The Philippine Online Chronicles

Pinoy Big Brother (PBB), arguably the most phenomenal reality television show in the Philippines during the past few years, is now on its fourth season, unveiling new twists and surprises that are sure to keep its loyal viewers hooked. Dubbed as Pinoy Big Brother: Unlimited, this edition promises to bring an endless supply of surprising turns, challenging tasks, intriguing conflicts and real-life drama to satisfy fans of the reality TV genre. This season, the PBB house opened its doors to 32 official housemates (as of November 26), the biggest number of contestants to ever enter the house in the history of the local franchise. Produced by entertainment network ABS-CBN, PBB is the local version of the foreign show “Big Brother” conceptualized by international entertainment giant Endemol.

Unlike in previous seasons where the housemates lived in a single house, this season features four areas: the slums, the industrial house, the luxury house and the resort. The slums, which was the first area to be occupied by the housemates, was made to look like a typical informal settlers' area in many urban areas in the country in an attempt to make the housemates experience the living conditions of the urban poor. The slums area was eventually demolished on Day 22, while its occupants transferred to the exquisitely furnished and spacious 'luxury house.' Meanwhile, another set of housemates live in the 'industrial house' which was built of steel, wooden and brick walls. The resort is used as a reward area and includes a pool and a jacuzzi.

The housemates of the luxury house are regularly featured in the primetime edition of the show called PBB Unlinight hosted by Toni Gonzaga. They are: Biggel (a Filipino-German probinsyano), Divine (the first openly lesbian housemate in PBB history), Jaz (a 24-year old model who has been featured in men's magazines), Kigoy (a man who has been living on the streets all his life), Luz (a body building champion), Roy (a salesman), Seichang (a Filipino-Japanese who grew up in Japan), Slater (an engineer from a well-off family in Cebu), Tin (the daughter of basketball superstar Alvin). Tol (a 33-year old OFW), Casey (a radio DJ), Diane (a 28-year old boss), Eting (a security guard who likes to play the ukelele), Jerico (a 24-year old model), Joya (a nursing board exam topnotcher), Wendy (a beauty pageant titlist), Carlo (a Fil-am who started as a reserved housemate), Deniesse (one of Kuya's 3Gs), and Seth (a Fil-am).

Meanwhile, the other housemates are shown in the daytime edition called PBB Unlinight hosted by Bianca Gonzales. They are: Kevin (an 18-year old student who has lived in Japan, Italy and the US), Kim (19-year old student and beauty pageant contestant), Paco (a bossy entrepreneur and self-confessed hopeless romantic), Pamu (a 19-year old who likes to make people laugh), Erica (a mother from Japan), Jessica (a model), Lordwin (a 23-year old father), Lyn (a housemaid from Surigao), Mark (a 23-year old model who is Kim's boyfriend), Naprey (a physically-challenged IT instructor), Steph (a a registered nurse), Unad (a farmer), and Reg (one of Kuya's Power Strangers).

24/7 Entertainment

In PBB, these strangers are made to live together in a house for a duration of 100 days or more, their every movement and dialogue captured by a number of surveillance cameras set up in almost all corners of the house and lapel microphones strapped onto their bodies. Participants in the reality show, the “housemates,” do not have physical and virtual access to the outside world as they are not allowed to get out of the house while television, radio, or other similar forms of media are banned. The housemates take order from Big Brother or “Kuya”, the owner of the house giving out tasks and punishments to his boarders. An important part of the house is the “Confession room” where the housemates are able to express their individual or collective sentiments about their housemates, tasks, etc. It is also in this room where they nominate a housemate they want evicted from the Big Brother house.

Despite its repetitive themes and recycled tasks and plots, the show continues to achieve high ratings for the network. The continued patronage of its loyal viewers can be partly explained by the nature of the spectator or the viewing public to be voyeuristic. French psychologist Jacques Lacan posits that people naturally have voyeuristic tendencies, that they derive pleasure from peeping into the private lives or spheres of other people. The producers of PBB capitalizes on this promoted voyeurism, selling a seemingly staged reality as a narrative, while the housemates willingly make their lives an open book to please Big Brother, who encourages his housemates to be more open and truthful, as if equating openness or “pagpapakatotoo” to game points.

Professor Rolando Tolentino furthermore explains that the fascination on the voyeuristic culture of reality TV is caused by man’s desire to live “vicariously” through other people. “Kung lulubog, sila (viewers) ang lulubog. Kung may elimination challenge, sila ang magkakakundarapa para makaagapay at magtagumpay. Kung may immunity challenge, sila pa rin ito,” he explained.

'Teleserye ng tunay na buhay'

Inside the PBB house, the contestants who may be nominated for eviction are wary of two perceptions: that of their housemates and more importantly, the viewing public. This results to the contestants presenting themselves in a a way acceptable to the housemates and to the public. They modify or tailor their behavior, values and attitudes in order to win the hearts and minds of their fellow contestants and avoid being nominated and voted off by the audience. In this vein, they are no different from television actors or the characters in soap operas. The perception of the viewing public becomes much more important especially since rather than being a showcase of real Filipino lives, PBB has become the country's 'talent' search program. In other words, those aspiring to be Kuya's housemates want to be given a chance to experience 15 minutes of fame--an appearance in a sitcom, a TV guesting, an interview in a famous talk show.

While PBB is a reality show, furthermore, the fact remains that the editor, director and the producers hold the power to select what scenes to show and highlight in the show’s primetime edition. As film studies professor Maarten Reesink says, “the story and the game are obviously influenced by the selection of the images and the way in which they are edited for broadcasting.”

With its theme song carrying the line “Pinoy, ikaw ay pinoy… Ipakita sa mundo kung ano ang kaya mo,” PBB is packaged by its producers as the television show that supposedly celebrates and showcases the Filipino identity, and represents the Philippine society. The show however, is barely reflective of the real struggles that exist outside the walls of the Big Brother house.

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