"No, you have to be shallow..."

Rebecca Wilson

Well, with the ratings taking another hit, it looks like Big Brother 2008 has spent some time in front of a drawing board. There was certainly no miracle, tonight; but it was decidedly better television than we endured, last week (that wouldn't take a great deal, it should be noted). Big Mouth felt a tad more sure of itself than last week, also (nice to see Dyer absent); but this show will stay alive for no other reason than its "adult only" content, and in comparison to the show's earlier panel attempt (with the Doug Anthony Allstar), it's a fizzler (and, on top of that, in all fairness, tonight, it was completely overshadowed by the most action-filled primetime we've had in a while). And look what happened to that first attempt, all those years ago. What was it called, again? I don't remember. Enough said.

And yes, Madonna is almost the same age as Terri. That sounds strangely familiar.

Anyway, let's now ignore the rest of Big Mouth, like most viewers probably will, and cut to the chase. It is Brigette who is now to be the housemate under the spotlight, over the next day or so, until - well - the next ad comes along, when Carson enters the house on Wednesday night (and having watched the premiere of his new show, boy is that going to be rubbish! Ten bucks says he gives Dixie a make-over - which means we could see a turn-around in the Dixie narrative, perhaps foreshadowed in tonight's Big Mouth). That gives us one more episode of material not completely devoured by advertising (although, Corey has certainly been conveniently dragged into the Brigette narrative), and in Big Brother 2008, two days of such material is a break-through, let's admit it.

So, the burning question. Was she being real? Yes and no. But sometimes, not being real is being real. Let's have a look at Brigette, and what lies beneath the very real tears of a Princess without her coping mechanisms, combined with some over-the-tiop theatrics. There are a couple of things of interest that I'd like us to consider. This is where a little thing called "subjectivity" comes to the party, and now that you've spent enough time with me to get to know my "slant", I'd like to turn it on its head, for just a moment.

Until now, we've followed - as we do, every year, here - the intial destruction of the weaker - and in this game, that simply means individual - women, Dixie and Bianca. However, it looks like Dixie, at least, may be going to get a break (Bianca won't - she's too close to the Corey bone; Dixie will fall perfectly into Carson's ad). Saxon may have been the ultimate victim of this week's eviction, and Big Mouth might have loved pointing out how "different" that is to usual years, when it is the "loud" women (don't you just love it when having conviction and expression is reduced to the diplomatic slur that is "loud"?!) who go first. But the actual content of this show hasn't differed in the slightest. As always, misgoyny and sadism rule the day and the edit. 

How many of you, out there, who have not been enjoying the destruction of Dixie and Bianca (and even those who have been, I suppose), loved every second of tonight's primetime "meltdown"? Aaaawwww, the pretty, dumb blonde thing with the fake tits has lost her make up and clothes! Look at her, without her unicorn, without her mummy! Look at those tears! Look at her pain! 

Did that make you smile? Did you, perhaps, even laugh out loud?

Is that sadism, then? Were you not, in that moment, enjoying the pain of another human being? And isn't that what we often criticise Big Brother for? Hasn't Brigette, through a contrived element of the game, been singled out and victimised? The boys were, alongside their torture of Dixie, also wreaking havoc on Brigette. Was she victimised? Are we victimising her, by enjoying her meltdown?

Perhaps, pretty young dumb blondes are no less deserving of the cruelty of others (for being who they are) than aboriginal women, or overweight women, or smart girls who do not conform to late-adolescence hedonistic norms? And if you have one reaction to Dixie or Bianca (or Rima, or anyone else on Big Brother, over the years), what is that difference between your reaction to them, and your enjoyment of watching Brigette? I'm not judging you. I'm just asking you, before we move on. For all the advertising slogans of using the show to explore more intellectual concepts, social truths, psychological mechanisms, etc, etc, we never really stop and do that. I don't know if you've ever been on board with me, before, but this is the bit where we start to get a little deeper, beyond the glass of your widescreen plasma. Considering that the amount of advertising and propaganda hs given us little option to move, so far, let's take the opportunity when it's here! We've talked about the housemates; we've talked a lot, lately, about the actual show. 

