Genre

General research : articles etc

BBC NEWS - BigBrother effect on unemployment in youth

Lee Barron ' From social experiment to postmodern joke '

Digital Spy - Is BB an experiment? debate.



'From social experiment to exploitation.' article
This article particularly caught my eye as it relates to some of the points i made in regards to the values BB puts forth and some of the ideologies people relate to the show.

"It has now become all about putting people in a house that they know will clash and it is more about ratings and staying popular rather than the actual prize money and the social side. It has turned from a social experiment to an absolute farce"
"It seems that both the celebrities and the ‘normal’ people seem to all become classed as stars if they appear on Big Brother."
"The Big Brother format has made it acceptable for people’s every single move to be documented and for it to be entertaining."

IThe values,representations, conotations etc behind the Big Brother Eye

DENOTATIONS , CONOTATIONS , VALUES , DEBATES ETC

The BigBrother eye quite overtly presents the main focus of the show- To watch others. At first glance there is nothing more to this well known and iconic image, the eye is an obvious choice for such a television plot after all. However when looking into the connotations of the image from a media perspective this eye represents a lot more.

1) The fact that the image consists of one single eye represents the idea of 'Big Brother' society that we live in - the idea that we ( the working and middle class , the subordinate > everyone other than the elite) are subordinate to the higher, elite. In effect the show is basically mimicking the world we live in. The 14 contestants are us and 'Big Brother' the anonymous voice-over is basically the Rupert Murdock's , The British Government and the equivalent to the BNP hierarchy wise. 

2) VOYEURISM! 

3) By simply using an eye for the shows logo it is in effect turning a massive and highly important issue and element of todays society into a trivial and ultimately acceptable icon. The masses of moral panic and up-roar from the public surrounding increasing CCTV and surveillance is merely a past time if looking at the following of Big Brother. The shows thousands of viewers follow these housemates daily , watching their everyday activities , watch these people wake up , go to sleep , shower. Big Brother is CCTV on a public scale. Yet we as public members of society would run at the chance to criticise the government for CCTV watching us. What channel 4 initially did (now channel 5) was cleverly dumb down us as viewers. They made peoples lack of privacy entertainment , making it socially acceptable to feed off of the private lives of everyday humans , thus minimalising the lack of consencus in regards to real life surveillance.

values and ideologies

One of the most obvious ideologies Big Brother presents is one of Order and of Hierarchy. The format of the show follows the housemates taking part in a number of tasks in order to win a luxury shopping budget as well as luxuries within the house such as alcohol and parties etc , this is extremely representive of the value that in order to possess the ‘better things in life’ we must work hard to get them.

The faceless character of ‘Big Brother’ creates a hierarchy immediately putting this character at the top of the hierarchy making the housemates the subordinate, similar to the everyday world enforcing the ideology that we are subordinate to a higher being/force etc which can be related to religion, government etc.

The show itself seems to have progressed the ideology over the years that fame and a celebrity lifestyle will follow those who take part. Looking at the contestant profiles this year a large percentage of the contestants said that they were entering the house in the hopes of obtaining fame and fortune after they left the house.

One of the most controversial ideologies I feel Big Brother presents regards the constant surveillance of the housemates. The philosophy of the show makes it acceptable to watch everyday people’s personal and intimate lives day-in-day-out , something there has been a vast amount of moral panic surrounding in the media in regards to rising amounts of CCTV in England. Through Big Brother taking this moral panic and turning it into entertainment it is almost supporting the idea of the increase in CCTV , enforcing the ideologies of the dominant ruling class . Marxist theorists would thus claim that Big Brother presents these idelogies to inject the view that CCTV and a lack of privacy is acceptable in order to create consensus in the lower demographic groups to keep the elite at the top of the hieracrchy.

Who is being represented? By who? How?

At the beginning of each big brother series a group of around 17 people enter the big brother house. These “every day” people range from what the big brother philosophy claims to be a vast and diverse range of cultures, lifestyles, ages etc. However in the 2012 summer channel 5 series a different group of people were presented to us. Representing a very narrow image of todays population with only 3 out of 17 contestants being from a non-Caucasian background. 6 out of 17 contestants being aged 25 and over. The vast amount of contestants within the house have a modeling background and have very little educational values.

Thus representing a highly narrow and incorrect view of today’s multi-cultural society. The show also represents the value that in order to be interesting to the public eye obtaining a positive visual image (being beautiful , in shape etc) is very important which to be honest is quite obviously presented to us through each of the 17 contestants.

I personally see this series of big brother as representing a very middle classed white Britain , latching on to stereotypes of the Essex and Chelsea lifestyle through characters such as Ashleigh and Caroline.

Propp’s character theory can be applied to the representations being put forth by Big Brother. Contestants such as Deena are immediately represented as being the villain due to her materialistic values , this representation is soon enforced further through the conflict between herself and Connor – who I believe is represented to be the Hero as a very much stereotypical mans man. Although on the outside world somebody like Sara would be perceived as the Princess I don’t feel that Big Brother really presents any kind of strong representation of a ‘princess’ this series.

Due to the reality element of the text I have chosen as far as the representation of individuals go I would have to say they were fair. However as I have said before I do not feel this is a fair representation of today’s society due to the restricted variation in characters.

BIG BROTHER SUMMER 2012 Contestant Profiles

Luke S 

night club promoter and university dropout. Age 24. White.

Benedict 

former porn actor and stripper. Currently a teacher. Age 32. White.

Luke A 

chef. Transgender (born female now male). Age 31. Born in south Africa. White.

Adam 

Mentor to young people. Born in the US where he became involved in infamous gang ‘crips’. Recovered addict, Age 27. Afro-Caribbean.

Ashleigh 

retail + barmaid. Essex girl. Age 20 . white.

Caroline 

university dropout , unemployed. Private school and boarding education. Age 20. White.
Chris 

Doorman , former bailiff. Age 21. White.
Sheivonne

Retail + former Playboy club host. Age 28. Afro-Caribbean.

Victoria

Former glamour model. Current plus size model. Age 41. White.

Lydia 

professional dancer. Engaged to “wannabe star”. Age 25. White.

Scott 

History student. Gay. Age 20. White.

Connor 

Personal Trainer+ Massage therapist. Age 24. White.

Deena 

Miss India UK. Model.Age 23. Indian Asian.

Sara

Model and runner up to miss Scotland. Age 22. White.

Arron

model and athlete. Age23 . White.

Lauren 

Criminology and sociology student. Age 20. White.

Becky

Drama Unversity student. Age 19. White.