Originally Posted by BeatJunkie:
“There is less of a feel-good factor about the whole thing these days too. I remember BB1 as having some of the most genuinely funny moments because the interaction between housemates seemed more genuine somehow. I can only guess this is down to casting but it's probably hard to get that back because nobody is innocent going into the house as they were years ago. Her innocence is the reason I think Chantelle has done so well this year - I think the public crave for that naivity and innocence now.”
“There is less of a feel-good factor about the whole thing these days too. I remember BB1 as having some of the most genuinely funny moments because the interaction between housemates seemed more genuine somehow. I can only guess this is down to casting but it's probably hard to get that back because nobody is innocent going into the house as they were years ago. Her innocence is the reason I think Chantelle has done so well this year - I think the public crave for that naivity and innocence now.”
I think you're right about Chantelle, and feel-good, but I don't think the casting deserves all of the blame. Viewers are much more cynical now. If anything happens that would normally engender sympathy, for example, there's a good chance that there'll be a "going for the sympathy vote" accusation. If a female housemate does anything sexual or takes off some clothes in a week when she's up for eviction, the automatic assumption is that she's doing it in a bid to stay in, even though it usually has the opposite effect and worsens her chances. (If a male housemate does something similar, it's still usually allowed.) Housemates are thought to be more "savvy" than ever, even though they keep getting things like that "wrong".
BB is now firmly plugged into the tabloid / Heat / OK celeb culture, and a key part of that is the division of celebs into good and bad. BB housemates are almost automatically in the bad category, because they're thought to be talentless and desperate. If any housemate is praised instead, it's often to heighten the contrast with ones who are despised.
BB is produced with tabloid interests in mind. It used to seem that Endemol was trying to avoid another BB4 because it had low viewing figures. But BB6 had even lower viewing figures than BB4, and the producers didn't care. The real problem with BB4 from the producers' point of view was that the tabloid press didn't like it.
