Borkowski Media Trends: Celebrity Big Brother, SNL UK & MORE
PLUS: Fake News Experts | A Minecraft Movie
Are CBB shock tactics taking the Mickey?
Just as the sun rises, so does Celebrity Big Brother return once again, fresh from a (relatively) triumphant relaunch last year. While that most recent series lived and died by the presence of Sharon Osbourne, the fame of the housemates is somewhat more evenly distributed this year: noughties icon Trisha Goddard, soap star Patsy Palmer and the delightful Chris Hughes of Love Island are bunked up with American names Jojo Siwa and Mickey Rourke. It is, perhaps inevitably, the latter who has taken up much of the oxygen of the show’s first week.
From his somewhat lecherous advances to AJ Odudu on launch night, after which she was required to push a visibly confused Rourke into the house, it was clear that the producers had on their hands a man destined to enter the Big Brother pantheon of trainwreck Americans, epitomised, most famously, by Jackie “Yeah, Brackie” Stallone.
If faded American stars of yesteryear (see also: Gary Busey, Dirk Benedict, Michael Madsen) have long looked at Celebrity Big Brother as an easy payday, so too have they often underestimated its peculiar trials and tribulations. Busey, for what it’s worth, won his series, but often appeared somewhat detached from reality, and faced, for a star of his former magnitude, the indignity of fighting with, amongst others, Dee Kelly, the ‘star’ of Channel 4’s grotesque Benefits Street. Rourke, with his peculiar habits, spaced out persona, and seeming inability to keep his mouth shut, faces a similar fate – after making homophobic remarks to Siwa, he received a formal warning from the show’s producers.
With credit to ITV, this played out exactly as it should have done – Rourke’s comments were shown in their full context, as were his warning, and his subsequent apology to Siwa. Siwa was also seen discussing with other housemates, including Hughes, how unacceptable the remarks were, and how they made her feel. In sharp contrast to the often deeply problematic, and unchecked, behaviour seen on Channel 5’s incarnation of the programme, it’s clear that the current series takes its duty of care towards its housemates seriously. But what is also unavoidably true is that the furore over Rourke’s behaviour is money-can’t-buy PR – the combination of his name recognition, Siwa’s own fanbase, and the thorough indefensibility of what was said have meant that the incident has been reported everywhere, from the BBC to Variety.
The paradox of Big Brother has always been that bad contestant behaviour, an enormous headache for producers, is the key to its popularity – never was it more a part of the national conversation than in Dirk Benedict’s series, where his presence as an American star was thoroughly overshadowed by the racism controversy that consumed the series and, for a brief moment, diplomatic relations between the UK and India. Keeping Rourke in the show is a gamble, but ITV will be hoping he survives tonight’s public vote – lose him to public outcry, and they lose their headlines.
Will UK adaptation be TV heaven or SN-Hell?
Sky this week announced a UK version of legendary celeb-fronted live sketch comedy Saturday Night Live, executive produced by Lorne Michaels, the showrunner of the original.
Reaction to the news on social media ranged from muted indifference to derisive mockery, revealing a number of challenging preconceptions producers will have to overcome if the show is to be a hit.
Firstly, the American version has seen better days and is frequently criticised as surviving on reputation rather than quality or relevance. Even positive reviews of Jack Black’s episode last week were notable for their tone of surprise.
Second the UK has a patchy recent history with topical and satirical comedy. The Mash Report, based on the seminal Daily Mash website, was regularly criticised as being broad and obvious before its cancellation after four years. The reboot of Spitting Image met the same fate after two seasons of arguably even less auspicious reviews.
To illustrate the unpopularity of these heritage formats, centrist satirist Matt Forde actually trended on X for much of Thursday with the majority of posts expressing dread that he might be involved in SNL UK given the unpopularity of Spitting Image.
Finally, commenting in the Guardian, critic Brian Logan pointed out cultural differences that have seen late night chat shows and sketch comedy take off in the USA but not the UK, whilst panel shows have thrived here and struggled across the pond.
