For the whole of last week there has been no escaping this. Britain seems to have erupted into a national debate over the alleged racist remarks directed towards Indian actress Shilpa Shetty in a reality TV show ‘Celebrity Big Brother’. It is everywhere – in offices, cabs, retail outlets, parks - basically any public place/ event involving people greater than one; not mentioning the media and its relentless coverage of the issue. Being Indian hasn't helped - every non Indian friend/ acquaintance gingerly approaches the topic to know the ‘rational’ (yeah!) Indian sentiment – Were Jade Goody and her ilk racist or was it just a case of bullying? Are Indians and a big part of the British public over-reacting?? Or is the UK rapidly turning into an intolerant society??
Now I have no hang-ups in admitting that I enjoy the occasional Vanity Fair or Heat :-) – it's a world shockingly different from my own and is a welcome break after heavy days of intellectual snobbery. But I have never been able to get through a single episode of Big Brother until this flare-up. I actually don't own a TV (inherently lazy self needs just the slightest excuse to spend the whole day in bed), but the one episode I did begin to watch was appalling to say the least. The entire format of this kind of reality TV is sickening – the producers revel in display of human nature at its worst extremes masquerading it as ‘entertainment’ and even worse, it actually seems to capture sufficient eye balls to keep their purses ringing.
Shilpa Shetty has however changed it all. 6 hours of intense CBB watching and several votes for Jade’s eviction (ah! The new-age patriotism) later, there is now an intense need to voice an opinion on the subject :-) Every Black, Asian, Hispanic, German, French, even Scottish dudes have been hogging prime time expressing their views specifically on whether the comments on CBB had an implied racial slur and more generally on whether UK has become an intolerant racist society. With true desi Indian blood running through my veins, it will be spiteful not to have my 10 pennies worth :-)! Besides, Ms Shetty and moi (and the gals, you know who you are) come from the same under-grad college (Bombay's geek hangout - Podar). So here’s the low-down...
To be fair to Jade Goody, she did come across as a far more genuine person than Shilpa and between the two of them, it was definitely Shilpa with a chip on the shoulder. But hey, this is entertainment on television. Why must there be brownie points for being ‘real’?? And come’ on! The show is ‘Celebrity’ big brother!! By definition, the people involved are ones who have lived larger than life personalities for most part of their lives and fundamentally come in with inflated egos. The social situation is attempted to be made interesting by the fact that people who have lived unreal lives for most part get down to a house of managed reality – where they need to cook their own food, wash their clothes and generally don't have a bevy of helpers of various kinds around. So, what was Jade Goody thinking?? Jade herself is a product of reality TV – she participated in BB 4 years back and is now supposedly the 25th most influential person in the world - turning in $8 million per annum top line for sale of perfumes, TV shows and an assorted other bunch of solutions riding on her brand!! (And I have spent half my life getting educated and am spending the rest apparently in building dreams – seriously! Should have taken the easier route to fame!!) But nothing, really nothing excuses attacking someone on their ethnic origin. Eating with the fingers and "who knows where she put them first???" Bleaching face because "oh do you have a stubble like a man??" And because ‘"she wants to be white’’ “F*** off home to your ‘shack’??” Well, pretty racist and almost unforgivable I say.
Is this a mirror to the British society or generally the world per se?? Just purely going by the extent of sentiment this has aroused, it would be hard to say ... Several thousand people seem to have taken these comments as a personal assault, almost as if it was their personal angst now magnified on the screen. Tolerance appears to be limited not just in Western societies, but also in societies across the world (including Indian) for anything that is ‘different’. The fear of the ‘unknown’ is a rather powerful one and appears to instill suspicion, mistrust in many. For some, it is a function of the insecurities within. Information partly seems to break these barriers, it at least resolves the ‘unknown’ part of the equation (One of my close pals here is English, but is also one of the better traveled people I know). For the other, there is little help – it is so much a product of one’s upbringing and surroundings, and to the extent that is less than perfect, there will always continue to be an undercurrent of friction.
As for Shilpa, well, looking forward to seeing her on every other issue of Vanity Fair and Heat :-) She is a celebrity in the making here....$6 big ones for appearing on the show and the counter is still ticking for a lot - lot - more.....
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