As argued in chapter three, individuals develop a reflexive self-narrative which must
“continually integrate events which occur in the external world, and sort them into the on
going ‘story’ about the s e lf’ (Giddens 1991:54) and is “negotiated through linked processes o f self-exploration and the development o f intimacy with the other” (Giddens
1991 \91). As I have posited this process is often impacted upon by the media and fans may draw upon personal experience to discuss BB, intertwining events with their own lives or using on-screen events to help them work through real-life issues. Reality television invites discussion o f personal issues as it offers “a site in which the
psychological and emotional are foregrounded, enjoyed and deliberated over” (Roscoe 2001:478) and, Big Brother particularly, emphasises self-reflexivity, performance and the representation and negotiation o f the self (Comer 2004; Hill 2002; Holmes 2004; Holmes and Jermyn 2004). As the housemates display their ‘selves’ via “affection, solidarity, insincerity, confrontation and downright aggression” (Comer 2002:261), fans discuss their actions and motivations. However, such debate also demonstrates negotiation o f fan identity and talk about Big Brother “is as much about ourselves as it is about the
participants - our water cooler conversations are the site for viewers to do our own identity work” (Dovey 2004:247). In this section I consider these ideas via my empirical data, considering how fans identify or resist identification with various housemates and how this impacts upon their self-identities.
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BB fans often display a “conventional development o f identification with particular contestants and narrative outcomes” (Turner 2005:419), aligning themselves with specific housemates to position themselves in various ways (Abrams and Hogg 1990; Chandler and Griffiths 2004:41). Some fans who completed questionnaires for this research were keen to talk about their perceived similarities with housemates, with these usually correlating with their favourite contestants. For example, one stated; “I am definitely a little bit like Nikki, I even hear myself speak like her quite often when I don't even mean to. She's also childlike and I can be a bit that way” (Hailey). Others make similar claims, commenting that “I feel most similar to Pete [...] When you come from a working-class background and don't fit in for some reason, it just seems natural to gravitate to things like the punk scene” (Ed) or “[Glyn] is only 1 year older than me and seems like he wants to go far in life like I do (eg. university etc...) He is also very friendly and quite sensitive like me and can also be quite naive at times, again, like me” (Felix). Fans also described personal situations that they felt were similar to those experienced by the housemates, particularly the issue o f bullying in relation to the housemates’ treatment o f the contestant Shahbaz which led to his departure in the show’s first week;
well when they all rounded on Shahbaz it kinda brought me back to school., so i felt really bad for him (Harry)
when everyone singled out Shahbaz, and “shoved him too the side” as a “misfit”, reminded me o f when I was at school. If you don’t fall into a certain “category”
you’re an easy target (Macy).
For other fans, it was the relationships between the housemates that were most familiar.
A female respondent discussed the apparently suffocating Pete/Lea friendship in BBUK7, explaining that “I did used to have a male lodger who became obsessed with me to the point I felt suffocated. He moved out in the end and I haven’t had a lodger since” (Kacy).
Another fan suggests that such similarities with the contestants is inevitable as the
‘storylines’ are simply real life & everyone goes through similar real-life situations at one point or another. The unrequited love (Lisa & Pete) and the bitching (having gone to an all-girls school, this is definitely something I can relate to) or the drunken flirting (Nikki & Pete) or the early budding romance (Nadia).
Such statements o f similarity indicate that fans did use BBUK7 to perform identity work and to develop self-narratives. As discussed in chapter three, Cornel Sandvoss argues that our chosen fan objects are “intrinsically interwoven with our sense o f self, with who we are, would like to be, and think we are” (2005:96). However, whilst Sandvoss suggests that “objects o f fandom [...] gain the ability to profoundly shape the fan” (2005:112), this appears to refer only to the fact that fandom may lead fans to accept and adjust to
“changing external textual characteristics o f their object o f fandom, even when they are understood to be in opposition to the fan’s world view and self-image” (2005:112). Thus, for example, fans may adapt to changes in texts even if they appear to contradict their own ideological views o f issues such as gender, nationality, and so on. For instance, Sandvoss offers the example o f a football fan who, despite previously declaring his dislike o f Dutch people, was happy to accept a Dutch player on his team (2003:52). There is, however, no indication that this completely eradicated his feelings for the Dutch outside o f his football fandom. However, it can be argued that intense identification with the fan object may actually alter fans’ ‘world view and self-image’ as “media fandom can potentially act as one motor o f subjective/hermeneutic and social transformation” (Hills 2007b: 151). Thus, rather than attachment to the text merely causing fans to disregard their self-identity or views this may, in fact, facilitate change in the way one views the world outside o f the object itself. This “powerfully and vitally self-transformative dimension which frequently accompanies ‘becoming a fan’” (Hills 2007b: 151) or,
indeed, ‘being a fan’, is highlighted by my empirical data. In chapter seven I discuss how some West Wing fans’ attachment to the show prompted real-life involvement in politics (see page 205) but for BB fans their fandom more commonly resulted in an alteration to their social attitudes. For example, some used BB to reflect changes in their own self
narratives, finding their views o f the world challenged or using the show to modify their own behaviour:
BB teaches me that it's wrong to [make snap decisions about people] as I can hate someone at first and end up thinking they're great (Hailey).
