Issue 42 Autumn 2007 ISSN 0268-1951 mejmej media education journal 2 contents editorial issue 42, Autumn 2007 2 Editorial 3 38 Reviews Membership of AMES, the Association for Media Education in Scotland, will enable you to have a say in the future direction of media education in Scotland. AMES is the subject association for media studies and related disciplines in the Scottish education system. AMES has been strong and successful because it has actively involved teachers from all education sectors in the varied aspects of its work. AMES is active in lobbying and negotiating with education planners at all levels in Scotland. Members of AMES receive FREE copies of MEJ and the AMES newsletter. Annual Membership (the fee is tax deductible) Personal: £20.00 Editor: Des Murphy All text © AMES 2007 and individual Institution: £35.00 Editorial group: Liz Roberts, Anne Marie Begg contributors. Cover photo, ???????????????? and Douglas Allen ????????????????????????????????????????? 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Written organisation or of the institutions where email: [email protected] permission is required for any other use. contributors work. media education journal 42 3 Celebrity Big Brother 2007 Douglas Allen Introduction opening up issues which were clearly and offensive remarks about her name, When I wrote in MEJ 40 about psychology,psychology, bubbling under the surface and waiting to accent, social status, cooking skills and reality television and its brand leader Big erupt – areas of social panic, uncertainty eating habits escalating into a full-scale Brother, little did I realise that within and unease, such as youth aggression, confrontation between Jade and Shilpa on months so many of the issues raised bullying, racism, class anger and confl ict Wednesday 17 January, with the rest of in the article would explode on to the and the role of good citizenship through the housemates at a loss about whether world stage in a diplomatic crisis of intervention by third parties. to intervene. A massive number of public unprecedented proportions. The ‘Jade complaints to media watchdog Ofcom racist bullying’ controversy made such an 4) institutional factors – how the indicated that the confrontation was impact that discussion about Celebrity Big means of production of a TV show were raising concern and anger beyond the Brother 5 (CBB5) and reality TV migrated revealed as seldom before, with issues house, and the controversy escalated into from the proverbial water cooler to the coming up for public scrutiny and debate a ‘racism’ row, reaching even Cabinet level fl oor of the House of Commons and the such as TV editing techniques, media when Chancellor Gordon Brown had to streets and corridors of power of India. fi nance, advertising and sponsorship, the give his views during an offi cial visit to economics of telephone voting, the powers India. What follows is a brief attempt to of Ofcom, the role of showbiz agents, disentangle some of those issues which and the cultural and political position of It became a Jade v Shilpa eviction contest teachers may fi nd themselves discussing Channel 4. on Friday 19 January, and when Jade was in class if they teach reality TV. It makes evicted by a massive public vote, she was no claim to great originality or theoretical Chronology virtually smuggled out of the house to provenance or rigour – it is more an Firstly a brief narrative reminder of avoid what was feared could become a attempt to organise and refl ect on some of what happened. CBB5 was launched on public lynching. Eventually Shilpa won the discourses and debates in circulation Wednesday 3 January 2007; housemates the contest on Sunday 28 January, to at the time (January 2007). were Leo Sayer, Dirk Benedict, Jermaine popular acclaim. The tabloid uproar – seen Jackson, Danielle Lloyd, Jo O’Meara, Ken by many as a witch-hunt – against the These can be covered under four main Russell, Donny Tourette, Carole Malone, ‘racist’ members of the house took quite headings : Shilpa Shetty, Cleo Roccos, Ian ‘H’ a few days to subside, as both TV channel Watkins. Initial viewing fi gures of 7.1m and participants counted the cost of their 1) audience pleasures – how aspects of the fell to 3.2m and 2.8m by the weekend, lost sponsorship deals. show – such as the narrative trajectories and most of the media gossip was about that make the routine BB series such how dull the programme was, not even For a more detailed account of events see compulsive viewing – were especially saved by CBB’s big gimmick – to introduce a well documented chronicle in Wikipedia at work on this occasion, through celebrity mag favourite and former http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_ mechanisms such as our parasocial housemate Jade Goody, her boyfriend Big_Brother_2007_(UK) relationships with the ‘performers’, and Jack and her mother Jackiey as privileged our audience position of superiority as the guests who would be served by the others. Audience Pleasures possessors of privileged knowledge. This led to tensions and walkouts. Jackiey The power of narrative to hook an in particular raised the temperature audience proved to be crucial in CBB5. 