Big brother is supposed to be a
reality show, staged in a large comfortable house, furnished with Jacuzzi,
Steam bath, large furniture, running water, enough food, alcohol, VIP suite, other
luxuries and lots of surveillance cameras to monitor every single movement made
by the housemates. Currently ranked as the number one ‘reality show’ in Africa,
Big Brother is premised on a group of people who have been handpicked from
various African Countries after series of auditions, to mingle and foster
relationships in a house where they are isolated and barred from having any
interaction whatsoever with the outside world.
The show which runs for almost
three months features mostly housemates who are upbeat about fame and how to
make it in life by scheming all kind of strategies and plots to outwit each
other for the grand prize. Whilst the real objective of the reality show is yet
to be known, speculation holds that, it serves as a platform to watch people
closely through the lenses of Big Brother’s all-seeing-eye as housemates live
their lives.
Apart from the fact that it is a
game and sometimes entertaining, most people are wondering what’s in for them
since all the fun starts and ends there in the marooned house. Undisputedly,
the game if played well, presents a platform for some of the housemates to sell
their brands in all African homes and abroad, whiles, some are about finding
love by taking their chances. Others are about the fame while some are purposely
there for the grand prize which reminds us of choices and preferences.
However, my motivation to write
this piece is to dispute the fact that BIG BROTHER is a reality show because
whereas the ‘show’ holds true, same cannot be said about the ‘reality’. You
don’t congregate a bunch of young men and women in a house and dictate how they
should live by telling them what they should do at appreciable time intervals
and still call it reality.
Big Brother practically tells
them what to wear, where to go and sometimes, what to eat. It tells them when
to engage in a task or bath whilst showing their nudity to anyone who cares to
watch and I don’t see how these constitute being real with one’s self.
Reality show is what you see when
you enter Makola and Ikeja markets in Ghana and Nigeria respectively. It is
what you see when you observe from the corner of the road and see people
struggling and shoving each other just to board vehicles that will convey them
to their places of work while the snake of private cars honk all through the
traffic jam to work.
Reality is waking up in the
morning and planning what to do or how to add value to one’s self, not just gossip,
chit-chat about everything and anything or saunter around a demarcated perimeter
to which anything contrary attracts a stroke and probably sends you packing
home.
I understand people are really living
very luxurious lives where they just relax at home and watch the globe turn
around without a tinge of a worry about how to feed, but it is different when
you camp a group of people with an objective, by feeding, clothing and offering
them almost anything basic a person requires to live a healthy and a clean life
should at most be a ‘live show’ but not a reality show because we watch live
football matches every time but do not refer to them as reality shows.
6 comments:
I guess real is relative and so the organizers are, in their understanding right with the nomenclature. I do agree with you, though on the issue of the real intent of the show, if there anything latent to what we all see. Some have described it as a platform for promoting extremely liberal thoughts and a means of lowering the standards of behavior that normally obtains in african societies. For me BBA is another way of Diverting Africa's attention on the real issues of life and development. Let those who want to chase chase their shadows.
For me, it's just a way of getting subscribers of DStv to continue their subscriptions during the football off-peak season. Simple. All the major leagues end in June and resume in September. DStv must fill the void because most subscribers will not maintain their subscriptions within that period. The show offers nothing, really.
George, that's so simple huh, lol
Yeah, real issues must be tackled... I don't have issues with the show. i just want to know in clear terms, what their objective is...
i agree with you Alfred. in reality man must think
babylon things, innit?
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