The impending oppression of having this ridiculous cult of hollow celebrity forced on us is horrible. Ooh, I really don't like it do I? And it will be forced - we won't be able to go anywhere without it being rubbed in our faces like sandpaper. Please - if you hate Big Brother too - don't feel alone in that instinct to cut the plug off your telly cable, and don't feel isolated in your urge to torch the piles of BB obsessed rag they call newspapers that you will be tripping over in your local shops. Don't actually do those things, but don't feel weird for thinking them either!
Instead of the big bother, which starts again tonight, here are some proper things to try instead:
1. Bake some excellent cookies, take them to a friend and find out how their real day was.
2. Grow some stuff - tomatoes maybe, or herbs, easy things that smell great. Basil's good and you can do homemade pesto with it. mmmmm...
3. Go and run, wherever you like. Appreciate the fact you have freedom to do this.
4. Or feeling edgy? Go climb an Extreme route somewhere, like this one Greg and I did at Easter. That'll sort you out.
5. Pull up a chair to the window and sit there for an hour just watching and listening. Best telly in the world.
6. Sort your photos into albums! (that old job, boo! It is good though, and bet you catch yourself smiling...)
7. Read a book - you know those things with pages that have words on. I can recommend this by John O'Donahue, some very poetic ideas about the shelter of true friendship. Or Tenderness of Wolves - and let me know what you think, I'm reading this at the moment.
8. Lie down and listen to some music with your eyes closed. Guarantee you'll lose track of time and your eyes will thank you for the break.
9. "Who goes? You decide!" Utter rubbish. Instead of nurturing unhealthy judgmental energy voting out out a complete stranger from a fake community, go and encourage a real person - someone you actually know - that they're brilliant and valuable and make the world a better place.
And finally:
10. That thing that occurred to you while you were sitting at the window for an hour, that wildest dream that bravely found time to bubble up, go do it.
Big Brother is crafty, it does suck you in, but don't ever let it numb you so much you stop living a real life and fail to notice the softness of people around you.
{Today's soundtrack: Chat with the lads in the studio}
14 comments:
Number 9 is my favourite. And I hope you know how proud of you we are. I love that you exist, and live your life so connected to your soul.xxx
humbled thanks...
Interesting work Lizzie. I've decided though that as much as I hate Big Brother it represents no more or less of a television obsession than Life on Mars or the World Cup. However the cult of minor celebrity is deeply irritating and I applaud you for taking a dire state of affairs and turning it into something positive. If 8m other people did that Endemol would pull the plug and we could all rest easy.
Yeah, I guess you're right in some ways, as a big fan of Life on Mars... but at least with stuff like that it's not pretending to be meaningful, and the views of the protagonists aren't touted as being profound. Cor that sounds quite grown up doesn't it?
Big Brother is one big game, played out on its contestants who are too stupid or vain to hold a mirror up to their involvement.
I can't decide which I hate more - the amount of publicity that goes into elevating its participants to the level of some sort of minor deity, or the producers for profiting so successfully from its execution.
You're right by the way - there is a definite difference because in drama you're hooked on the stories rather than on actual individuals. I do believe there's a comparison though with football hysteria though, and I really like my footy....
I think I need some sleep.
Rest in peace, but just don't wake up in 1973 whatever you do.
right there with you lizzie............i like the out of the window watching the world option...........very nice
COMPLETELY agree with you! It's bad enough avoiding such appalling television, but then you turn on the radio and THEY'RE talking about it too! I find it all SO depressing, it makes me want to scream.... ALMOST went for a run, but felt I'd already had too much wine to make it an enjoyable experience!
i didn't know it had started again. the best thing to be said about this worst of the worst shows is, atleast it keeps the participants off the streets for a bit! maybe keeping one eye on bb is okay, because that's what everyone is watching and it's good to be a bit informed, even if it is completely hateful stuff. went to center parcs in january and bought a sun or a mirror to read every day... it was interesting to see how the vast majority keep themselves 'informed'... it was an eye opener.
Amen. Happiness research finds that, at best, watching TV has a mildly depressing effect.
Is "Ready Steady Cook" OK?
You are dead right on this, the trick is not to waste energy hating it, that is just frustrating, and I grow to detest the sound of my own whinging voice when I start on about these things. Walk. Run. Sing. Dance. Plant plants. Bake something. Write a letter. Watch the ants. Make mad lists.
hey Mike
Ready Steady Cook is grand - it teaches you valuable life skills while nurturing spontaneous creativity and Fern Britten is an excellent and dignified role model, don't you think?
preach it sister!
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