The Purple Tarot Room

I wish I had a Purple Tarot Room!  I don’t, but guess who does?  The Big Brother 13 House has what is called the “Purple Tarot Room.  It is a lounge for chatting, napping and hanging out.

It is decorated with tarot cards, and a carnival-style fortune teller booth.

It doesn’t seem that any tarot reading happens there, it is just the motif chosen to decorate the room.

I have never watched Big Brother, any season.  I am not excited about “reality television” in general.  To me, it divides into several mundane categories, or some combination thereof.  There are talent game shows, extreme endurance game shows, how-to shows, and voyeur shows.

Having worked in radio for several years I can tell you this – even things that seem spontaneous are somewhat staged to make “better TV.”  Reality television is always an oxymoron.

Beyond that, the Highlander –esque “There can only be one” contest mentality is just weird.  To force people to become a team and bond together, and then make them compete against and eliminate each other, is psychologically torturous.  That we, as a society, would do that to people for our viewing pleasure makes me long for the old-fashioned compassion of gladiators and human-eating lions.

The fact that the house/set designers of Big Brother decided on a Tarot motif is interesting to me.  In my research, I haven’t been able to find a single person who wants to take credit for it, or talk about it.

I am also not sure if this is good for tarot as a whole, or not.  Having tarot images on national television is arguably a good thing.  Having them adorn the room where folks evilly conspire against each other may not be.