Big Brother's Art

Big Brother's Brian

‘Big Brother’ and ‘the arts’ aren’t phrases that naturally go together. But this year, the conversations and comments from data-entry clerk Brian, 20, ( one of the show’s stars, and the bookie’s second favourite to win ) and art-loving gallery researcher Gerry, 31, prove that the arts are regarded by many as boring, dull and irrelevant.

For it is Brian ( who reckons the largest land carnivore is Brazil and that girls don’t poo ) who is hilarious and makes classic television, whilst Gerry, clever and very insightfull as he is,  is seen as a bit of a drone.

There have been several telling incidents between the two.
For one, Brian has never heard of Shakespeare.

And then there was his Diary Room rant that basically went along the lines of “ All Gerry talks about are galleries and museums! Do I look like the sort of person who’s interested in galleries in museums?!”
Which begs the question: what does a person who’s interested in galleries in museums look like?

Not like Brian, evidently, which is a shame, because he’s exactly the type of  fresh, up-to-the-minute, bright ( although he thinks that he’s thick, which he’s actually not ) young buck these very galleries and museums are falling over themselves to attract.

Which leads us to Gerry: he’s sweet and generous, and can be a laugh.
But when all the housemates, this week, had to give a quickie lecture on their specialist subject his, on Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, was forgettable and dry.

Whilst Brian was so passionate about his favourite theme – music videos by women, namely Christina Aguilera, Beyone and Rhiannon - he had his students on their feet and jumping.

Now wouldn’t it have been great for the two to have swapped subjects?

Of course, there are plenty of funny young blokes interested in the arts, just as there are a whole host of 30-something Greeks who love female urban music stars.
But isn’t it a pity that on such a high profile show, watched by mainly young people that the arts are coming across as a load of old dross.

Maybe, when Big Brother has switched off its cameras for another year, a few galleries and museums should enlist Brian as their spokesperson.
He could learn all about classic and contemporary art and impart this new-found knowledge with his special Brian-isms.

Damien Hirst could be a ‘yogurt-top’ and Tracy Emin certainly doesn’t poo.

Loma-Ann Bonner

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