Friday, January 07, 2005
It's OK to Like Big Brother, You Know.
I have a confession to make. I quite like Big Brother. Now I know that, as someone with an almost violent loathing of Heat Magazine culture (you know, where people are famous for being famous, in which meaningless celebrity obsesses a good proportion of the population - a culture in which people will buy a magazine because it's got a picture of some brain-dead, botoxed 'it girl' in a spangly dress on the front), this is perhaps rather inconsistent - maybe even hypocritical. I know, I know. However, sometimes even puritanical political fanatics like me need to take time off and slump in front of some undemanding TV pap.
This series of Celebrity Big Brother (yes the name makes me cringe), though, might be particularly interesting and could even provide some form of mild intellectual stimulation to its viewers. You see, in the BB house amongst some little twerp from Blazin Squad, a has-been Radio One DJ and that dickheaded bling-merchant, John McCrirrick, is Germane Greer. I've got a lot of time for Germane Greer - and I'm looking forward to seeing what she gets up to (and how long McCrirrick can make it before she eats the bastard alive). My interest was given a further boost last night when I watched one of those late night BB's - you know, where they just show the housemates talking. I was pleasantly surprised by the (rather bizarre) spectacle of Greer discussing the Asian Tsunami, Diego Garcia and Iraq with Caprice in a hot tub. She later launched into a polemic against Bush and the Iraq war, much to McCrirrick's annoyance - great telly.
If Greer keeps this form up, this could well make essential Stopper viewing. She might even make politics, intellectualish discussion and having opinions, fashionable. who knows, maybe, in the not too distant future, in amongst the fatuous, plastic celebs and soap opera blondes in Heat Magazine, we'll see a centre spread photo of Subcommandante Marcos relaxing in his chic jungle hide-out.
This series of Celebrity Big Brother (yes the name makes me cringe), though, might be particularly interesting and could even provide some form of mild intellectual stimulation to its viewers. You see, in the BB house amongst some little twerp from Blazin Squad, a has-been Radio One DJ and that dickheaded bling-merchant, John McCrirrick, is Germane Greer. I've got a lot of time for Germane Greer - and I'm looking forward to seeing what she gets up to (and how long McCrirrick can make it before she eats the bastard alive). My interest was given a further boost last night when I watched one of those late night BB's - you know, where they just show the housemates talking. I was pleasantly surprised by the (rather bizarre) spectacle of Greer discussing the Asian Tsunami, Diego Garcia and Iraq with Caprice in a hot tub. She later launched into a polemic against Bush and the Iraq war, much to McCrirrick's annoyance - great telly.
If Greer keeps this form up, this could well make essential Stopper viewing. She might even make politics, intellectualish discussion and having opinions, fashionable. who knows, maybe, in the not too distant future, in amongst the fatuous, plastic celebs and soap opera blondes in Heat Magazine, we'll see a centre spread photo of Subcommandante Marcos relaxing in his chic jungle hide-out.
