In 1999, the creators of Big Brother in Netherlands touted it as a ‘social experiment’ to see how different individuals interact and behave when placed together in a controlled environment for a period of time, filmed by invisible cameras- you know, like George Orwell described in his prescient novel 1984. (Not to toot my own horn, but I’ve read it at least five times. You should too, at least once in a life time.)
The show has been very successful, recording nearly 400 seasons in 54 countries- pretty much creating the modern unscripted reality television era that we live in right now.
However let me say in very clear terms: it is an idea that should be trashed and catagloued away in the library of television programming under ‘The Dumbification of Entertainment’.
I would be the very first to say loudly that entertainment need not be educative- if I want to learn something, I’ll probably read a book. But the concept of Big Brother is so simple, so unsophisticated, so unapologetically bereft of any tasking effort. To participate in it, all you need is to have the will to be locked up in a virtual cage in the hope of becoming famous and possibly rich. Since 2003 that Big Brother Africa was first aired, it has been a roll call of uninspired, untalented individuals who just want their fifteen minutes (eleven weeks more like) of fame. That’s why once the show is over, they are quickly forgotten by the audience. Save for a handful of contestants who have been perched on by the benevolent ‘Spirit of The Kardashian’ – that is being famous only for being famous (Uti Nwachukwu for example); most Big Brother guests have faded right back into oblivion.
Big Brother is also very boring. Nobody sits around all day to watch the housemates go through the motions of doing chores and acting out a script each individual has brought from home. Of course they know that beyond the walls are cameras broadcasting their every move to a hundred million TV screens and a billion more smartphones. As a result each action (or as I’ve been informed even on the first day of the new Big Brother Naija), or each accent is perfected for television viewing. So much for being unscripted.
We live in a time where all you need to be ‘famous’ is be a Bobriskyy. No talent or skill is required, just be famous and be there. All you need to do is ‘act’ like no one is watching and put it on Snapchat. Isn’t that not what the premise of Big Brother is- be monitored by eyes that you know are there but cannot see? (Sidebar: no need to kill yourself; Bobriskyy IS a celeb, even if the simpleton himself does not seem to realize it).
I never thought a day would come that I would have positive things to say about Telemundo and Zeeworld: at least they tell stories. This is just passive consumption- do nothing and be nothing.
It is easier to create entertainment content these days. Big Brother is a lazy, unimaginative way to do so. So unimaginative that the producers are not willing to invest a few more millions to set it in Nigeria; they took it to their base in South Africa. If that doesn’t tell you that all they care about is more cable subscription fees, then you’re perfect target for them: docile, unimaginative and submissive.