Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Big Brother 2006

Page: 1 2 3 4(5)6 7 8 9 10... 130

20:31 / 18.05.06

Shabhaz isn't as intelligent or socially-sensitive as Derek, at least not on first showing.

so: we have

Bonnie
Pete
George
Shabhaz
Leah
Imogen
Grace
Dawn
Lisa
Glyn
Imogen
Richard
Sezer
Nikki

oh, they're playing Bring back the A-Team on C4 now. My fond remembrance of my teenage crush on Murdoch has been popped like a balloon looking at the middleaged reality.

20:33 / 18.05.06

I don't think Shahbaz is particularly like Kemal, other than the gayflamboyant + Muslim combo special. And he's got no more in common with Derek other than gay + non-Caucasian.

Let's not oversimplify teh gayers, shall we? We are all fabulous individual snowflakes who are in no way conformist or like each other.

20:35 / 18.05.06

Surely Dawn, if she is sexually confused, doesn't have a hope of being as entertaining as Craig (with regards to her sexuality) in that there's no alpha lesbians to taunt and tease her.

20:38 / 18.05.06

Oh, I'm absolutely loving Dawn. I think she's entertaining as buggery (and that's quite entertaining); I hope she doesn't go. I'm really quite liking GeekyGlyn too.

autopilot disengaged

20:38 / 18.05.06

currently extremely glad i don't have E4, so my intake can be sensibly controlled... Richard, Dawn + (dare i say) Pete early faves...

not sure Endemol have been so very inventive in their choices this year, lots of variations on things we've seen before.

20:39 / 18.05.06

I don't think Shahbaz is particularly like Kemal, other than the gayflamboyant + Muslim combo special.

Absolutely. But more similar to Kemal than to Derek. Which was kind of my point.

20:39 / 18.05.06

So, how long are they in for then? And how long are they normally in for (I can't remember).

20:42 / 18.05.06

Oh, I'm absolutely loving Dawn. I think she's entertaining as buggery

O, I agree that she's entertaining. I think she's actually pretty original in terms of housemate history too.

20:44 / 18.05.06

But more similar to Kamal than to Derek. Which was kind of my point.

Which is fine - and there're plenty of valid comparisons with previous years - but let's watch we don't pigeonhole teh gayers too quickly.

I'm really impressed by this year's combination. It seems an interesting dynamic.

Having seen the footage on Big Brother's Big Mouth, I think Shahbaz could be an early nominee for eviction - on the grounds that he's dragging people up to dance and sing Celebrate in a forced, annoying way that's already making me want to punch him in the neck. Homo solidarity!

20:49 / 18.05.06

Incidentally, could we agree to try to spell the difficult names ('Shahbaz', 'Sezer') correctly? They're all up there on the official site. Indulge my pedantry.

20:56 / 18.05.06

I don't think Shahbaz is particularly like Kemal, other than the gayflamboyant + Muslim combo special. And he's got no more in common with Derek other than gay + non-Caucasian.

Let's not oversimplify teh gayers, shall we? We are all fabulous individual snowflakes who are in no way conformist or like each other.

sorry not intending to oversimplify the gay housemates more than i am oversimplifying the others. was just noting the camp + non caucasion + regional (brittish) mode of speech .

20:57 / 18.05.06

d'Oh, Mikey's so forgettable that I missed him off my list. Can people also spell Kemal correctly, please? Or is this a Barbe-injoke that I'm not party to?

20:58 / 18.05.06

I had the sense of at least a few them exagerating their prejudices for the interview. Does Mikey really think that about women? Does smiley (on entering the house anyway)misanthropist-lady actually hate everyone all that much? Is Richard really prepared to do anything for a hundred grand, except into a slightly paternal alpha male role in about week two, having possibly made a couple of listless suggestions to George, and crushed Mikey in an argument? Does Glyn really hate posh people?

Ceasar seemed to pretty much loath Shahbaz on sight, admittedly, and Leah quite possibly isn't a fan of the bunny girl, but apart from that, I'm not sure if there's enough potential underlying conflict here, apart from the usual to do with kicking off about the washing-up, tasks etc.

