Brotherliness

Anyone who knows me personally will probably be aware that I don't hold a very high opinion of Big Brother. It's a perennial rant, I suppose, but I refuse to believe it's simply down to a sense of cultural snobbery. I was always a bit dubious of the "social experiment" tag even back at the beginning, although I see how that could be argued at least back then.

I tend to watch the first episode of each season as there is a kind of fascination with the characters recruited. After the first year, just by the nature of the format, I always imagined that they must be increasingly scraping the barrel but now I think they've broken through the bottom and have started digging.

I don't necessarily blame the housemates themselves. I'm sure for some people there is a genuine attraction and belief that the experience could be life-changing in a positive way. However, C4 and Endemol now seem to be simply in the business of caging the people lured by their honey-trap and poking them with sticks on national TV. I also have a feeling that as the chase for ratings goes on against this year's football World Cup that it will increasingly move from poking to beating.

It's not big or clever and I'm sure this year will attract a raft of complaints just like the last few have. Here's hoping somebody there wakes up and takes notice. I also think it's telling that many other countries, including The Netherlands (from where the format comes) quickly abandoned it after a year or two.