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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Celebrity Big Brother 2006

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13:45 / 25.01.06

Whether or not the lies were told of necessity, and I totally accept they were; and BB encouraged further from the diary room prior to the combustion of GG, they remain barefaced untruths - not like being a pretendy elf. I just found the juxtaposition of the enormously spun out 'what we did in the diary room' story with 'I ain't no liar, and I won't be called one' amusing; s'not a moral judgment or anything.

Fair enough; you found it amusing. She's right, though, IMHO, in that she's not "a liar" in the sense that 'Acid' Burns was insinuating (you're very good at this = you're a habitual liar). As well as determinedly pushing for bigger and bigger lies, Burns was inconsistent in his accusations: initially, he told Chantelle he knew she was lying because she was sweating and unable to meet his eye; subsequently, he used "good liar" very much as a moral judgement - and was apparently unable to see the grotesque unfairness of this.

I don't see Chantelle's statement as contradictory. If anything, she was more able to appreciate the nuances than any of her accusers. They weren't "barefaced untruths": they were anxiously over-explained explanations which became inflated/elaborated by her determination, in the face of rather nasty cross-questioning, to win the shopping task.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

13:51 / 25.01.06

Second eviction's at 11:05, apparently. Schedule change.

Contrast Pete's reaction at being lied to with Chantelle's reaction on discovering the other HMs had been lying to them. She about pissed herself laughing. He, on the other hand, didn't. I know which reaction I prefer.

13:55 / 25.01.06

even if somone came out of the diary room painted blue and wearing gold speedos i wouldnt say shit until they said something to me in the hopes that their secret task would net me extra booze/fags/food/entertainment. fuck, why wouldnt you? you'd have to really care about being percieved as a sherlock to shit in your own paddling pool like that.

That's the other thing. Chantelle has watched Big Brother and is familiar with the 'rules' of secret tasks ie. logically, it makes no sense to crap on someone's secret mission - even if one knows they're on a secret mission - because to do so would likely diminish the chance of a group reward.

Chantelle seemed puzzled that, given the above, Pete would bang on with the "are you lying?" interrogation. She was clearly uncomfortable with maintaining the fiction, and stressed and resentful of the need to keep elaborating upon it. She's not a natural liar. To her, it must've seemed as if Burns were wilfully sabotaging the task - so it was probably extra-galling when he subsequently claimed she and Preston were "bubble-brained" for failing to anticipate something which had never appeared on Big Brother before: housemates being able to view a secret mission in a secret room, as it was being hatched.

14:00 / 25.01.06

Contrast Pete's reaction at being lied to with Chantelle's reaction on discovering the other HMs had been lying to them. She about pissed herself laughing. He, on the other hand, didn't. I know which reaction I prefer.

That captured moment when Chantelle's smile freezes horribly, mid-laugh - when she realises Pete calling her a liar isn't a compliment or part of the general hooraying at having won the task - made me quite queasy.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

14:02 / 25.01.06

Yeah, some of her expressions throughout the argument are actually quite painful to watch. I really felt for her through the whole thing, even though she didn't say much herself.

Haus of Mystery

14:13 / 25.01.06

I don't know if it's the editing, but it seems there's a distinct lack of anyone telling Pete to shut the fuck up. Considering the level of nastiness and alround bluster, whenever the acid queen opens his horrible gob everyone seems to be silenced. Preston looked properly mortified when Burns was laying into him. Perhaps it's the vitriol that accompanies these outbursts.

14:19 / 25.01.06

Pete gets away with a lot, yes. I think it's partly because he's scary in that uber-intimidating acidic drag queen way, but also there seems to be a tacit understanding that 'that's just Pete', that he can verbally lacerate someone then, an hour later, behave as if nothing has happened. I think it's accepted that he spares no-one's feelings.

Preston, to his credit, seems able to listen, even in the midst of an argument or Patronising-R-Us lecture, without saying anything. Apart from the Galloway/wanker thing, which was utterly understandable.

