Oh Brother
By Firoze Hirjikaka, published Jan 20, 2007
Published Content: 307 Total Views: 41,709 Favorited By: 26 CPs
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There is a sublimely ludicrous flap going on about a television show, currently being broadcast in England. It has become a feature story on CNN, BBC and several Indian news channels. It even merited a question in the British Parliament; and has almost started a race war.No, it has nothing to do with Iraq, or Christianity vs. Islam, or any of the usual suspects. It's a show called Big Brother, which is threatening to reach the outer limits of banality. Essentially, it is about a group of distinctly minor celebrities, whose ego is in inverse proportion to their talent. These nonentities have been locked up in a house and are spied on 24x7 by strategically placed cameras. The idea is to observe them as they go about their normal lives. "Normal": now there's a misnomer, for a start. The supreme irony is that this voyeuristic intrusion into the infantile antics of a bunch of fakes is called "Reality TV."
So what's all the fuss about? Last week, a second-rung Indian actress named Shilpa Shetty was "inserted" into this dysfunctional household; and promptly proceeded to get on the nerves of the other inmates, all Brits. One could not pronounce her name and kept referring to her as "the Indian". Another called her a "f**** Paki" and told her to "f*** off". Shetty cleverly did her bit, goading them on with her snotty, holier-than-thou" attitude; and by playing the offended martyr to perfection.
For the one and a half million British Asians, such taunts are routine occurrences; and most have learnt to take it in their stride. But, for some reason, they chose to anoint the bemused and secretly delighted Shetty as their cause celebre. The television station was bombarded with 38 thousand outraged calls, deploring the racism that was being meted out to the "defenseless" victim - who, incidentally, is being paid three-quarter of a million dollars - and demanded retribution.
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