A
couple of days ago the shocking results of a study regarding gay pórn
were released. Well, to the general population of the world, the fact
that people Nigeria and Pakistan watch gay pórn probably wouldn’t be
something capable of sending them into cardiac arrest; to people in
Nigeria, however, that’s only one of the reactions it inspires. One of
these would probably be shame, from those who are so quick to denounce
homoséxuality
or pórn (or generally anything they’d rather believe didn’t exist) as
“foreign” or “not part of our culture” or any other delusiónal term one
might use to justify their lack of touch with reality.
It
appears to be this same mentality that is responsible for the deluge of
articles hitting the internet about the ongoing Big Brother Africa
Reality Show/Competition/Orgy. For
any who may be unaware of what Big Brother Africa is, (you know, just
in case you’ve been living under a rock or something) it’s an African
version of international franchise created 16 years ago by a Dutchman
called John De Mol. Wikipedia (or whoever edited the definition on it)
defines the premise of the show as “a group of people living together in
a large house, isolated from the outside world and continuously
monitored by television cameras.” Since it first aired in the
Netherlands in 1999, it’s gone on to be adapted in various countries
around the world, seeing format changes such as the improvement of the
Houses where contestants stay, from the “strippéd to the basics”
stylings of the first edition to the luxurious designs we see in the
house today.
The
African edition first premiered in 2003 – introducing us to Nigerian
housemate Bayo, who few people probably even remember now. (Seriously,
where is he?)
Since
then the show has gone on to hold 7 times, including ongoing version
“The Chase,” (not to forget the one-off Nigerian version, which
introduced us to now familiar faces like Gideon Okeke and Ebuka
Obi-Uchendu) and each version has brought with it its own share of both
drama, both off and on-screen – “screen” here being both TV and Computer
screens, of course, because with every new season comes a barrage of
new online expressions of outrage as though the show is becoming
anything other than what it has always been.
There
was last year’s infamous (like most things about this show) slap
incident, between housemates DKB and Zainab, which resulted in about a
million (possibly more, that’s just a rough estimate) “slap me now”
memes and a million more arguments about feminism and domestic violence
and things of the sort. The late Goldie’s “relationship” with housemate
Prezzo – which managed the feat of inspiring even more arguments about
feminism and the place of a woman – was also another hot topic, to put
things mildly. Perhaps it’s just the result of experiencing it so many
times, but for whatever reason, this year’s edition seems to
particularly be finding itself a number of offended parties. To sum it
up, the main grousés against the show seem to be
- Nudíty
- Séx
- Immoralíty
- Nudíty
- Immoralíty
- Nudíty
- Séx
- Nudíty
Okay,
you get the picture. There’s also the issue of the show not being
particularly “educative,” you know, seeing as a television show is
exactly the place to go looking to be educated. Sure, there’s no
obvious “educational” aspect to it. Well, a case could probably be made
on the show being a perfect case study for research into human
interaction from psychological and sociological standpoints, but that’s
just by the way. But really, and this isn’t just an “all work and no
play makes jack a dull boy” standpoint, does everything have
to be educational? Particularly considering the show we’re talking
about here has never exactly made itself out to be a master-class in
rocket-building or disease-curing.
The same can be said for all the “nudíty”
in the show. No one tunes into Big Brother looking for tips on how to
properly cover up (and if they do, they’re looking in the wrong place.)
The fact of the matter is the nudíty
isn’t just one aspect of the show, it’s a major aspect. Offensive as it
may be to some, it plays off the voyéuristic téndencies of others; the
innate curiosity of human beings about others. Sure, it could be (and
is) called pervérted, but who cares? It’s entertainment. Hell, this
season doesn’t even feature the major Big Brother highlight “Shower
Hour,” a fact which is sure to be a source of constant disappointment to
some viewers. Nonetheless, accusations that the show doesn’t “promote
proper African culture” are a step away from baseless considering the
fact the show never advertised itself as “Discover Africa 101,” not to
mention the fact what it shows us is the behavior of a group of people
from different countries across the continent; and what’s more
indicativé of culture than the people?
Essentially,
the point is, get over it. Big Brother Africa has never claimed to be
what it’s not, or somehow deceived viewers into tuning in for something
other than what they get. It’s entertainment in its rawest and most
éscapist form, and for that, we (well, some of us) are thankful.
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