Big Brother isn’t watching you

The English born writer, comedian, actor and musician Russell Brand wrote the text “Big Brother isn’t watching you”, with a focus on the UK riots in 2011. The riots came as a shock to a lot of people, and especially Russell Brand. While the conflicts and riots were on their highest, the politicians called the rioters “barbarians” and “confrontational individuals” through the media, and tried to convince the world that everything was all right. Brand, who now lives in Los Angeles, is one of many questioning how and why such riots would take place. He is questioning the whole situation of youngsters rioting in the streets and, by referring to his own life, he tries to understand what mindset those youngsters may have. Brand’s main argument is that the rioters are not the only ones to blame. The politicians, the welfare system, the media and society in general should take a large share of the responsibility. Together they must try to answer the question, “why is this happening?”

Even though Russell Brand now lives in the US, he keeps stating how proud an English man he is. His home is England, he still is an Englishman, and he even feels more like an Englishman, since he left. He has said, “I feel proud to be English, proud to be a Londoner…” Additionally he identifies with the rioters and therefore he constantly tries to see the problems from their point of view. The youngsters in the UK went on the streets for reasons more complicated than can be explained with empty words, such as he describes the politicians use. The youngsters turn to the streets because they feel discarded and because they lack a sense of direction.
“A lack of direction, a sense that I was not invested in the dominant culture, that government existed not to look after the interests of the people it was elected to represent but the big businesses that they were in bed with,” shared Brand.
Brand himself, was raised in the areas affected by the riots “(all right, an Essex boy)” and therefore he feels compassion for the youngsters in the streets, as he used to be one himself. By this, Brand understands the rioters in many ways. What he doesn’t understand, however, are their actions, especially their violent behavior and public disrespect. He is certainly not trying to justify the rioters and their behavior, which shows that Brand’s position and angle isn’t completely objective, wherefore his sympathy and sentiments are with the rioters and not with the politicians and their collaborators.

Russell Brand uses his background as a comedian to get his message as clear as possible. By using a lot of humor, sarcasm and irony he makes his text entertaining and peculiar to read, but at the same time it is serious and clear as crystal to get his opinion. The politicians David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Theresa May, are all criticized by Brand. They all receive hateful, sarcastic comments on their handling of the crisis. “I’ve heard Theresa May and the Old Estonians whose hols have been curtailed (many would say that they’re the real victims).” By giving these humorous comments we, as readers, feel entertained, not just because it is funny, but also because of his use of slang. When he writes with this type of slang it makes us think about the sentence more than once. In that way, Brand manipulates us, trying to convince us that his opinion is right. Another device used by Brand are rhetorical questions. “I remember Cameron saying, ‘hug a hoodie’ but I haven’t seen him doing it. Why would he?” By using this type of argument we gain an insight into how Brand thinks, but we’re also more easily convinced by his arguments. But although we’re convinced more easily, he doesn’t refer to specific research so it is hard to know if he is reliable. At the bottom line, he is just an Englishman arguing for his perspective.

The most important question “why is this happening” still needs an explanation from the people with the power in the UK. Politicians, businesses, the media and the society all share the responsibility of the UK riots, but it seems like they’re more likely to skip the episode, and change the channel. Brand compares this situation with an experience he had while he was working for the reality TV-show Big Brother. In one of the episodes a fight emerged and he was told not to tell it to the public. Brand compares the Big Brother episode with the UK riots, and suggests that it’s the same thing. “Police were called, tapes were edited and the carnival rolled on.” Like the directors of the TV-show, the politicians weren’t interested in explaining what happened to the public; all they cared about was to get the business up again. The youngsters feel discarded from society and they feel like all the politicians care about are their businesses and that they have to “look after the corporations who get them elected”.

As a writer you should keep your text objective. “Big Brother isn’t watching you” is not. Russell Brand is clearly mad at the government; therefore he uses his humor to express his feelings. “What a wonderful use of the planet’s fast-depleting oxygen recourses.” Brand needs to look at the society as a whole. Either he’s mad at the government because they listen to the co-operations, or he’s mad at the government because they listen to the normal British citizen. He doesn’t understand that before the “hoodies” can get better schools, hospitals etc. the society needs to run economically properly. Also the humorous and sarcastic way of writing has the side effect of distracting the reader from the real issues. From the reader’s point of view, it is hard to take a writer serious when the writer constantly uses irony and sarcasm in his arguments.
The title “Big Brother isn’t watching you” refers to Brand’s opinion of the UK government. He feels like the government fails to see and help the ones who live in deprived areas.

With his unique humorous writing style and his understanding of the youngsters’ emotional situation, Brand brings in “Big Brother isn’t watching you” an evaluation of the poor state of British society. By saying that he understands the youngsters he is saying that he doesn’t think they hold all the responsibility themselves and that he thinks the politicians, the co-operative businesses and the media needs to take action. Brand wants others to see what he sees, that the government and their partners avoid problems, and that that is the reason for the inequality in the British society. He wants the voters to take action and vote for the politicians and parties who watch for the interests of everybody in the society – also the hoodies.

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