14:20 / 25.01.06

Pete, George + Micheal + Unusually high percentage of Nasty Pieces of Work, even by BB's standards. Dennis is coming pretty close to making it a quartet too.....

14:24 / 25.01.06

that's meant to read:
Pete + George + Micheal = Unusually high percentage of Nasty Pieces of Work, even by BB's standards. Dennis is coming pretty close to making it a quartet too.....

yawn - thing's buddy

14:36 / 25.01.06

ganesh - gotta disagree with you on the barrymore stance.

It was calculated bollocks and wasn't about the state of the housemates and, 'can't we all just live together and get along?'

It was about HIM and his travails.

Admittedly he was smart enough to capitalise on the situation - and go for the 'mature' stance in light of what'd happened.

But it was still selfish.

Barrymore has been invisible since Jodie left - until last night.

and way I read it: Dennis' over reaction and threat of violence was as a result of being doubly humiliated by chantelle re: 'I've had better than you'. (first up when she refused his advances, second up, when she made it known to the others during the 'fight' and acttually perhaps thirdly, because she's allied herself to another male in the pack)

However his original intervention was based on an obligation to support the who was under fire at the time Galloway - as an unwritten code, mentally scripted and shared by Galloway - has caused such behaviour to emerge.

yawn - thing's buddy

14:44 / 25.01.06

last para was meant to read:

However Dennis' original intervention was based on an obligation to support the under-fire-at-the-time-Galloway, as an unwritten code, mentally scripted and shared by Galloway, required of Dennis that he react in this way (or at least offer some kind of support to GG)

man - I can hardly understand that!

basically, dennis felt obliged to help out GG cos of the pressure GG has put on folk to be 'loyal' or whatever.

14:46 / 25.01.06

It was calculated bollocks and wasn't about the state of the housemates and, 'can't we all just live together and get along?'

These are not the only two options, and are not mutually exclusive. I wouldn't say "calculated" in the playing-to-the-cameras g*m*pl*n sense, but I'd agree that a large part was self-glorifying. I think it was also a counter-attack on someone who'd attacked him (which is arguably better - or at least more interesting - than snivelling in the outhouse), a partial defence of Preston and Chantelle (arguably self-serving in the they're-his-allies way, but also, I think, because his stance on truth/lies is not as ostensibly rigid as George's or Pete's).

I think it was also informed by stuff he'd learned in the Priory about being assertive blah de blah.

14:53 / 25.01.06

However Dennis' original intervention was based on an obligation to support the under-fire-at-the-time-Galloway, as an unwritten code, mentally scripted and shared by Galloway, required of Dennis that he react in this way (or at least offer some kind of support to GG)

man - I can hardly understand that!

Can you? I think loyalty-in-the-face-of-whatever goes only so far. Galloway was hardly "under fire" when Rodman stepped in: Chantelle and Preston were (relatively politely) taking issue with his bullish "you're liars and sneaks and I would've acted completely differently" stance, and Pete was still intermittently laying into Chantelle. The vitriol was coming from Georgie and Pete.

basically, dennis felt obliged to help out GG cos of the pressure GG has put on folk to be 'loyal' or whatever.

Despite Galloway's demonstrated tendency to respect that 'loyalty' not a jot in the cases of Rula, Preston and Barrymore.

Feeling rejected by Chantelle is hardly good reason for not-so-oblique threats either. Not in an adult male.

14:55 / 25.01.06

Pete gets away with a lot, yes. I think it's partly because he's scary in that uber-intimidating acidic drag queen way, but also there seems to be a tacit understanding that 'that's just Pete', that he can verbally lacerate someone then, an hour later, behave as if nothing has happened

Definitely - get the impression that rest of house are essentially all frightened to provoke and end up on the receiving end of Pete's visciousness, so they generally fail to challenge him and spend a lot of time tiptoeing on eggshells to avoid detonating his vileness. And it seems that when he is deigning someone with his pleasanter side, there's a sigh of relief from knowing that you're off the potential target hook for five minutes. Combine that with the contrariness of his alliances, and you're left with a volatile pot of unpredictableness.....in essence I reckon people are scared of him and just how far he'll go in his character assasinations.

