Big Brother - A scourge on society. (From Haringey Independent)

Big Brother - A scourge on society.

6:56pm Thursday 5th June 2008

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Readers, this is serious. Lock up your televisions. Do it now, or the inevitable will happen. If you allow yourself the opportunity to be comfortable on the sofa in front of the television at 9pm, then you will fall victim to the allure of Big Brother. Even the strongest willed have no hope.

“Let’s just see who the housemates are this year.”
“I won’t watch the series, but I wanna see who goes in”

We all know what I’m talking about. We’ve heard it all before. Big Brother is like a packet of Pringles. It’s wholly unfulfilling, you always want more and once you’ve had a taste, you can’t walk away.

Personally, as an ex-viewer/reformed sinner, I feel obliged, the first episode of a new series broadcasting tonight, to warn you against it. I would call it a boycott, but let’s face it; none of you will heed my advice, so my ambitious plan to severely dent Channel 4’s ratings may not work out.

Big Brother is high concept candyfloss, appealing to the public’s insatiable voyeuristic tendencies and to the participants’ vanity. I don’t fully understand my visceral reaction to it, but I understand that if I watch it I will be overcome by guilt. So I don’t. It’s the modern day equivalent of a circus freak show - people crowd around to spy on the vulnerable and I’m fed up of being a part of it. I dislike reality TV as a rule, because it indisputably does exploit the insecure, but Big Brother is the worst, and the withdrawal symptoms (restlessness, overwhelming cravings to spy on neighbours) are the most difficult to overcome.

Good luck to you all.