Why does it seem less enjoyable to watch the end of this year's Big Brother? Sure, things were a bit more interesting, but with everybody after fame and fortune, it leaves this viewer feeling empty.
Big Brother 2 is almost over. By the time this is written and posted, it will be less than 24 hours away. The finale. No more will Nicole and Will grace our television screens. It’s over.
As I was watching Tuesday’s broadcast, a feeling of sadness enveloped me. It might have been for that opening, but I don’t think so. Dealing with the disaster in New York 24/7 has left me numb, and unable to feel anything good or bad. So this was a sadness, a new sadness, a feeling like the events on September 11, my world will always be different. This was the same thing. I realized the way the 3 (later 2) houseguests were behaving, and how much things have changed in only one short year when there were three houseguests left in the first BB house.
I did not tape Big Brother 1; I wish I had. But if my memory serves me correct, the remaining houseguests, Josh, Curtis and Eddie, felt they were doing the BB1 house mostly for the experience. The remaining BB2 houseguests are motivated by the money and the fame. I never recall fame being an issue for anyone in the first house, other than for Jamie.
I recall from last year’s show, the guests saying over and over again how great the experience is. For them, it was. They were television pioneers of a sort, allowing themselves to be seen by American and Canadian audiences in a brand new show. And a year ago, the genre of reality TV was still a pretty new phenomenon. Now it is a dominant force. And like the first crew of Survivor, or The Real World, or any other older reality show, these people signed up for it for something new to do. The reasons they picked were different – some wanted fame, but most wanted the experience. The money was secondary.
Then came BB2. Perhaps I had snoozed off when Kent said how many guests entered the house with agents attached. The experience was secondary. Fame and money are spinning them.
And perhaps that is the difference between the first house and the second house, in the end. The first house, despite its boredom, was made up of real people. The experience of being in that house was first, I cannot honestly remember anyone other than Eddie mentioning the money during play. I am probably wrong, because it would have had to have been a factor. But it was not the main reason for entering the BB house. The experience was. Knowing that the last two guests standing, Will and Nicole, have it all plotted out somehow distracts me from the game. Yes, I want to see how it goes down on Thursday night. But knowing that the houseguests’ primary motivation was the money, the 15 minutes of fame, and NOT the experience has left me feeling hollow, like I have just been told the truth about Santa Claus.
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