BB '07

[jboywonder]

so everyone else hates it. i couldn't give a fucken shit. i love big brother, i love the whole emotional rollercoaster ride from start to finish.. this year, after an agonising decision between my future artistic credibility and a stint on a reality game show, i decided not to audition. so, like a dwindling number of other australians, i settled back to watch what was, at first, a largely unremarkable bunch of 20-somethings who appeared to be the exact stereotypes the public had been begging the producers not to put in the house.




but then it picked up. once all the bullshit about the secret couple and the dead father and stuff was done, it got on with the goods. with the entry of intruders laura and daniela, the shock early exits of 'hagley' & Queen Emma and the ice cave, it seemed as though the series had peaked and all that was left was the near-endless procession of evictions.. that is, until michelle rocked into the house, and brought zach with her. michelle sparked the biggest conflict big brother australia has ever borne witness to, dragging little aleisha through a 3 hour screaming match which culminated in michelle being booed on stage during her eviction. zach shot straight up the popularity charts, pipping travis from his comfortable second position and threatening aleisha, though she reigned gloriously over the popularity poll from day 1 to day 100.






what i learned from big brother '07:
- no-one likes a swearer
- happiness is a lifestyle choice
- yesterday is gone and you'd better let it go
- people are always going to think they're smarter than you - let them
- family is about people who you love and who love you, not people you're related to
- love with your whole heart, but don't give the whole thing away immediately
- people will bitch about you no matter what - get over it
- sometimes life teaches you a completely different lesson from the one you expected to learn
- you can please everyone, but only if you bullshit, and it's not worth the stress
- dance while the music plays
- laughter is the best medicine
- sometimes even winners lose
- you don't get to choose how others perceive you
- you don't get to pick when it's someone's time to go






it ended with the most spectacular debarcle of a finale that any loyal viewer could have hoped for.. the 120 minute live to air special dragged on close to a full hour past its scheduled end while the final votes were tallied.. the closest ever vote, between zach and little aleisha, ended with a victory for my baby girl by 51% to 49%. this threw a complete spanner in the works of the whole live show, and gretel had to ad lib her way out of a complete train wreck, managing to get sconed in the head with a rubber chicken by early evictee/series anarchist bodie in the process. HA! but when the final moment came, little aleisha was overjoyed that the public had picked her as the winner - finally, she had been validated, and aleisha realised that she was, in fact, exceptional. 'little' aleisha no more.

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so ends another procession of legends, weirdos, morons, mormons, underdogs, rebels, heroes, freaks and champions. once a year, every year, we get a chance to look at the people we are as a generation and question whether we're really heading in the right direction. we can see into the worlds of those around us, evaluate their beliefs and get an idea of their priorities. from this series, i'm offered a lot of hope. you are surrounded by intelligent people with a great propensity to love and care about you. they don't care where you're from, how long they've known you or where you've been, as long as you put it all on the table and love them back. it doesn't matter how much we fight, or how much we don't agree on superficial matters; what matters is that we don't have a choice. all of us live on this little continent and while we may not agree, we'll always be together. so hate, treat yourself, shirk responsibility, embarrass yourself, obfuscate, shower, get pissed, gossip, burp, lounge around, do something crazy just because it's funny, carry on, laugh, argue, love, procrastinate, fuck, wash up, complete a task you'd thought impossible, dream, threaten, yell and forgive.. and for god's sake, be yourself. after all, you're just a housemate in a giant compound.






so until next year, it's goodnight from big brother. he'll be leaving the lights on, because generation Y has a lot to think about. we've acted foolishly, been indulged by our parents, followed false prophets and then allowed ourselves to repeat their mistakes. is this the way we really pictured ourselves growing up? try to get some sleep kids, but remember, you're accountable for every action you take and every word you say..





..because someone's always watching