Now, let's talk about us. 

Of course, reactions - and, more importantly, people - as I always say, are not so black and white. In the world of Big Brother, they tend to be - we buy into simplistic packaged concepts that are handed to us on a silver platter, with clear instructions on what to feel in response. And most Big Brother fans do. They "hate" this person, they "love" that one. This person's "this", so-and-so is "that". But it's okay to see things from a variety of perspectives, and it's okay to arrive at an overall "truth" (a personal one, at best) that is a little bit... well... grey.

My thoughts on the Brigette's meltdown are a little bit grey. Do I think there's a difference in the situation of Brigette, to that of Dixie and Bianca? Yes, at the end of the day, I do. But it's a line I tread carefully, and we have to acknowledge a few elements to at least nod our head to. 

Firstly, we need to make sure we are not bringing our own prejudices to the party. When we first began watching these housemates, Brigette struck a bad chord with quite a few of the women in that house. Even Rebecca - arguably, herself, symbolising something close to what so many would finds abhorrent in Brigette - didn't like her. Terri disapproved. Dixie went for the kill, pretty early. And we all remember what Bianca found in Brigette.

For Bianca, of course, symbols are very important. She's on there to be a symbol - she's admitted that. And we've seen how she judges others, based on what they symbolise, conceptually. She cannot take the individual away from what they represent on the whole - on a whole that is, essentially, dividing society into archetypes. Do you know what I mean by that? The minute you talk about symbols, you're not really talking about the individual. You can't symbolise yourself. You have to effectively symbolise others. You represent a "truth" that people believe is a given, based on what are often incredibly superficial cues - such as the symbol of fake tits - that they have either encountered or (in the case of racism and other discrimination - why this is an important topic to think about) have been mislead to believe (from their culture, media, parents, whatever). And that's where the trouble starts, and where proceedings are arguably poisoned by what you bring to the party.  

In the housemates of 2008, we have a couple of housemates who are, quite consciously (for one reason, or another) playing with this concept, or trying to buck it. Bianca battles what people see her as, because of those rather large breasts. Travis battles the perception of his sexuality, because of that voice (whether you think he's really just a repressed homosexual christian, or not - consciously, at least, that's his "thing").

What this is, effectively, walks dangerously close to being a "discrimination". Racism, for example, generates a kind of instant superficial judgement, on its most outer level. The racist mind essentially sees black skin and thinks, "All people with black skin are lazy... therefore, this person is lazy." Aside from all the people calling her "fat", on the forums, I saw an awful lot of "lazy" going around - even though this wasn't even something the show had slanted her editing towards. It doesn't take a genius to figure out where that came from.

This idea, then - that, for example, aboriginals are lazy - blinds racists to the individual they are presented with, so that even if that individual exhibits something quite other to laziness, they are treated as if they were. Bianca, for example, is sexually aggressed, no matter how hard she tries to put across that she's different to the concept (and that's partly why she's so aggressive, we should all remember, when judging her extremity). 

Now, this is Big Brother that we're talking about, and so we must remember that contestants are chosen on the basis of how loudly they scream associated stereotypes. They're mostly picked for what we would commonly refer to someone as being a "posterboy" or "postergirl". It's nice that they have decided to play around with concepts, with some housemates - in theory at least; I'm not sure it's quite worked, yet, in practice - but, on the whole, we are watching a bunch of posterboys and postergirls, and that's why they're there. 

What did Brigette symbolise to you? What does she symbolise to you? Because if you enjoyed her demise, there's no escaping that she must, then, symbolise something you, in part, resent, disapprove of, or, at very least, have not as much respect for as other people. We may all dislike her for a variety of reasons that probably interlink - but we don't enjoy watching people we like, suffer. Sorry, we just don't. 

Now, I'm about to explain where I stand on the issue of Brigette, because I was torn, tonight. Part of me felt a little sorry for her. Part of me was smirking. But I wanted you to sincerely think about these things, beforehand, because I don't just want this to be about me programming you in any way, or influencing you without using it to, as opposed to tell you what to think (like the show does, after all), provoke you to explore not some guy who blogs Big Brother on the internet, but yourself. 