The prognosis isn’t fatal. The success of Prime’s Last One Laughing shows that the British public have room for cosy comedy concepts, but the challenge for SNL UK to provide something fresh and yet familiar, biting without being polarising, and above all funny is considerable.
Deep Fakes, Shallow Sources: AI generated fake news swings global markets
This week, the media industry took a long, deep look in the mirror; and found out the expert staring back might not exist at all. In disconcerting (although perhaps not entirely unexpected) news, a Press Gazette investigation revealed that multiple news outlets, including Vogue, Metro, Cosmopolitan, The i Paper, the Express, Hello, Shape, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, Yahoo, Good Housekeeping, the Telegraph, the Daily Star, the Daily Mail and The Sun, The Independent and Forbes, have quoted AI-generated personas in their reporting. These fake commentators were passed off as analysts or experts, and have provided comments on matters as sensitive as public health recommendations.
The rise in dubious commentators has been fuelled by companies that charge the PR industry in order to share quotes via email with journalists who have submitted requests for comment. Anyone who works in PR can tell you, speed if of the essence when responding to journalist call outs, and placing a comment can secure a name-check for the brand they are associated with and sometimes even a link, which is valuable for SEO.
The implications of these revelations go beyond mere embarrassment. In an already fragile information ecosystem, where the quest for authenticity clashes with the rising prevalence of misinformation, these AI are dangerous. The stock market chaos on Monday morning demonstrated this danger. A post on X claimed that Trump would be pausing tariffs for 90 days, crediting comments by National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett.
The post was either fake news, or based on a misinterpretation of Hassett’s earlier comments on Fox News, regardless, it was picked up by “Walter Bloomberg,” an account with a much larger following than the original poster, and within 2 hours it had been reported live on CNBC. The markets briefly surged upwards, before tumbling back as the White House refuted the news.
The role of AI in amplifying false messaging through bots is already well-known, what’s newer and more concerning, is the ease with which AI is penetrating news sources and evading fact checkers. In an age of 24/7 news with insane time pressures on journalists, PRs and businesspeople, it is no surprise AI is becoming an essential writing tool. When these AI become both the sources and the fact checkers however, the results can be catastrophic.
We are entering uncharted territory, an era of fake news, fake sources, and fake fact-checkers. Beware.
A Minecraft Movie: All the Building Blocks of a Gen Z hit?
When A Minecraft Movie was first announced, it had gamers, film buffs, and Hollywood execs holding their breath. After all, it’s not every day that a sandbox video game about building blocks becomes the next big cinematic venture. While critics may have had their doubts, the box office has been unstoppable. The film has grossed well over $500 million worldwide, with reports suggesting it’s on track to become the highest-grossing video game adaptation of all time.
This is a film not designed for critics. Its appeal lies in catering to an audience already deeply invested in Minecraft's digital ecosystem. It’s part of a larger cultural wave where stories don’t need universal acclaim to make bank. It panders to a specific group, being those with a relationship to the game, eager to see their beloved pixelated world on the big screen. Critics may complain about its lack of depth or character development, but this mirrors the game itself. The dissonance between journalistic critique and gamer sentiment highlights a key difference in perspective.
The “chicken jockey” reference, a rare Minecraft creature, is a perfect example of how the film speaks directly to fans, but may go unnoticed or underappreciated by critics. Furthermore, the tribute to Technoblade, a beloved YouTuber who sadly passed away in 2022, added an emotional layer that resonated deeply with the Minecraft community.
These moments resulted in much audience participation in cinemas, with clips of fans clapping, cheering, and shouting quotes in sync across social media. These weren’t signs of chaos, as some outlets have suggested, igniting a fierce debate over cinema etiquette. Instead, they were a celebration of the shared experience of seeing their fandom on screen. Vulture even suggested that this film is Gen Z and Gen Alpha’s version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a cult-classic known for boisterous screenings, dubbing it a "Blocky Horror Pixel Show."
In a world where blockbuster films are expected to make a splash rather than win Oscars, A Minecraft Movie shows that success doesn’t always require critical acclaim. Sometimes, it just takes a loyal fanbase and a world built on pixels.