porn were released. Well, to the general population of the world, the
fact that people Nigeria and Pakistan watch gay porn 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
homosexuality or porn (or generally anything they'd rather believe
didn't exist) as"foreign" or "not part of our culture" or any other
delusional 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 groupof 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 "stripped 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 familiarfaces like Gideon Okeke and Ebuka
Obi-Uchendu) and each version has brought with it its own share of
both drama, both offand 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, whichresulted 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 grouses against the show seem to be
- Nudity
- Sex
- Immorality
- Nudity
- Immorality
- Nudity
- Sex
- Nudity
Okay, you get the picture. There's also the issue of the show not
being particularly "educative," you know, seeing as a televisionshow
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, doeseverythinghave 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 "nudity" 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 nudity isn't just one aspect of the show, it's a majoraspect.
Offensive as it may be to some, it plays off the voyeuristic
tendencies of others; the innate curiosity of human beingsabout
others. Sure, it could be (and is) called perverted, 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 indicative of culture
than the people?
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