15:00 / 25.01.06

I really got the impression that Dennis’s contribution was more a bid to join the fray, for fear of being left out of some Alpha male dick swinging. It was so sudden and histrionic, yet so lacking in momentum, that it felt more like an upstaging manoeuvre. I think his repeated claims that the scene would make ‘great TV’ was key to his motivation. He chose to side with George and Pete over Chantelle and Press-stud, but then siding according to age seems to be pretty well established now.

15:02 / 25.01.06

Age and gender. The older males have an increasing tendency to side only with older males.

yawn - thing's buddy

15:15 / 25.01.06

ganesh - 'when I said I can hardly understand that'

I was referring to the round about way I'd try to explain what I eventually whittled down to this:

basically, dennis felt obliged to help out GG cos of the pressure GG has put on folk to be 'loyal' or whatever.

And I wasn't justifying Dennis. rather, I was interpreting his behaviour.

agree on the priory lessons kicking in for barrymore too.

15:17 / 25.01.06

Ah. That makes sense. Agreed, then.

15:22 / 25.01.06

I'm beginning to think Big Brother, both celebrity and 'civilian', is overwhelmingly a study of how males - particularly older males - organise themselves socially. Women do (or don't) fit into or around that, but it seems to me that most of the drama arises from male-male conflict, whether overt or indirect.

Perhaps that's just because I'm in 'bunch of chimps' mode today...

15:23 / 25.01.06

have we had proper-big age gaps before?
i have a feeling the average age this time is quite a bit higher than the normal one was, and i get the impression that's usually the case.

CBB seems to be more comfortable with old folks.

perhaps unkown old people dont make good telly for the dominant yoot demographic?

i reckon an age mix skews things quite drastically, what with the classic 'inexperienced' versus 'not with it' argument.

15:30 / 25.01.06

i reckon an age mix skews things quite drastically, what with the classic 'inexperienced' versus 'not with it' argument.

And the frequent bouts of pique/crying/rage at perceived failure of younger housemates to 'respect their elders'.

Age and celebrity both skew the dynamic, I think, in that they automatically create hierarchies which conflict with other hierarchies (eg. who's most attractive, who's funniest, etc.). As with Big Brother and gay people, though, there's a fundamental difference between the tokenistic inclusion of one old/gay person and the addition of a group. When the minority's less of a minority, it behaves differently.

15:47 / 25.01.06

i think your point about hierarchies nails a big part of it.
people always seem to build up lotyalties and divisions, but older age is a really strong characteristic that brings with it heaps of other stuff.
i think the group has set up virtual grownup and kid tables, and i reckon that all the kids secretly seek acceptance by the olds.

it changes who is and isnt a kid, but i'd argue that ciurrently preston, traci and chatelle are. preston is clever enough to be allowed to eat with dad and his guests, but he never seems to be quite accepted. dennis kinda fluctuates... i guess i'd characterise him as the older adolescent who sits on his own at the dinner rather than suffer the ignominy of being considered a kid.

Tryphena Absent

17:57 / 25.01.06

I'm beginning to think Big Brother, both celebrity and 'civilian', is overwhelmingly a study of how males - particularly older males - organise themselves socially.

Actually this show is about people's responses to imprisonment and self inflicted containment and their social organisation. Contestants respond in two ways to being contained in the house either to what's happening immediately or to leaving in the relatively near future. Those who respond to the immediate and are confrontational tend to take control or attempt to. Women who respond to the immediate and thus fight a lot are frowned upon and generally voted out if they throw their weight around or gain power in the house. That's why we see more male social organisation because the alpha females are rejected by the public. It says more about societal perception of gender than anything else.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

18:19 / 25.01.06

Despite Galloway's demonstrated tendency to respect that 'loyalty' not a jot in the cases of Rula, Preston and Barrymore.

You forgot his failure to intervene in Pete's hideous attack on Traci, against his self-identifying as champion of the underdog and the put-upon.