the show makes me question my perceptions o f people. Take Lea for example. If I saw her walking down the street or in a club, I would immediately form an
image o f her, a negative image, but seeing her on the show has made me realise that blonde hair and enormous breasts do not a woman define (Nadia).
you begin to see characteristics in different [housemates] that you might identify with yourself, and it's interesting to compare how they handle things to how you yourself might. For example, Pete's ability to see the good in people, and his sunny disposition, is something I try to remember when I'm in a stressful situation (Ed).
However, some respondents refused identification with housemates, dismissing them as
‘mad’ (Bea), ‘freaks’ (Daisy), ‘loons’ (Jackie) or ‘weirdos’ (Harry). Some expressed a desire not to be like any o f the housemates, commenting that they were “not at all [similar to any o f them] - thank God” (Daniel) or ‘hoped’ they weren’t in any way like the
housemates (Gabby, Kacy). Some fans’ responses were more complex, overtly indicating that they didn’t feel they were like any o f the current series’ ‘crazy’ housemates whilst simultaneously discussing such similarities. One female fan stated that she was “not at all [like the housemates], At least I hope, although I do have the same sort o f opinions as Aisleyne” (Faith) whilst another offered the proviso that, whilst they were “wierdos this series... [...] if i was to compare myself to past series contestants and recent contestants...
i'd be a cross between Maxwell and Richard... a bit o f a joker with a bit o f diplomacy and brains!” (Harry). Such acts o f distancing are indicative o f identity building, suggesting that fans wish to distinguish themselves from those whose behavior they perceive as inappropriate or ‘crazy’. It is perhaps no coincidence that fans themselves are often accused o f being ‘crazy’ (Jenson 1992) and fans may wish to avoid aligning themselves with contestants who they perceive to share similarities with negative associations o f fans. Refusing to identify with housemates also allows fans to assert individuality and display agency which has been described as the key ideology o f BB (Holmes
2004b:online). Indeed, the possibility o f negative identification and wishing to avoid identification with a fan object can be just as important in constructing self-identity and, drawing on Sandvoss’ (2005) work, as discussed above, we can add the concept o f what can be termed ‘negative mirroring’ to his useful understandings o f fan identification.
As outlined in chapter one, fan identity can be established through ‘shipping’, the practice o f supporting a particular on-screen romantic relationship (see page 3). However, as I
argued, shipping has rarely been considered in the soap or drama genres and, whilst I seek to rectify this in my other case studies, even more neglected is shipping in the reality television genre. This is most likely due to its focus upon ‘real’ people rather than
characters and, thus, it has received little academic attention. For example, in their large- scale audience studies o f Big Brother fans neither Janet Jones (2003) nor Annette Hill (2002) discuss viewer responses to onscreen romantic relationships. The only notable exception is Andacht’s examination o f fans o f Latin American Big Brother which found that many viewers viewed romantic relationships negatively, either as part o f a
housemate’s strategy to win the show or as inappropriate (2004:130). Although, as I shall discuss below, these views were echoed in my own study, Andacht’s work fails to
consider the positive attachments some fans may feel to romantic relationships. It is this omission which I begin to rectify in my case study o f one fan’s support for Big Brother
‘ships’ and this area which I suggest deserves greater consideration in academic work on reality television.
