Artless Knicker-Flashing (Dead Famous - Ben Elton)

Member Name: karenuk

Product:	Dead Famous - Ben Elton
Date:	03/06/02 (366 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: a good read, clever social satire

Disadvantages: not a classic

“…there was only so much group hugging and swearing of undying loyalty that you could do to somebody who you heartily disliked and whom you suspected might be a murderer.” (p. 257)

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Reality TV is definitely a Marmite question – you either love it or you hate it. I enjoy most of it. I loved Popstars, Pop Idol was even better - but my favourite is Big Brother. With the third British series underway, it seemed an appropriate time to review the book Dead Famous by Ben Elton. The book that you will love, whether you adore or abhor Big Brother. It will certainly give you a few ideas to chew over.

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Of course, Ben Elton’s fictional version isn’t quite exact. We have a TV show called House Arrest, for starters. There are ten housemates, some of whom bear more than a passing resemblance to stars of BB1 and BB2 in the UK. (Elton also credits the Australian housemates.)

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THE HOUSEMATES

So we have David the shallow, self-centred actor with a less than squeaky clean past. (He reminded me of a combination of Dean and Stuart.)

Jazz, a trainee chef who’s black and cool. (A little of Dean in there, but more probably Darren.)

Kelly, a sales consultant, who’s blonde, pretty and rather flirty. (Hints of maybe Mel or Helen.)

Sally, a lesbian bouncer, the hard nut of the women with more than one secret to reveal. (She was a strange cross between Penny and Nichola, I thought! The neuroses of Penny, the hard exterior of Nichola.)

Garry, the van driver, usually called Gazzer. A generally okay, working class, average geezer. (A lot of Bubble in this one, maybe a hint of Craig too.)

Moon, the lap dancer and circus trapeze artiste who’s bald, loud, swears a lot and is rather intimidating. (A lot of Nichola in this, maybe a dash of Amma too.) <
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Hamish, the serious career minded junior doctor. (Reminiscent of both Paul and Andy in some ways.)

Woggle, the smelly, long-haired, anarchist tree-climber and tunneller. (He is pretty unique and didn’t seem to be based on any British housemates. He actually reminded me of that guy who had his fifteen minutes of fame by being a smelly, long-haired, anarchist tree-climber and tunneller.)

Layla, a fashion designer and retail supervisor. (A definite Sada here, with her looks and causes.)

Finally the Irish trauma therapist, Dervla, serious and beautiful. (Most definitely Anna.)

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So you get the idea, it’s a fictional version of Big Brother. The contestants enter the house and we all get involved in their discussions, tasks, who waxes their bikini line and who’s doing what to who. It all sounds very familiar. But on Day 27, someone in the house is murdered.

The book is written from several perspectives, as we follow the house activities as we would on TV but we also follow the police investigation too. This introduces us to my favourite character in the book – Inspector Coleridge. He reminded me of Vimes from the Pratchett books, but he reminded my fiancé of one of the policemen from The Thin Blue Line – not surprisingly, as Ben Elton wrote that TV series.

Coleridge is an old school kind of guy and doesn’t understand the fascination of House Arrest. He is rather stuck in the old days and wishes things were how they used to be. He also has aspirations to be a successful classical actor, but his attempts at Amateur Dramatics always seem to remain unfulfilled as he ends up shifting another set or delivering an unmemorable one liner.

All the characters are well written, although it does seem somehow cheating at times as whole chunks of dialogue appear to be lifted from previous series of Big Brother. It is funny though and clever. Bes
ides being a very clever whodunit which keeps you guessing, it is also an astute commentary on a modern generation whose main entertainment comes from such voyeuristic and exploitative shows.

As I said, I am a fan of Big Brother but some of Dead Famous made for uncomfortable reading. One of the main themes is the cameramen behind the mirrors in the house and their motivation for doing the job. Watching BB3 this week, I have physically winced at witnessing yet another close-up of a cleavage or someone adjusting their knickers. It does make you think and reassess things slightly.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book. It is easy to get into and becomes unputdownable towards the end, as the strands of the mystery are cleverly weaved together. It holds your interest and didn’t take me too long to read, once I’d got into it.

It’s not the best book ever written, but I don’t think Ben Elton is about that anyway. His novels are modern, well observed and full of social commentary, but they aren’t literary classics. Dead Famous is well worth a read though.

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