, who's now apparently the favourite.

At the risk of sounding like a bit of an old fart, the fucking kids on it are dreadful. The only way that people under the age of about 21-22ish are interesting is if they're extremely precocious, have had some traumatic and storied upbringing, or are nubile lovelies (and in the latter case, they become uninteresting as soon as they start talking). It's so much more involving when the people have actually had a bit of life experience.

[angel-emma.livejournal.com]

If you can understand a word they are saying...(I need a dictionary for the twins!)