Posted on 01/11/2005 7:18:10 PM PST by aculeus
Germaine Greer launched a withering attack on the Channel 4 reality show Big Brother last night, hours after walking out on a celebrity version of the series.
The writer, broadcaster and feminist icon, who had surprised commentators by agreeing to take part in the show, compared conditions in the house to a "fascist prison".
She said she was "appalled" at the psychological pressure put on her fellow housemates. The 65-year-old, who said that she had decided to quit the programme on Monday night, calmly packed her bags and left at lunchtime yesterday.
"I woke up in the middle of the night and thought, I have more to lose than I have to gain."
She said she was frustrated at having to leave but that she had been forced out by the "bullying" of Channel 4 racing pundit John McCririck and actor Brigitte Nielsen.
"I would like to look at the epidemiology of bullying to see if the rise and rise of bullying and the rise and rise of Big Brother have anything to do with each other."
She said that Big Brother had behaved like a "child rather than a parent".
"It was demonstrating the role of taunting in the playground and there are so many children whose lives have been ruined by taunting in the playground. I was worried about the object lesson in bullying I have participated in."
Greer said that she was particularly concerned about the treatment of Nielsen, after her former mother-in-law Jackie Stallone was introduced to the house without warning. The pair had not seen each other for 17 years.
"She [Nielsen] could see the tabloids turning it into the kind of sludge that could ruin her access to her children."
The author of The Female Eunuch also said that her friends had been surprised that she decided to enter the house but that she was willing to do anything to help save her 50-hectare (125-acre) rainforest in Queensland.
She is planning to invest her estimated £40,000 appearance fee in conserving the area.
However, she said she was still in negotiations with Channel 4 and the producer, Endemol, over whether she would receive her full fee.
Before her decision to leave Greer had appeared to be wryly enduring the Big Brother experience, despite being forced to complete a series of demeaning tasks including being sprayed with rancid milk and plucking pheasant carcasses.
But on leaving the house she said that it was noticeable that the other housemates all had their own agenda.
Model Caprice was there to push her lingerie line, boy band member Kenzie wanted to publicise his group and the other housemates all had products to promote, she said.
Greer said that she felt "embarrassed" and "slightly humiliated" that she had not persuaded the other housemates to put down their microphones and stand up to Big Brother.
"Persecution is what happens, holocausts are what happens when good people do nothing.[But] I am an anarchist, we can disrupt situations, we don't take them over."
She said that she did not care what the public thought of her but that she wanted former Happy Mondays dancer Bez to win the series because he had had a hard life and would make the most of it.
Harpie ping.
Yeah, right, a publicity seeking "intellectual" didn't know it agreed to be a participant in Trash TV. God, this is rich beyond words.
She said she was "appalled" at the psychological pressure put on her fellow housemates.
What appalling naivete, even if it is feigned for the sake of attention.
And what, pray tell, did this "brilliant" icon expect?
She said that she did not care what the public thought of her but that she wanted former Happy Mondays dancer Bez to win the series because he had had a hard life and would make the most of it.
How selfless. I guess I'll root for Bez too.
Isn't it?
I have long felt that a serious mental illness is one of the required qualifications for appearing on these reality shows.
Now that you mention it... You must be right.
Fascist prison? I'm shocked - shocked I tell you! Who would have ever imagined a program based on a character based on the old Stalin would have any hint of fascism?
I'm surprised she did not blame Bush;)
ROFLMAO.
Gosh, I guess she figured it would be a paradise like the one she enjoyed reading about in 1984. :)
Looks like the stereotypical 'strong' woman, can't handle a couple of weeks of scrutiny. What did she expect? Silly mare.
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