big brother - very good documentary?
I know that people have already commented about this year’s Big Brother but I would also like to put my two pence worth in (sorry a bit of a rant)....
I agree that what is happening to Shilpa is absolutely atrocious but it could also be very useful for understanding and dealing with the hidden issue of emotional bullying that takes place in schools every single day.
Although I very much doubt that the BB TV producers intended to make a documentary about such bullying, what they have managed to achieve is a very clear cut, open and honest film which documents a problem that so few can find any evidence of.
Interestingly unlike regular TV documentaries, which no matter how hard they try, do have pre-planned agendas, main characters of focus, regularly contrived scenes, and a voice over that tends to tell you what you should think and how you should be feeling. Celebrity Big Brother (quite possible the epitome of pulp trash culture) has managed to provide a day by day fly-on-the-wall account. Amazingly, and I’m sure by accident, it is highly objective and enables the viewers to make their own opinions about what is taking place. Although with all the complaints and attention that BB has recently received im not sure how long it will continue to be like this, at the same time the evidence to date is compelling!
This type of bullying occurs everyday for millions of girls but they are not so lucky as to have filmed documentary evidence of what is happening and hence such bulling is almost impossible to prove.
It is so often one person’s word against many. - In this case Shilpa against Jade and Danielle.
Some people - normally those who want to be part of the 'in' crowd- join in with the bullying - and can then become as bad, if not worse, then the bullies themselves. Hence Jo, who was originally quite friendly towards Shilpa has now become incredibly venomous about her.
The situation is further compounded because very few people are brave enough to speak out against the bullying (normally because they fear being bullied themselves). - Key example here is Ian (H) who openly said he didn.t want to get involved, and it also looks like Cleo could also possibly be going that way as well.
Then there are those who do side with the 'victim' but they do little to defend her (why? no idea). - Dirk and Jermain are good examples of this.
Because a great deal of the bullying takes place behind the victims back this makes gathering evidence virtually impossible, unless you are BB. The victim is unable to say exactly what has been said and done to her, and this was demonstrated perfectly when Shilpa commented that she 'picked up a bad vibe' from them but couldn’t work out why. This works completely in the bullies favour since how can a person prove something she doesn’t know?
Another interesting tactic that has been recorded here is the blatant two-faced attack that is taking place. On the one hand Danielle insults and demeans Shilpa behind her back, whilst on the other hand she simpers up to her and declares her friendship whilst talking to her face. For someone isolated by emotional bullying this works to create a system in which the bullied then turns to the bully for emotional support and inflates the bullies power and control even further.
Finally what is interesting is the way such situations are dealt with. Despite channel 4 having received more complaints then they have ever had for a single programme, BB producers have continuously failed to intervene. From a documentary point of view, this works to unfold the events as they occur, without distorting the reality too much. However (1) BB is not a documentary and (2) when looked at in wider society this is exactly what happens.
Though schools, businesses, BB, etc can try talking to the bullies about their behaviour, this only works to single out and isolate the victim still further. It can make the bullying worse as the bullies retaliate against the trouble that they have got in, whilst this can also make them stronger and increase their motivation to attack the victim. - Jade's dream about being in trouble speaks volumes about this, and even works for her, Danielle and Jo to develop a counter strategic attack should they get in trouble.
Although it would be very interesting to hear someone deny that what is happening on Big Brother as anything but bullying, in reality girls who are bullied have so little evidence to prove this. Professionals tend to believe the bullies, particularly if they all stick together, and this only works to condone the behaviour and give an almost sanction for the bullying to continue and increase. This can also gag the victim from ever disclosing again.
Because of this little ever gets done and the numbers of people accountable for the bullying to continue are massive!
So who is to ultimately to blame?
I agree that what is happening to Shilpa is absolutely atrocious but it could also be very useful for understanding and dealing with the hidden issue of emotional bullying that takes place in schools every single day.
Although I very much doubt that the BB TV producers intended to make a documentary about such bullying, what they have managed to achieve is a very clear cut, open and honest film which documents a problem that so few can find any evidence of.
Interestingly unlike regular TV documentaries, which no matter how hard they try, do have pre-planned agendas, main characters of focus, regularly contrived scenes, and a voice over that tends to tell you what you should think and how you should be feeling. Celebrity Big Brother (quite possible the epitome of pulp trash culture) has managed to provide a day by day fly-on-the-wall account. Amazingly, and I’m sure by accident, it is highly objective and enables the viewers to make their own opinions about what is taking place. Although with all the complaints and attention that BB has recently received im not sure how long it will continue to be like this, at the same time the evidence to date is compelling!
This type of bullying occurs everyday for millions of girls but they are not so lucky as to have filmed documentary evidence of what is happening and hence such bulling is almost impossible to prove.
It is so often one person’s word against many. - In this case Shilpa against Jade and Danielle.
Some people - normally those who want to be part of the 'in' crowd- join in with the bullying - and can then become as bad, if not worse, then the bullies themselves. Hence Jo, who was originally quite friendly towards Shilpa has now become incredibly venomous about her.
The situation is further compounded because very few people are brave enough to speak out against the bullying (normally because they fear being bullied themselves). - Key example here is Ian (H) who openly said he didn.t want to get involved, and it also looks like Cleo could also possibly be going that way as well.
Then there are those who do side with the 'victim' but they do little to defend her (why? no idea). - Dirk and Jermain are good examples of this.
Because a great deal of the bullying takes place behind the victims back this makes gathering evidence virtually impossible, unless you are BB. The victim is unable to say exactly what has been said and done to her, and this was demonstrated perfectly when Shilpa commented that she 'picked up a bad vibe' from them but couldn’t work out why. This works completely in the bullies favour since how can a person prove something she doesn’t know?
Another interesting tactic that has been recorded here is the blatant two-faced attack that is taking place. On the one hand Danielle insults and demeans Shilpa behind her back, whilst on the other hand she simpers up to her and declares her friendship whilst talking to her face. For someone isolated by emotional bullying this works to create a system in which the bullied then turns to the bully for emotional support and inflates the bullies power and control even further.
Finally what is interesting is the way such situations are dealt with. Despite channel 4 having received more complaints then they have ever had for a single programme, BB producers have continuously failed to intervene. From a documentary point of view, this works to unfold the events as they occur, without distorting the reality too much. However (1) BB is not a documentary and (2) when looked at in wider society this is exactly what happens.
Though schools, businesses, BB, etc can try talking to the bullies about their behaviour, this only works to single out and isolate the victim still further. It can make the bullying worse as the bullies retaliate against the trouble that they have got in, whilst this can also make them stronger and increase their motivation to attack the victim. - Jade's dream about being in trouble speaks volumes about this, and even works for her, Danielle and Jo to develop a counter strategic attack should they get in trouble.
Although it would be very interesting to hear someone deny that what is happening on Big Brother as anything but bullying, in reality girls who are bullied have so little evidence to prove this. Professionals tend to believe the bullies, particularly if they all stick together, and this only works to condone the behaviour and give an almost sanction for the bullying to continue and increase. This can also gag the victim from ever disclosing again.
Because of this little ever gets done and the numbers of people accountable for the bullying to continue are massive!
So who is to ultimately to blame?