BB FANS

THE reality show, Big Brother, is a mini-world; an empire where Big Brother is god and the chief provider. The house-mates sign away their freedom and freewill for the ninety days that they are sequestered there.

The only thing that the Big Brother cannot control is their thoughts. He controls their speech and action in that these are monitored closely as they’re compelled to have their microphones on them at all times, and they’re confined to the prescribed premises, and must do the tasks assigned them. He decides what is right for them and he rewards and punishes according to his fancy.

Why would a human being give up his/her freedom this way? Money - the god that many human beings worship, is the reason. With money comes power - the ultimate desire of most human beings from the beginning of the world.

To achieve this, the human mind is prepared to sink to its lowest depth, plotting and planning towards the desired goal. Living is a game of survival and self-interest as mirrored in Big Brother house. There, like in the world, you don’t choose who should breathe the same air as you. This is forced on you, and you have to make the best of the situation to achieve your goal. Sadly, we’re constantly rebelling against our Maker, unlike in the BB house where you’ve signed to obey the rules and do as you’re told.

With an eye on that one hundred thousand U.S. dollars, you just have to toe the line, because you know you’re being watched and listened to. With God, we may not feel compelled to obey Him, because some people believe that it’s only what you tell God that He knows, and what you show Him that He sees. This is what has made the world the very sinful and violent place it is at present, as we try to do what we feel is right in our own eyes, and forget that there’s an ultimate judge somewhere.

Total obedience

In the BB house, total obedience to Big Brother is not what places the prize money in your hand. You have to cooperate with, and be in the good books of fellow in-mates so that they don’t nominate you for eviction. Just like, in our world, the way you relate with family members can make your life heaven or hell. If your home life is solid and good, you have the wherewithal to face the world. An adage says ‘if the home doesn’t kill you, the outside world can’t.’ So, if you’re smart and want the necessary cooperation to achieve your goals, you have to blend in with the family in order to have adequate support.

Back in the BB house, that prize money won’t be yours if the public doesn’t like your face, your character, and even the strategy you’re using to win. You have to play to earn their respect and favour too because their votes will keep you in the house, or have you ejected, so you try to avoid doing or saying what can incur their wrath. It isn’t easy pleasing the public because everyone doesn’t judge you with the same yardstick. Some judge the house-mates on their interaction with their fellow house-mates, their attitude to work, or their morals. Now that we have BB Nigeria, there would of course be the ethnic factor, with people wanting someone from their own tribe or ethnic group to get the prize money. We entertained similar fear too with the BB Africa because we felt that the votes could be manipulated by the organizers so that someone from South Africa, where the House was, and which had been running the BB series, would win. As it happened, Cherise from Zambia, a southern African country, subtly worked her way from the back, to win; gaining public favour with her motherly attitude in the House, her concern for her step or foster father, who she kept insisting she wanted to buy a nice house for; and also not ‘sleeping beneath the sheets’ with anyone in the House. Many of us were glad she got the money. She pleased us, her fellow house-mates, and obviously, Big Brother, who, I’m sure, actually has the very final say.

How are the house-mates coping, forced to live in close proximity with people that are not of their own choosing; and without access to the outside world? A situation that can drive some people round the bend in less than a week, even when promised all the money in world? I must say that they’re coping well, exhibiting the usual human traits of bad gossip, shirking work, falling in love, changing partners, etc.

There is so much pettiness that you wonder if some of them know why they’re in there. So far, four house-mates i.e. Ichemeta, Yinka, Chinedu and ‘girlfriend’ Joan, have been evicted.

I find the reasons some house-mates give for nominating their mates for eviction, irrelevant to the reason they went into the House. Like, wanting people out because they’ve not been helping much around the house; are not good team-players, ‘said he’s missing home’, ‘has switched interests’,etc. These house-mates seem to have forgotten the reason they’re there, which is, to remove obstacles in their way to winning the money, by nominating for eviction, those they think pose a threat. Instead, they’re allowing their own personal feelings cloud their vision. Just like a young person who forgets why he/she is in a higher institution of learning, and begins to pursue the social life there, instead of his/her studies.

New-comer, Katung, seems to be the only one now who’s voting intelligently. When asked why he nominated Ebuka and Frank for eviction, he said they posed a threat to his chances of winning, and they’ve got to go. I was impressed. It showed that he’s focused and is keeping in view the reason he’s in the House. If we have such focused young people, we would have future leaders who would want to fulfill their election campaign promises, and by the grace of God, move the nation forward. The house-mates who are dwelling on their personal feelings, may lose out in the end as they allow those who actually pose a threat to their winning stay longer in the house, and sail through to win the money. In the BB Africa house, if the house-mates had seen through Cherise’s strategy of ‘goodie goodie’ early, they would have kept putting her up for eviction until she was thrown out.

And those who have been evicted, how did they take their eviction? The only one, in my view, who displayed a noble mind, was Ichemeta, the youngest house-mate who was the first to be evicted.

When asked if she was bitter because she was nominated for eviction so early, she said she wasn’t. ‘After all, I nominated someone for eviction, too.’ Even when shown that her best pal there, Helen, had nominated her, she simply shrugged, saying that she wasn’t going to bear her a grudge for that, and she wished her well. This is an attitude that our politicians need to emulate. Right now, politics in Nigeria is very dangerous and violent because of the bitterness that’s in the air. There are those who are determined not to see anything good anywhere in the country. There is this ‘I’ll spoil it if I can’t get it’ attitude, which is totally non-productive, and is creating confusion and a great divide.

Other evicted house-mates weren’t so noble in their comments. Some felt that the house-mates were people of no consequence, while another said, ‘I’m sorry, but there are fakes in there!’ Of course there has to be fakes! Life is full of fakes, and everyone in there is devising a way to win, even if it means betraying a loved one. You may never get to your goal if you display your true self.