Operation Transformation
There is a certain genre of television programme that leaves me stone cold.
I suppose the best description is the clatter of programmes where idiot members of the public volunteer to be derided, lanbasted and sneered at by the public at large.
This type of programme has been around for quite a while [anyone remember “Opportunity Knocks”?] but is having a huge revival at the moment with the likes of “Big Brother”, “Love Island”, “The Voice” and many numerous others. Every week they seem to come up with a different variation and the tackier the better. The one common theme is that the “contestants” are all members of the public who seem to be desperate to get themselves into a television programme at any cost [even down to stripping off stark naked] presumably in the hopes of becoming a “celebrity”. The standard of the programmes started at the very bottom but they still seem to be able to plumb further depths.
There are two such home grown programmes here in Ireland. One is “Ireland’s Fittest Family”, where families compete over various obstacles, pulling trucks around the place or crawling in mud under barbed wire and would leave me with the attitude of who gives a shit. The other is “Operation Transformation” where a family is chided and derided into getting fit, losing weight and of course quitting any pleasurable habits.
The latter programme is a blatant piece of propaganda by the Health Mob to brainwash us into being good healthy little citizens. I quote – “The Department of Health last year paid out over €350,000 in advertisements and sponsorship of Operation Transformation.”
The latter one has come under fire for the last few days. The programme is accused of “body shaming” and “causing distress” for those who have eating disorders. Apparently 6,000 have signed a petition to stop the programme being aired.
Six thousand people don’t want the programme to go ahead?
Why don’t they switch off?
Why don’t they just watch something else? That’s what I do.
Are these people such utter morons that they can’t use the most basic logic?
The level of intellect, or lack of, in this country baffles me sometimes.
I have always packed around a few more pounds than the ‘experts’ say I should. (I think I still have a few of those “baby fat” pounds here somewhere.) No alarm bells go off on my checkups, (other than those raised by me when the subject of the prostate exam comes up). One way traffic only Doc.
I have my own health regimen I follow. “An apple a Day keeps the doctor away” and I have a half dozen apple shape pipes in the rack.
In my teens I was ten stone. I have slowly increased to around twelve. Nothing I do can shift that figure either up or down. That includes a few years lugging heavy equipment around housing estates on foot, and years of just dong nearly nothing. So exercise seems to have no effect on me.
You are unfair to the likes of Opportunity Knocks and New Faces. These were genuine talent shows which strated the careers of Lenny Henry, Mary Hopkin and Paul Daniels for instance. Big Brother and similar drosss should not be compared to them
You’re right of course. They were the originals of the species but as is the norm, everything degenerated from then on. The only new format was Big Brother but that was awful to start with.
Maybe they wish the stupid programme would disappear to make space and time for something better. Otherwise if shit programmes were just switched off they would end up watching a blank screen most days.
Not what they need or pay for. Quality control with no charge.
My personal preference is the blank screen. It really is the best programme of the lot.
Because they’re controlling twonks and don’t want *anyone else* to see it.
“I demand that something I deem offensive, or deem that someone may, possibly, maybe, be seen as offensive, should be censored. Or I’ll squeem and screeem and… ”
You get the point