But really the series is about observation of a group of adults with a diverse range of ideas, beliefs, experiences, and morals. And more often than not, these are made up of adult-oriented themes-- they are part of life. And it's not just sex and nudity as the politicians who don't watch the show would have you believe. It can be about sexuality, safe sex, drugs, religion, race, family situations, abuse, crime, war, conflict, scandal. Add to that mix Gen-X and Gen-Y's favour of 4-letter words to enhance a conversation, and you have all the stuff that priests and pollies don't want to be seen on TV. But they are the things some adults (including some young adults) should be made aware of, hear opinions of, formulate their own opinions of, and discuss with other mature adults.
Uncut in the early years used to provide an insight into some of these adult oriented topics from the HMs' points of view, and would also reveal parts of their personalities that could be completely hidden in the PG-rated Daily Shows. I'm sure in BB01 Andy, the dominatrix, would have seemed like a regular Carol Brady in the Daily Shows if she didn't take out her whip and candle wax on Thursday nights.
But as the series became more popular, Uncut, and later Adults Only, turned into a series of naughty treats for any kid with a TV in their bedroom. The clips shown were made more juvenile and tacky, the week's evicted HM was no longer invited to discuss the topics of the show with Gretel, and in BB05 the show sunk to a new low with Gretel playing the up-tight school marm disciplining the naughty viewers for watching each clip as she presented them. The show got more and more bad press (including a statement from PM John Howard that was made a mockery of in this year's teasers), and the show was eventually cancelled in 2006 before it even broadcast the turkey slap incident that broke the camel's back.
This year, some of the adult themes are back, and are being presented in a mature format by Tony Squires and Rebecca Wilson: two respected and experienced journalists, on Big Mouth. The first episode went to air last night and included commentary by 3 of the most intelligent ex-HMs to ever walk out of the BB House: Tim Brunero, Paul Dyer, and Chrissie Swan. Most of the show was just a panel discussion on events straight out of the Daily Show, but they did cross over into adult territory, and managed to do it in a way that was informative to viewers who had not seen the events, but not so gratuitous to offend the easily-offendable.
The show included discussion of:
- Rory accusing Travis of being gay just because of the type of sunglasses he chooses to wear-- a clip that shows Rory's intolerance of gays, and making judgements based on appearance alone, and refusing to listen to anything other than his own opinion-- aspects of Rory we would not have seen otherwise; and also showed Travis' will to express himself by the way he dresses and his opposition to Rory's beliefs, and being comfortable with who he chooses to be and what he looks like.
- A discussion about sexual experiences (and exaggerations) of some of the HMs-- providing insight into the the types of relationships HMs have had outside the House, including Travis' religious beliefs about sex before marriage.
- Nobbi getting naked in front of the other HMs-- well he's just a bit of a show-off, isn't he?
- The media calling the HMs freaks-- followed by a discussion of social inclusion of people who are different, and Paul's retalliation at the media.
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