18:32 / 25.01.06

Actually this show is about people's responses to imprisonment and self inflicted containment and their social organisation. Contestants respond in two ways to being contained in the house either to what's happening immediately or to leaving in the relatively near future. Those who respond to the immediate and are confrontational tend to take control or attempt to.

Well, yes. The "imprisonment" aspect goes without saying - so it's about social organisation within a setting of voluntary incarceration.

I thi-i-ink you're saying some people are more concerned with whether or not they'll be nominated out, and thus moderate their reactions to "what's happening immediately", yes?

Women who respond to the immediate and thus fight a lot are frowned upon and generally voted out if they throw their weight around or gain power in the house. That's why we see more male social organisation because the alpha females are rejected by the public. It says more about societal perception of gender than anything else.

Sure - assuming alpha status and/or gaining power in the House map onto 'fighting a lot'. Certainly, I think women are subject to a lot more criticism than men in the Big Brother House, and tread a finer line between being seen as 'too stroppy' (insufficiently friendly to males) or a 'cocktease' (overly friendly to males).

18:34 / 25.01.06

You forgot his failure to intervene in Pete's hideous attack on Traci, against his self-identifying as champion of the underdog and the put-upon.

I suspect all of Galloway's underdog-championing claims come with an unspoken 'except for the women' clause. He doesn't do underbitches.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

18:43 / 25.01.06

Even the news are saying George is a dead cert to be out tonight.

Second eviction- Dennis, I reckon. Until the fight I'd have had a hard time choosing between he and Chantelle to survive, as he'd until then been revealing a much more personable side which I was quite drawn to. Fortunately he's now proved himself to be an utter penis, so I don't have to wrestle with that particular dilemma anymore.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

18:43 / 25.01.06

When do the Daleks turn up, anyway?

18:44 / 25.01.06

Until the fight I'd have had a hard time choosing between he and Chantelle to survive, as he'd until then been revealing a much more personable side which I was quite drawn to. Fortunately he's now proved himself to be an utter penis, so I don't have to wrestle with that particular dilemma anymore.

Nope. I've been multi-texting Georgie and Den. If nothing else, I'm curious to see how Petey gets on without his alpha male coterie.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

19:10 / 25.01.06

Didja hear that booing when Davina said "George"... man, that fucker's gonna wish he was Makosi when the crowd get mediaeval on his ass!

Tom Paine's Bones

19:14 / 25.01.06

It would be great if Galloway comes out to find that Davina's been replaced by Paxman for the night.

With Maggot, I think I'm coming to the conclusion that he just really doesn't like confrontation. His attacks on Galloway for letting down his constituitents in the diary room, and his private support for Barrymore after the argument seemed genuine. I'm just not convinced he's someone who can be relied upon to defend people when things are kicking off.

19:17 / 25.01.06

Nah. Booed housemates invariably manage to rationalise the reaction away: when has anyone ever said, "God, I really need to take a hard look at myself" in response to a hostile exit from the Big Brother House? If anything, Georgie'll be better than most at logic-bending self-justification.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

19:17 / 25.01.06

Think you could be right about Maggot. The same criticism could be levelled at me, though, so I guess I should be a little less harsh in my judgment of him.

Tryphena Absent

19:20 / 25.01.06

assuming alpha status and/or gaining power in the House map onto 'fighting a lot'.

Well perceived alpha status, I don't think it's actually possible to gain any control or power when you're being ordered around by a group of producers. The only power you have is over yourself and either going along with the games or having a bad time and not leaving (as invariably happens with the majority of 'alphas') basically equates with having no power at all. The only people who have truly been alpha have been those who chose to quit- Sandy, Germaine and the lawyer-in-training whose name I can't quite catch hold of.

paranoidwriter waves hello

19:21 / 25.01.06

If anything, Georgie'll be better than most at logic-bending self-justification.

Definitely. No doubt we can look forward to George accusing Endemol of misrepresentation via clever editing, etc.

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