Well, they did vote him in last May, after all. Yes, as every Londoner knows, the eleventh and most shocking entrant into the Celebrity Big Brother house is “Gorgeous” George Galloway, cigar-chomping scourge of the right, New Labour, journalists, Christopher Hitchens, and anyone who doesn’t agree with him.
TV Troll was so surprised when the camera panned up to show his smug turnip head, we almost fell off the sofa. The thought of Galloway in the same paradigm of reality as Chantelle, the non-sleb-pretend-sleb Paris Hilton-lookalike imposter, is just … rather hard to get one’s brain around. To say the least. Although, one could add, their hunger for the acres of publicity guaranteed by a CBB appearance is pretty similar.
George’s presence will be sorely missed in Westminster; after all, he regularly strides down the Commons like a Glaswegian Cicero, fiercely haranguing incompetent and self-serving politicians of all stripes, providing a voice for his poverty-stricken constituents. Oh no, wait, sorry, we were getting confused – he’s not exactly known for his stellar voting record (“Has spoken in 4 debates since the General Election — 556th out of 646 MPs”). Maybe his absence will be missed instead.
Is his appearance on the telly a way of reaching out to disenfranchised and disaffected youth, or is it yet another piece of evidence pointing towards the fact that he is clearly completely bonkers? As is the case with reality TV – which is why we love it so much – it is up to you, the viewer, to decide. Vote him out or keep him in? TV Troll votes for allowing him to hang around for a bit yet (with apologies to any Bethnal Green and Bow residents who have pressing issues they want him to sort out) so that we can enjoy the sight of him trying to explain the complexities of his position on Iraq to Jodie Marsh. If they end up shagging in the Submarine room, we’ll be even happier.
As Chris Shaw of Channel Five says in the Grauniad:
The casting of George Galloway is a far bigger risk for Channel 4 than conniving with the rehabilitation of Michael Barrymore.
Remember that last year Gorgeous George managed to turn a brief appearance before a US congressional committee into a global publicity stunt. Just imagine what he might do with three weeks of non-stop, uncensored, 24-hour TV exposure.
We reckon more people will vote for Galloway on the telly than voted for him in the General Election, which is probably a worrying indictment of the parlous state of modern Western democracy; it’s a good thing we’re too busy mindlessly consuming the by-products of a society in terminal decline as transmitted (or not – ITV, sort your sodding digital transmitter out, please, we’re having terrible trouble at the moment) by the glowing box in the corner to give it more than a microsecond’s thought. Oh yes, and Maggot to win – you heard it here first.
Update: Why not visit this site if you want to register your displeasure at Mr Galloway’s antics?