2) popular psychology – how the skills and with her forthright manner and casual Indeed as events unfolded they seemed theories of psychology were needed even approach to remembering Shilpa’s name to take on the trappings of classical more to decode and explain the extremes and pronouncing it correctly. drama, with a fi gure of overweening pride of behaviour; and how the role of or hubris facing her nemesis and being psychology experimentation in reality TV After the servant experiment ended and destroyed through a fatal fl aw – a tragedy really came to the fore, raising sharply the Jackiey was fi rst to be evicted, Jade’s bringing catharsis to us the audience. Like issue of ethics for the programme makers. extravert personality began to dominate a scenario from a Propp fairy tale analysis, the house, attracting a clique of the young good battled evil, and the beautiful 3) reality TV as social barometer – how a female housemates around her, comprising princess vanquished the wicked witch. The simple, much derided programme became Jo and Danielle. Their behind-the-back ‘just desserts’ ending could not have been for a moment a topic of national debate, remarks centred on Shilpa, with casual bettered, as the fi nal six went out in exact media education journal 42 4 order of ‘villainy to virtue rewarded’, from The usual pop psychology issues know in advance what is in store for Danielle in sixth place (‘boos’) to Shilpa emerged and were discussed in spin- them, and have made the calculation that fi rst (‘cheers’). The previous ‘guilty parties’ off programmes like Big Brother’s Big it is worth it for their career prospects. had already been dispatched in the fi rst Brain – group dynamics, body language So in effect anyone who gets involved watershed battle between Jade and Shilpa, etc. But these took on a much greater is asking for it, as the argument goes. which had become almost a national urgency when the crisis blew up, In case of any problems or adverse ethics referendum. Morality tales were bringing in a whole new raft of heavier criticisms, psychologists are involved played out in the house and the endings psychological issues, such as prejudice, behind the scenes looking after the state appeared to satisfy our need for natural in-groups, scapegoating, aggression, of mind of participants throughout the justice – that all is right with the world, bullying, and bystander behaviour. (http: process from selection to eviction. This that what goes around comes around //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/ time, questioning of such a laissez- – and to offer us guidance on correct ways 6273975.stm) faire approach reached a new peak as to behave. programme and post-programme reports of depression, addiction and suicide Other narrative devices increased risk created one of the heaviest our pleasure. The superior fallouts to date for a British BB. knowledge of the omniscient (‘Ethics of Reality TV’, http: viewer allowed us to watch ‘real’ //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/ characters act out their daily soap 6702315.stm) existence unaware of the storm (See separate boxed panel for around them outside the house. information on the role of the There were particularly piquant British Psychological Society in TV, dramatic ironies, such as Danielle’s with its TV Ethics Code) musings about boyfriend Teddy while the tabloids were charting Reality TV as Social Barometer his progressive disenchantment Jade Goody and Shilpa Shetty The crucial nature of the reality TV with her on-screen ‘performance’. as a barometer of our times seemed Our parasocial interaction with to be reinforced in this series, which the characters made them our temporary As the aggression escalated, the acted out a raft of social concerns and friends or enemies, as we gossiped about programme began to look more and more battles about how to behave and what who said what to who, as we took sides, like a variation on Zimbardo’s Stanford is acceptable and what is not. Each issue expressed outrage at one or the other, Prison Experiment, with characters locked that came up had no simple answers. debated the merits or not of the ‘hands up in pressure cooker conditions to see Even basic questions such as whether off’ tactics of the other housemates, and what would happen if, as in this case, a Jade was guilty of racism and/or bullying disagreed on whose behaviour was to be volatile personality like Jade was added prompted the answer – it depends .