Shippers in many fan cultures often devise names for their ships to establish a subcultural reference, an in-joke which distinguishes those who recognise the meaning o f the terms from those who do not (see, for instance, Scodari and Felder (2000) on ‘no-romos’ in The X-Files fandom.) BBUK7 fans coined nicknames such as ‘Grikey’ (Grace/Mikey)
(Adrian, June 9 2006, 23:40:13) and ‘Slimogen’ (Sezer/Imogen) (Angus, May 31 2006, 22:50:28) which were restricted to the fan cultures themselves. However, the fan term
‘Pikki’ (Pete/Nikki) was taken up by C4 {Big Brother Official Website 2006) and by the tabloid press (Daily Star 2006; Teeman 2006), thus co-opting fannish practices into the wider culture and demonstrating the show’s position as both ‘cult’ or ‘niched’ and
‘mainstream’ (Mathijs and Jones 2004:4) (see below). However, for the majority o f fans at BBGossip, the use o f such terms was derogatory, used to denote the relationships as fake or tasteless. This contrasts strongly with the more affectionate use o f word-play which shippers in other fandoms engage in (Williams 2004) and, I would argue, is partially indicative o f what Gray (2003) calls ‘anti-fandom’; that is, these BB viewers disliked the on-screen relationships and therefore constructed an anti-fandom around them. Indeed, even those who do not actively ship particular couples may find that their
opposition to this contributes to their sense o f fan identity. Fans are often divided in their responses to BB relationships, with some attesting that romances “bored [them] to death”
(Rae), were “tedious” (Felix), or could make them “just want to turn if o f f ’ (Macy).
Others dismissed them as an aspect o f gameplay and a way to increase celebrity status, gain media attention (Felix, Gareth) or to stay in the house for longer (Kacy). The
prospect o f using romance to gain further celebrity once evicted is one that fans are aware is a “stratagem to persuade the audience that what is a calculated gesture to win be taken as a passionate attraction for someone in the house” (Andacht 2004:130). In a debate over Pete’s relationships with female housemates, posters suggest:
I think the real reason they are all after Pete is that they are convinced he is the
"winner o f BB7".... OK and Hello shoots together ?? for example... for a few months and then move on (Adriana, June 23 2006, 21:2 1:13).
There is no great mystery over Pete's attractiveness to most o f the female HMs.
As I've said previously, they realise that he will be the winner and if they can manage to get on his arm for the next year they will be quids in!! (Arthur, July 10 2006, 16:14:14).
Fans were equally sceptical about the motives o f housemates Grace and Mikey, again using the ‘magazine deal’ discourse as a shorthand for the falseness o f the romance and referring to their “megabuck mag deal” (Alice, August 8 2006, 22:05:07) and their “tacky round o f ever more ridiculous 'appearances', papping and goodie bags” (Audrey, August 8 2006, 22:04:35). Many fans found the ‘romances’ awkward, commenting that “I can't bear the cringe fest that is bed time on this years BB” (Beatrice, May 24 2006, 23:55:54) or “This constant fawning all over each other leaves me looking for the remote” (Bianca, May 24 2006, 23:58:41), whilst another queried the appropriateness o f the relationships;
“urgh! They were in a shared bedroom, and they had cameras pointing on them”
(Cordelia, June 16 2006, 21:49:09). The issue o f ‘appropriate’ behaviour for couples was often raised, with one female respondent noting that “I dont mind the romantic
relationships [...] but I dont like crude talk and behaviour (which is ironic coming from me as my son did exactly what I hate to see)” (Emma). This respondent offers her opinion on what interaction is deemed appropriate but also displays her subcultural and symbolic
capital via her allusion to her son having taken part in the show. Further correspondence with this respondent revealed that her son had taken part in one version o f the show and this parent’s first-hand experience o f the show positions her with strong levels o f fan capital.57
Many fans also made distinctions between ‘real’ and ‘fake’ relationships, often alluding to previous series’ and ‘golden ages’ (Tulloch 1995:145) o f the show. For example, BBUK2,s Paul and Helen “seemed more genuine although they have now split up”
(Kacy), and “was one o f the loveliest things on TV” (Gareth). However, fans
acknowledge that, even if the relationships are not entirely genuine, provided that both partners are aware o f the artificiality o f the ‘romance’, they can be engaging;
if the romance is genuine then that is nice for them. If people do it to try to win favour that is also fine as long as both parties are aware o f that. If someone takes advantage o f another to stay in the game then that is a bit unfair as they are hurting other people (Edie).
For some fans, though, relationships become a focal point for their viewing o f BB and they begin to actively ship certain contestants. I wish to offer a brief example o f one fan who expressed in her questionnaire that “the romances are very possibly my favourite aspect [of BB]” (Faith). Although she followed other respondents in discriminating between ‘genuine’ and ‘fake’ romances, commenting that “Helen & Paul Was Sweet, The First BB Romance [...] The rest o f the relationships appear to be rather fake, all except [BB6'>s] Maxwell & Saskia!”, this fan was notable due to the fact that her practices seem to correlate strongly with those seen in ‘shipping’ in fictional fandoms (see above). Her admission that “the fact that I love a good old love story has kept me awake until 4am on many nights, waiting to see if anything’s going to happen!” (Faith) mirrors shippers o f fictional relationships who avidly await new romantic developments to validate their
57 Due to the ethical constraints of my research I am prevented from giving any further details regarding the version of the show which this respondent’s son appeared in. As I have assigned pseudonyms to all
respondents in order to protect their anonymity, to reveal any further information runs the risk of potentially identifying this participant.
