Years ago when I first inflicted this blog on a largely indifferent populace, my very first post was on the lowbrow reality television program, Big Brother Australia. Now we come full circle, and with the imminent premiere of its 2014 season, it would seem it's time for me to write about it again.
As a Christian, I'm offended by the latest Big Brother promo. It opens with a shot of Earth from space. The camera then zooms to an aerial shot of the Sydney skyline. To the strains of a reworked version of The Animals Went in Two by Two, we then cut to a shots of the various housemates, including a couple in semi-formal attire, some country types wearing Akubra hats, an Indian woman in traditional dress, some hipster type with a beard and the top button of his shirt done up, and a dread locked surfie dude, all walking along a footbridge to a ship modelled on Noah's Ark.
Some of them smile at each other flirtatiously and hold hands. If previous seasons of the show are anything to go by, this hints at things becoming hot and spicy in the Big Brother house. One of them has a digitally inserted snake's tongue. Is this inspired by the serpent in the garden of Eden?
Then we cut to a shot of host Sonia Kruger. She's standing on top of the ark, wearing a white dress and carrying a wooden staff, with which she strikes the ground. Then a voice from the heavens speaks to her. The clouds part, and she sees a giant eye. This is the Big Brother logo. Ms Kruger speaks directly to camera telling the viewer that this year things will be "stormy, very stormy..."
Cue the cheap looking visual effects, thunder, lightning, and torrential rain. The housemates hurry, pushing and shoving each other to get inside the ark, then the storm suddenly stops, the ark rumbles, and a rainbow appears above it. She continues with a knowing look in her eyes, "...on the inside." Then the Channel 9 voiceover man says words to the effect of "Big Brother; the eye of the storm is coming to Nine."
I surmise that the idea for this came from the recent Hollywood Noah movie. Am I alone here in finding this offensive and blasphemous? The flood narrative of Genesis 6 to 9 is one of the most confronting stories in the Bible, and not something to treat irreverently. All in the name of ratings, Big Brother shows human nature at its worst. They try to dress it up as a sociological experiment, but contestants lie, manipulate and use each other to play the game, and are encouraged to be sexually promiscuous to titillate voyeuristic viewers.
God flooded the earth as judgement against humanity because of the depth of its depravity and sin. Only Noah, his family, and two of every kind of animal were spared. After the flood, God covenanted with humanity never to flood the earth again, as symbolised by the rainbow, but the problem of sin remains. The only solution to this problem is reconciliation with God through Jesus (Matthew 11:27, John 3:18, 14:6, Acts 4:12, 1 John 5:12).
If Big Brother Australia is any indication, reality television has sunk to new lows. This promo unashamedly mocks God and the flood, and that show celebrates all that He abhors. It thumbs its nose at the virtues of decency, respect for others, integrity, and fidelity. Jesus died for everyone involved with this show. I hope they understand that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmhrjiQvJW8
1 comment:
Very well written - you make an excellent point!
(In your bio, you mention that you have a Graduate Certificate in Professional Writing and Editing 'that [you've] never used, at least in the sense of being a published author in [your] own right'. Considering how well you write, I would seriously encourage you to pursue it in your spare time!)
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