Obviously too early to really say though.

20:59 / 18.05.06

Can people also spell Kemal correctly, please?

Yeesh, my spell-fu's all over the place tonight. Apologies. Will edit both names.

21:03 / 18.05.06

Allllright. Live feed. Didn't have that last year. No sleep 'til August.

We're seeing a rather sweet coming-together of the not-conventionally-attractive males, a bit of a gay-straight alliance: Shahbaz has given his tartan shirt to Glyn (who must be parky, right enough, poor love) and the two of them are walking around the pool, hand-in-hand with Pete. Pete's calmed down a bit, and his more subdued "wankers!"ing is making me feel a little more convinced of his Tourette's diagnosis. Not that I didn't think he had a tic disorder; what I'm wondering is the extent to which he's playing it up for the cameras. The whooping and high-kicking seems a little Keyop-from-G-Force. If Pete can just drop the Timmy Mallettisms, I think he could be quite lovely.

Big Dick and surgically-enhanced Lea getting on okay - him asking her, "are you a bit of a size queen?" and her talking about her ex, cue obscuring sound-effects - and suspect Lea's gay-friendliness may protect her from eviction, for a while at least. Little rich kids having a fun time discovering each others' wealth.

21:06 / 18.05.06

Bless, they reckon BB will give them their stuff tonight. Thereby confirming the first question anyone's asked when trying to get on the show is "Have you actually watched it?"

21:07 / 18.05.06

I like Big Dick's subversion of the butch cowboy drag with Marilyn Monroesque black satin glove and bracelet on the left hand - countering the Scorpio Rising wristband on the right. Sinister queerness ahoy.

Dawn's seeming a lot cheerier than she did in her audition video. Let's pray for some lesbianicity.

21:15 / 18.05.06

I had the sense of at least a few them exagerating their prejudices for the interview.

Well, yeah. Isn't that a given? Part of the attraction of Big Brother is waiting and watching to see whose prejudices persist and whose turn out to be empty audition flim-flam.

I'm unsure about Big Dick's ability to assume alpha male status. Obviously he's physically impressive and sexually unapologetic, but I suspect he might not want to jump in and start taking command. I reckon one of the other hetboys is going to do that, with one uneasy eye to teh gayers. I also suspect that Shahbaz, for all his irritating Gaywegian campery, might turn out - at 40-odd - to be better at being Father Figure than some of the others.

21:19 / 18.05.06

I reckon one of the other hetboys is going to do that

Probably very badly.

21:23 / 18.05.06

sorry not intending to oversimplify the gay housemates more than i am oversimplifying the others. was just noting the camp + non caucasion + regional (brittish) mode of speech .

Sure, Hester, I didn't mean to get at you, particularly. We all compare current Housemates with past Housemates, and there've been fewer gay than straight ones, so comparisons are going to be within a smaller pool. Also, I wonder whether there's more of a tendency, generally speaking (and I include myself - and other gay men - here), to pigeonhole gay people.

Sezer seems to be getting on well with the girlies. He's been to the Diary Room with Bonneh, and is now hanging out with Nikki (or possibly Nikkeh). Big Dick's hanging out with a nearer-his-age-group crowd: Lea and Dawn. Come on, Dawn! Let your Sapphic flag fly!

21:26 / 18.05.06

Hmm, in the space of hours, I may be revising my opinion on Pete. In a one-to-one (with Bonneh and Imogen), his tics are seeming much less played-up and much more genuine. I'm getting the impression he's probably a sweet guy who's making lemonade from the lemons he's been dealt.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

21:32 / 18.05.06

Damn, not gonna get to see any until Monday...

...perhaps I should just enjoy these last few days...

21:52 / 18.05.06

The doom that will come to Stoatie

21:53 / 18.05.06

Dawn and Big Dick getting on delightfully, expounding on the pleasures of growing old on one's own: cat-owning, macrame, watching Titanic without censure, smelling of piss. Old Pride!