For me, Brigette instantly symbolised the tragic culture of women who fashion themselves, and have been fashioned (it's a fine, blurred line) to the male gaze. She's a self-declared sex-object, who values people only in relation to sexuality, and values herself in relation to her ability to sexually appease the male libido. I don't like that, quite frankly. I don't think it's healthy for young women or young men, I dislike that we live in a society where women are expected - and validated, culturally - to be vacuous sex objects that are valued only as their serving of male sexual fantasy and conquest. That's my slant. That's my "thing". 

Of course, as I was sitting there, that night, thinking, "Oh, God, here we go", there were thousands upon thousands of racists, sitting there, thinking, "Oh, God, here we go - a fat, lazy black girl." There were no doubt even more people - mostly men, of course - thinking, "Oh, God, here we go - check out this faggot with the high voice."

The thing is, Dixie did not choose to be black. Travis did not choose to have a high voice (what a stretch was Tim Brunero's supposed speech pathology enquiries - he discounts the psychologist who thinks Corey is an instance of child exploitation, but then has the hide to scientifically present the option that maybe Travis partly chooses to keep his high voice). Bianca did not choose to have an F cup. 

Brigette, in some way, chooses to have fake tits. She chooses to value material possessions. She chooses to play dumb.

She also chooses to be extremely insensitive and discriminatory towards others - such as on the topic of race (we all remember her comments about Dixie wanting the bacon, and her rather horrid generalisation that all aboriginal boys are 14, ride bikes, wear Wu Tang gear and are ugly).

And yes, part of me did think, "Well, look at you having a crisis over this, after the country has crucified Dixie over her emotional response to being exposed to racism and other jeers such as the ones perpetrated by you, dear Brigette. Karma's a bitch."

And did she prove herself to exist outside of those initial symbols? No. She's pretty much affirmed all of them. While Bianca has increasingly showed the complexity of her struggle, her inability to fit snugly into any norm or symbol, Brigette has stuck to the character. She's not that dumb, after all - but she sure knows how to be for the boys and cameras. She even told Michael that the reason she was on the show was to score a deal with FHM and Ralph. She is what she is - there's been nothing to suggest otherwise. Like Bianca, she told us she was not like other hot girls, and that she's a really nice, intelligent girl. But she isn't. She's an insensitive, selfish bimbo, who, as Michael quite rightly pointed out, is there "to get her tits out". Tonight, we found out she had informed Alice she would use the winner's money to reshape her breasts, yet again. She's not challenging those stereotypes, and, truth be told, she doesn't want to. She embodies them, consciously. Therefore, she takes some responsibility, in my book. And while I'm careful to allow her to rise above the concepts - careful that I'm not too hellbent on crucifying her as a symbol of something I dislike - she has not, in any way, done that. Otherwise, I'd see her as harmless, and be indifferent, at least. That's not the case.   

But then, part of me does feel sorry for her. And this comes back to something I wanted to bring into the mix, today, with the Saxon article (below). Where is that blurred line of responsibility? It's a difficult line. Her tears, after all, were sincere. She was playing it up, I'm sure - but the mixture of her playing it up, alongside the sincerity of the trauma, suggested something quite stark.

If only Big Brother put forward some housemates - just a few - who were "together" (or reasonably together, in comparison). But that's never been Big Brother's thing - there's a certainty for a television production in the vivid portraits and, most of all, predictability, of playing with damaged young people. They're so perfectly oblivious, and they're easy to manipulate. The show loves shouting about its psychologists (not surprisingly, it has been drudged up in response to the Corey debate). But those psychologists are't there to protect these damaged people. They're there to help the show navigate the damage, exploit it, prod it in certain ways to elicit what becomes dramatic, engaging television. 

And make no mistake, that girl is damaged goods. And this is why I can't help but feel sorry for so many of the Big Brother housemates. In this way, she is a little closer to where my sympathy lies with Dixie and the other victims - but much more like my slight unease at watching Saxon's downfall. 

