The golden cage

We've got this wonderfull reality soap opera in Holland, called De Gouden Kooi (The Golden Cage), produced by Endemol (the same company that produced Big Brother, which is, in fact an original Dutch program). The big difference between Big Brother and De Gouden Kooi was always supposed to be that De Gouden kooi wouldn't have an end date. The goal was simply to get rid of all the competition by making their lifes miserable. As soon as there was only one left, he or she would win the villa they lived in, a million Euro's, and 1000 Euro's for every day he or she had lived in the villa.

Wonderfull concept, and it made for some pretty fun television. Obviously, the people living in De Gouden kooi were the lowest of the lowest, which was a garuantee for bitch fights, yelling, happy slapping and all that stuff. I watched almost every night, just to get disgusted with how pathetic people can get. There's nothing better than looking down on other people to feel good about yourself.

Unfortunately, all this is about to come to an end now, as De Gouden Kooi will air its very last episode next week. The network decided it took too long or something, so they wrote in some kind of contest where the viewers can decide (by texting or calling expensive phone number, of course) who they want to win. Too bad, cause now the concept of the show has changed completely from a voyeuristic freak show to a real contest.

What I am curious about, is how these people will behave after they've been released back into normal life. Obviously, the whole country has been witness to their anti-social behaviour. It will be interesting to see them adept to normal life, where you can't just bully someone out of your view.