Tags
bigbrother, Media, private, public, reality, spaces, television
This week’s topic encouraged us to explore the distinction between public and private spaces. What I achieved was the conclusion that much of the time (in this day and age) this distinction is somewhat blurred in terms of what may be entirely public or entirely private within a media space. Not to say that this is a negative characterstic of modern media- in many forms it makes mediums more interesting and open-ended and can allow for greater creativity and collaboration (from both audiences and creators) within the space.
Seeing as I inhale reality television like air, i’d like to focus on Big Brother Australia to demonstrate the way forms of space are painting grey over what was once black and white- the public completely separated from the private.
Big Brother Australia achieves this through:
-Public discussion foccusing on both public (Big Brother events, news, nominations) and more private matters (details about housemates, relationships between housemates, opinions about personalities)
-The private audience (at home) watching the public (the live audience within the Big Brother studio)
-The pubic watching the private (private matters within the house, i.e conversations and gossip) and making these public and no longer confined to the private
-Voting systems within the public (social media spaces) and private (phone voting)
-Individuals (the housemates) who once had a somewhat private space now constantly exposed to the public media space 24/7
Complicated? Yes. Clever, creative and interesting to watch? I think so (you may not agree). Big Brother really does fascinate me in the way it blends spaces and platforms together in so many ways, “as a media event with a whole host of other events surrounding, informing and altering it” (Spencer, 2002)
It’s no longer just a show or reality program- but more of what I call “a system of spaces”.
Reference
Spencer, B, 2002 ‘Big Brother is watching: watching Big Brother in Australia’ Beth Spencer, Blogspot, March 2002, Retrieved 7/8/2013, URL: http://bethspencer.com/BigBrother.html
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