The Celebrity Traitors series seems to be all the rage at the moment, especially if it so happens that you have a middle-aged mother who swoons over James Blunt! It’s a pleasantly excruciating watch, a sweet curation of accusation and superstition, which blended with big-shot celebrity personalities, amounts to gripping reality TV. But is this gameshow merely entertainment or, can we extract some pearls of wisdom on how to navigate this world of deception and back-stabbing. The game reveals who can stand calm under the microscope of interrogation, and who buckles under the pressure.
Take Richard E. Grant’s pitiful performance for example, a gentleman who is purportedly a master of showbusiness! Yet, when Richard’s desire — dream even — of being enthroned as a traitor was fulfilled, his enthusiasm overwhelmed him. What followed was a catastrophic blunder, ultimately solidifying his position as the most pathetic traitor in the history of the gameshow. But let us consider how things could have been had Richard contained the giddy little child within! Would his eccentric character have safely steered him through to victory or was he bound to come under fire? The truth is, we will never know! Speculating human behaviour is hard enough in the everyday, let alone when people are set against each other in a secluded Scottish castle. But we can make the safe assumption, that ousting himself at the first given opportunity certainly did not aid his intended facade of innocence.
So, learning from Richard’s mishaps beyond the castle grounds, are we better off keeping our ambitions to ourselves? Never let them know your next move? Or, is it alright to confide in those around us? It’s a tough predicament, especially when our ambitions are fuelled with excitement and passion, it’s often hard to contain ourselves. The truth likely falls somewhere in between. If we don’t radiate any passion and energy, we can safely expect to be written off as a boring old sod! On the other hand, if we spill out our goals and aspirations with total incontinence of mind, we can be assured to be branded as a failure who’s all bark and no bite. As such, I believe, much like Aristotle (what can I say, great minds think alike), that temperance is the real virtue here. We must learn when, where, and to whom we should divulge our ambitions. Ultimately, this is beyond a lifetime’s work, and certainly something I am personally far from reaching!
So, let us conclude. Keep your friends close, enemies closer, but yourself the closest of all. What does it mean? I believe this means sharing one’s ambitions sparingly and with intention, and more importantly, only when it serves you. Indeed, only you can expose yourself, as poor Richard found out quickly.
Illustration by Clara MacDonald for The Student
