A couple of days ago the shocking results of a study regarding gay 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 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 “stripped to the basics” styling's 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
- Nudity
- Séx
- Immorality
- Nudity
- Immorality
- Nudity
- Séx
- Nudity
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 “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 major aspect. Offensive as it may be to some, it plays off the voyeuristic tendencies of others; the innate curiosity of human beings about 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 behaviour of a group of people from different countries across the continent; and what’s more indicative 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 escapist form, and for that, we (well, some of us) are thankful.
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