Will Big Brother Canada follow the pack? 0
By Rachel Healy, 24 hours Vancouver
(FILE PHOTO)
Stop the presses! Big Brother is coming to a TV screen near you.
Over 10,000 Canadians auditioned to be a part of the inaugural cast, with 15 contestants chosen to compete against each other for the grand prize … presumably, their privacy back.
A loving “mama bear” with a passion for hip hop and a “cocky-but-loveable” doctoral student who plans to use his PhD in social psychology as the key to winning will be representing Vancouver.
Are you rolling your eyes already?
Coming from Europe where I’ve faced a Big Brother barrage since 2000 (trust me, 13 years is a lifetime in reality TV land), I’m intrigued to see what Canadians make of this spectacle.
Why anyone would willingly offer themselves up to live in a fishbowl for weeks on end — filmed 24/7 during their most intimate and vulnerable moments, with total strangers, most of whom have been carefully selected to either clash with the other or try to hump them — is beyond me.
And it’s all for your viewing pleasure.
Interestingly, the global phenomenon’s European premise differs entirely to the U.S. version.
The European edition is somewhat of a social experiment, with the “rats-in-a-cage-who’ll-do-anything-for-money” concept proving particularly popular in the UK. In fact, there have even been claims that more young people in the UK voted for Big Brother contestants than voted in the general election.
Yes, you read that right.
As opposed to being a popularity contest where the viewer has control, the U.S. version, on the other hand, is more of a spectator sport where the contestants have total control and compete to be the best — a social reflection in itself.
So, technically, no matter how much they are hated by the public, the real game players can still win. Think of it as a modern day gladiators for the masses, except with emotional bloodshed as the object of the game. Are you not entertained?
But which route will the Canadian Big Brother take?
Premiering Feb. 27, it’s already been pegged as pitting houseguests against one another in a series of challenges, with contestants voting each other out each week. The winner will be decided by the last seven evicted houseguests, aka the ‘Big Brother Jury.’
So it appears it will be following in the footsteps of our cousins to the south, which is disappointing, but to be expected.
Stay tuned, or not, as the case may be …
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