discursive claims over the ‘correct’ interpretation o f the text (see chapter seven). Faith discusses her preferred ship, noting that,
I’m a romantic at heart [...] It sounds extremely sad, but I was devastated when I heard last week that [BB2,s Paul and Helen] had split up. I honestly felt like two o f my best mates had split up!! I suppose that’s because I watched them fall in love, and in a way, it was the end o f an era when I’d heard they’d split.
Here she attempts to ward off any suggestion o f being obsessive with her self-defensive qualifier o f being ‘sad’ (Barker and Brooks 1998:273). Faith also notes that “I ’ve had many disagreements in the past 6 years, trying to convince the cynics that certain couples in the house are genuine! The majority o f times, I’ve been right, even if the couples are no longer together now!” (Faith). However, there is no way to gauge whether this fan’s claims to have been correct about relationships are valid. Her contention to have been
‘right’ is impossible to validate given that she has no access to the personal feelings o f housemates. Rather, this statement must be viewed as a strategy to claim discursive superiority over those fans who refused to accept the plausibility o f specific ‘ships’ as she has been vindicated by developments which suggest that various relationships were genuine. Again, this parallels fictional genres in which fans who support specific romantic pairings often clash with those who fail to similarly interpret the text (Chin 2002; Scodari and Felder 2000). Indeed, shippers make continual bids for legitimation as the power dynamics can change with the airing o f new episodes or when characters leave or return to a show. Shippers also seek to defend their own practices and devalue the interpretations o f opposing groups but there can be no real power as no one group is ever able to enforce discursive reading practices. Each group interprets the text differently and therefore, whilst those whose ships are currently portrayed on-screen and legitimated by the text may make a claim for power, they are continually competing with other shippers.
Thus, Faith’s suggestion that her interpretation o f Big Brother relationships is “correct” is a means o f bidding for subcultural capital, suggesting that her fan/object relationship has become less ‘pure’ via her acquisition o f rewards other than ontological security or identity work (see pages 69-70).
As well as enabling fans o f BBUK to attempt to enforce their own reading o f the show, shipping may be another way in which fans can use the show to perform identity work.
One o f the pleasures o f shipping is the “voyeuristic quality to witnessing the unfolding o f intimate and emotional details from another’s (albeit fictional) life” (Harrington and Bielby 1995:123) and those who support BB romances may experience the same
vicarious pleasures (Snow 1988:205) in seeing the emotional lives o f other people. This is not to suggest that these fans lack their own romantic lives but that these ‘limerant pleasures’ o f seeing others fall in love provides another facet to the fan/object pure relationship. This may enable fans to relate the development o f BB romances to their own experiences, allowing them to negotiate reflexive self-narratives as such events are often
“internalized by viewers and stored for potential use at appropriate moments in their own lives” (Hill 2005:90). For example, one fan likens the Celebrity Big Brother relationship between housemates Preston and Chantelle to a situation in her own life: “I found myself in an almost identical situation [...] I found myself seeing how Chantelle had actually dealt with it and trying to apply that to my own situation” (Gabby).
Although the examples o f Faith and Gabby are only limited examples o f shipping within the Big Brother fandom I examined, I wish to suggest that this is an aspect of reality television fandom which warrants future research. The practice o f shipping has been largely ignored within the genre due to the problematic fact that such romances are occurring between ‘real’ people and not fictional characters that can be written into a relationship. I suggest that a starting point for exploration o f this issue is the rise in ‘real person slash’ in which fans write sexually explicit stories about celebrities (Allington 2007:44; Pugh 2005:159) whilst acknowledging that these figures and their personas are simultaneously ‘real’ and ‘fictional’ (Busse 2006:209). Although such investigations are
Although the examples o f Faith and Gabby are only limited examples o f shipping within the Big Brother fandom I examined, I wish to suggest that this is an aspect of reality television fandom which warrants future research. The practice o f shipping has been largely ignored within the genre due to the problematic fact that such romances are occurring between ‘real’ people and not fictional characters that can be written into a relationship. I suggest that a starting point for exploration o f this issue is the rise in ‘real person slash’ in which fans write sexually explicit stories about celebrities (Allington 2007:44; Pugh 2005:159) whilst acknowledging that these figures and their personas are simultaneously ‘real’ and ‘fictional’ (Busse 2006:209). Although such investigations are