21:55 / 18.05.06

The doom that will come to Stoatie

Indeed. Stoatie thought he could handle it...

Tryphena Absent

22:00 / 18.05.06

I am surely not the only person who now regards Big Brother as the sign of the New Year. Screw January.

I have given up on This Week and turned to real politics.

22:05 / 18.05.06

Big Brother is certainly the first harbinger of summer.

Sezer in the pool now, nice little bod. Lisa delicately stuffing her face with canapes. Shahbaz complaining loudly that people won't flirt with him (because, obviously, flirtation works brilliantly when you make it a) explicit, and b) compulsory), and seems to be consciously jostling with the more laid-back Richard for the position of Most Horse-Scaring Gayer In Da House.

Checking out people's ages, I'm slightly stunned to learn Lea is 35. She's spent howevermanygrand making herself look ten years older.

Apparently no-one can cook. Good.

22:08 / 18.05.06

Memo to Shahbaz: try introducing some variation into your conversational style by occasional communicating at sub-shriek volume.

Tryphena Absent

22:09 / 18.05.06

I love watching Lisa eat. She eats like I eat chocolate. I find myself empathising.

22:19 / 18.05.06

Can't believe I went out tonight and missed all of this.

Ganesh: Memo to Shahbaz: try introducing some variation into your conversational style by occasional communicating at sub-shriek volume.

Is Shahbaz by any chance Marco?

22:22 / 18.05.06

Is Shabaz by any chance Marco?

Gahhh!

Shahbaz is shrieky, gay and annoying - yes - but he's Scottish Muslim (unlike Marco) and 40-odd (unlike Marco).

22:26 / 18.05.06

I'm finding George's pouty-lips-and-squashed-nose combo oddly sexy.

Lisa seems nice enough but, again, let's consider what is possibly the most slappable photo of the bunch:

22:26 / 18.05.06

At least a close approximation it would seem. Without the bigotted views, though (probably). Although I'm constantly suprised to see Marco in the top twenty big brother housemates every year. I did read a DS column by Marco a while back regarding both his Big Brother experience and the successive years housemates that was almost level headed and intelligent. I wonder if Shabhaz, had he intelligent conversation to proffer would have any of it broadcast. More likely that they'll focus on his shrieking antics and nothing else, I'd say.

22:34 / 18.05.06

At least a close approximation it would seem.

Well... my point is, he isn't. I think it's legitimate to compare Housemates with former Housemates - and, as I've said, there's a tendency for gay men to categorise gay men - but I think we need to be wary of suggesting that X is a "close approximation" of Y on the grounds that they're both gay and shrieky. One might equally say Mikey is a close approximation of Spencer on the grounds that they're both straight and quiet. With a much smaller pool of gay male Housemates available for comparisons, I think we need to be careful not to overcompare.

Having said which, there seems to be a divide forming between shrieky-inyerface-gay and quiet-comfortable-gay: males and females alike seem to be looking to Big Dick to "protect" them from Shahbaz (who's happily invading body space all over the shop), making me think Richard might become a sort of default-Daddy after all. I just hope his reassuringness doesn't completely negate his "sexual terrorist" status. I suspect it might - along with the fact that there're no "big dumb men" for him to move in on in there. He quite likes George, which might prove interesting.

22:50 / 18.05.06

I'm loving Dawn's profile.

"Books- No novels just textbooks." Just does it for me, somehow.

Ganesh- I get what your saying, there is a tendency to categorise and make snap judgements. Apologies. I'd didn't mean to suggest (so totally) that Marco and Shahbaz were as one. Although, his specific interest trait, initially at least, is apparent. And each contestant initially has at least one specific interest trait blatantly stamped on their forehead with which they sell themselves (or are sold to us). My point being (it was stuck somewhere in there, I'm sure) that despite a perhaps individual and interesting character (possibly) Shahbaz will only get air-time when providing shrieky camp fun. However, I'd happily be proven wrong.

Page: 1 2 3 4(5)6 7 8 9 10... 130