What is one to make of the Big Brother phenomenon, of ‘Nasty Nick’ and video cameras in the loos?
In this day of blockbuster movies and wall-to-wall special effects, I suppose it does at least show that people are still interested in human stories, in relationships and familiar problems.
Our society has changed markedly over the last hundred years or so. Our sense of community, of involvement in the lives of our neighbours, has gone, but our need to feel part of this fabric of everyday experience has not diminished. Thus the on-going appeal of the TV soaps (and, as a writer working in this area, I am quite grateful for that!).
But a soap opera is fiction, and Big Brother little more than glorified voyeurism. We can no more hope to interact with the contestants on the Channel Four show than we could Ethel and Dot from EastEnders.
As the awful theme tune has it, everybody needs good neighbours - but often we are more interested in those on our screens than those who live next door. It’s a form of relationship, of course, but it lacks commitment. It saves us getting involved, and perhaps actually doing something to help the people around us.
Jesus famously exhorted his followers to love their neighbours, and then went on to define that neighbour as anyone, anywhere in the world. Our vision should be global; perhaps Big Brother only encourages our interest in the parochial.