The other contestants have all made references to Brigette being a spoilt little rich girl. They resent it, as most people who are not rich resent those who are privelleged. I understand that. I'm actually from a family of poor bogans, I grew up in a house of 14 people, and for a long time, I had very, very little. Do I know class resentment? You bet I do. And we've seen it, in there. We even heard it from Saxon on tonight;s Big Mouth appearance. It justifies the negativity towards her, for them. It's not fair, after all - that's the basis for class resentment, mostly. This isn't a fair world, and we don't like it when we see people enjoy life from a different starting-point, for no autonomously gained reason. 

Even earlier tonight, I was speaking to someone about some media personalities (who will remain nameless), and I said, "Yes, but I can't relate to them, because they come from the position of being spoilt little private school boys - they can be political, but they can't really be socially compassionate, because they don't actually empathise with the issues beyond the theoretical". Nothing against them. But they don't understand it, like I do - because I've been out there. I've lived it. I've felt it. That leaves a divide. 

But I can't discount someone's value, over all, just because they come from a privelleged background. They didn't choose this. And this is where Brigette gets complex. Just as Dixie didn't choose to be black, in all fairness, that girl didn't choose to be spoilt and rich. She didn't choose the life she's had (almost still a teenager, as it is), and so, like Saxon, there's a part of Brigette that can only really be viewed as a portrait of what's called "adaptation". And really, that's just a fancy shmancy term for "being raised".

Here is a girl who sleeps with a stuffed doll. Here is a girl who is so used to having Mummy Dearest there to pick her up, give her the credit card, pay the fines - do just about anything, I'd imagine - that without her, even the slightest hiccup becomes a tragedy she cannot deal with. This woman is a child - big tits, or not. And grown adults are children because they've never grown out of being children. And children are, after all, grown. By their parents. Smother and spoil your children - keep them in a state whereby they never learn any coping mechanisms because they never have to actually deal with anything, and where they cannot function on their own, because they've never had to, and... well... you get Brigette. A grown woman who throws herself on the floor and cries, "I want my Mummy... I need my stuffed doll." Those tears were real. That's the scariest thing of all. Yes, she upped the anty, I'm sure - but who responds to crisis by upping the anty and using their trauma to get their way? Children do. Young children do - the kind of little girls who still sleep with their stuffed toys. Young children effectively bully parents into responding, because they "learn" that parents give in to extremely overbearing - demanding - traumatic behaviour. That's what Brigette was doing tonight. I'm sure that's all she's ever had to do, pretty much all her life.

And if you live a sheltered life, like that, then your idea of a crisis is relative to your experience of life. Brunero reminded us that there are hurricanes in Burma. Yes, there are - an understandable response and point, in some ways. But, has Brigette's world ever extended to empathy of world events? Has it ever been allowed to, or encouraged to? Of course, not. The problem with raising someone to presume they are the centre of the universe, is that you actually disable their ability to empathise. It is, quite literally, all about them. It's certainly all about Brigette. And losing your belongings and having the mean boy say cruel things to you in a space as public as... say... the entire nation, is a crisis to this girl. She's probably never experienced a real crisis to have any sort of comparison or perspective. "Daddy gives me what I want," she gloated to Michael. I'm sure he does.

And is that her fault? That's all I'm saying. It sure makes for one horrible girl - talk about being ashamed if Corey were my child, I can safely say I wouldn't be too thrilled about having Brigette as a daughter. Then again, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't "make" a daughter like her.

And that's all I'm going to say on this. For now. There's no end punch-line, or moment of grand resolution where the light-bulb moment kicks in. Go have your own. Things aren't always black and white, and they don't always rest on one conclusion. I don't know about Brigette, to be honest. But tomorrow, you can be sure we'll get a whole lot more of her breakdown. After that, Carson will come and make them all look fabulous. Let's savour the looking glass while it's hovering over deeper elements of ourselves. See you tomorrow night, when the Princess goes on a hunger strike. I bet some of you can't wait.