Big Brother Bullying

Though I haven't completely recovered from my reality television addiction, I have managed to drastically reduce my intake. Somehow, however, I managed to pick up the habit of Celebrity Big Brother UK. It doesn't air in America, but I took to downloading the episodes daily (that's right, it was broadcast daily.) The show started out so boringly that I would have given up quickly had I not been fascinated on a personal level. Last year I wrote my thesis on the changing notion of celebrity in the era of reality television. I could add an entire chapter to my study based on the four weeks of this show alone.

One contestant, Leo Sayer, a middle-aged pop star, had hilarious delusions of grandeur. He said he participated on Big Brother as a thank you to his immeasurable fans that adore him. He recently had a hit single (I think in Australia) after a thirty year absence from the music scene, of which he said, "It's not just because it's a hot tune. It's because of the Leo Love. People are all, 'Oh my God, it's Leo Sayer!'" Right. He hated the conditions of the show because he believed himself to be a "celebrated" person who should be held to higher regard. He thought the public wouldn't want to see famous people in degrading scenarios which goes to show how out of touch he is. After having several childish tantrums that made him look like a nincompoop, Leo ultimately quit the show when he ran out of clean underwear and found it humiliating to wash his underwear on television.

What looked to be a dull show became the most talked about show in the world. That's not an exaggeration: the show was all over the international press. The issue was about the house's rampant bullying, arguably incited by racism. Jade, whose claim to fame is that she was once a non-celebrity Big Brother contestant, was constantly at odds with Shilpa, a Bollywood actress. Originally, Jade rose to fame as a brash, ignorant, working class individual who "kept it real." Unlike most, she successfully parlayed her reality appearance into long term stardom and is constantly in the tabloid media. This time around, from the get-go, Jade verbally harassed and threatened Shilpa to a sickening extent. Meanwhile, the worst Shilpa ever did was accidentally undercook a chicken, for which she was a "bitch," "cunt," etc. She showed a lot of class for neither smacking the crap out of Jade nor retaliating.

It is not fair to single Jade out, however, as she was not alone in her bullying. Jade had her cronies in the house: Jack, Jade's boyfriend famous for nothing other than who he dates - think Kevin Federline; Jo, a former S Club 7 member who exemplifies the British bad teeth stereotype; and Danielle, a former Miss Great Britain who lost her crown for dating one of the contest's judges, a famous footballer. These people latched on to anything the second Shilpa exited the room, they critiqued everything she did to the point where their entire day consisted of badmouthing Shilpa.

Fortunately, Shilpa had a couple of allies, one of which was the surprisingly likable Jermaine Jackson. Though Jermaine's weird upbringing and bizarre family realtions were sometimes evident in his behavior and outlook, he was also relatable and spot on when analyzing the social dynamics. He did a good job of trying to stay neutral at first, but once it got to a despicable point, he intervened. Former A-Team actor, Dirk, also had Shilpa's back, but he was trying to get into her pants, so he won't give him too much credit.

The most intriguing part of the show were the people who planted themselves firmly in the middle of the disputes. At the beginning of the show, comedic actress Cleo and ex-pop band member Ian were such kind souls that they were early favorites to win the show. As the others' disgusting behavior emerged, however, they remained thoroughly neutral, just wanting to "be friends with everybody." From their private diary room confessionals, they both made it clear how judgmental and appalled they were by the actions of others. Still, they would watch everything unfold and opted not to intervene in events that were deemed to be so horrendous it caused an internal incident on the outside world. (Seriously, diplomats and prime ministers made official statements on the events.) Though the public has not vilified this pair in the same manner it has the actual aggressors, they have received their own share of the flack for never speaking up and standing by idly.

I used to be an Ian or a Cleo. I used to watch people callously hurt mutual friends of mine and say nothing. Because I wanted to maintain relationships with everyone involved, I would do my best to stay out of it, even though I privately passed judgment. Somehow, I would justify that the incidents were "none of my business," as if watching a friend in pain could be considered such a thing. In the end, I found myself in a lose-lose-lose situation. Firstly, I'd resent the people who hurt my friend, and feel less close to them. Secondly, I'd become less close to the hurt friend after intentionally ignoring them when they needed support. Thirdly, I'd hate myself for "being friends" with people I didn't respect and not being a good friend to the innocent party in the situation.

I've wobbled on whether my new attitude toward these matters is correct, but after seeing it play out on screen, I feel pretty confident. That's right - I'm learning life lessons from reality television. Now I really have to rewrite my thesis.