Big Brother, The Sopranos & A Cave in the Snow

This article first appeared in The Age on May 10, 2003

Syria is under suspicion at the moment, but I think there is another place the US should be heading for, with the support of Australian and British troops: The Round House and the Square House on the Gold Coast. And forget waiting for UN support. These guys need to be wiped out, and quickly.

Actually, I swore I wouldn't do this - the slagging off Big Brother column. I pride myself on my understanding of cultural theory, cultural sensitivity and popular culture. But after an attempt to watch my second episode I wanted to chew my own leg off rather than watch another moment of it. The show is beyond boring and several of the contestants look like they agree with me. By the time Daniel is showing people his third nipple (7.16 pm) I am considering going for a walk around the block because the person watching it with me claims to be riveted by the show's stupidity and wont turn the television off. She's obviously not alone, because despite predictions of the death of reality television it has been, in its early days at least, been rating well. On opening night it even out rated 60 Minutes where Natasha Ryan was talking about living in a cupboard for 4 years, an exclusive interview that was rumoured to cost 60 Minutes some $200,000. If I haven't put you off watching it, you can watch it for an hour (7.30pm-8.30pm) every Sunday, half an hour every week night (7.00pm) and an hour and a half every Friday night. Then there are various late night editions, which show you the rude bits they couldn't show earlier.

But don't throw away your television - The Soprano's is back (again). I first wrote a version of this column last December only to be greeted by the repeat of the third series. The fourth series, sans Twin Towers, begins this week (Monday, 10.30pm Channel 9) with Tony moving bags of money from the laundry floor to a hole in the garden because he can't use the bank. Meadow is still depressed because her boyfriend has been murdered, and Tony's nephew Christopher, is planning Tony's demise while his wife has become best friends with Lola, an undercover FBI agent. And, of course there is the orgy of Icelandic airhostesses.

If you like your television more peaceful, and spiritual, than either of the above shows, watch the wonderful A Cave in the Snow. (Friday, SBS, 8.30pm). Like the bestselling book of the same name it looks at the life of Tenzin Palmo, one of the first Western women to ever be ordained as a Tibetan nun, who, after spending 12 years meditating in a cave, emerged to advocate the equal spiritual rights of Buddhist women. It is still not possible for women to be ordained as nuns in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. In a conversation with the Dalai Lama we see her express her frustration that such blatant sexism persists. In an attempt to alleviate these inequalities she is building a nunnery in Northern India for young women from Tibet and the Himalayan border regions (a project being managed, in part, by an Australian woman, Monica Joyce). Their fate might otherwise have been to end up with no education and acting as household servants for monks. Set against the backdrop of the Himalayas, this is a remarkable documentary, about an inspiring woman. It, unlike Big Brother, is the kind of Reality Television that interests me.

Posted by Sophie at 03:01 PM