Do you, Big Brother viewers, feel manipulated? Do you feel that Channel 4's very edited version of 'reality TV' is selling you short? If yes, then it's apparently time you got angry.
In today's G2, feminist Germaine Greer examines the reaction to the alleged sexual assault of a female contestant in Australia's Big Brother to exemplify her theory behind the show and "the tentacular spread of its revenue-generating potential". Laying the blame with the programme's makers, rather than the two male contestants who have been evicted for their actions, she says - among other things - that it is the viewers of BB who we should be concerned about, rather than "the trivial adventures of the housemates".
"Every picture tells a story, but no picture tells the whole story. No word is more abused by Big Brother producers than 'live', unless it is 'uncut'," writes Greer. "Perhaps universities should start running courses on how to watch Big Brother, teaching students to discern how, when and where the mix is being manipulated, and what insultingly tatty television it is, in terms of production values."
The producers strip away any complexity in the housemates' personalities by removing "behaviour which does not fit the image of the individual that fits their brief". But it is also very clear to the media-savvy viewers and contestants that this is happening - for the sake of easy stereotypes, for the sake of good TV - so is it really a "manipulation of the public"? The BB television audience is not passive - we can judge with our votes and our remote controls, after all.
