Maybe I shouldn’t have doubted Tom Friedman when he claimed that “Superstar,” the Arabic version of
“American Idol,” was a force for democracy in
the Middle East. Today comes word that another reality TV show, “Big Brother Africa,” has
roughly 30 million viewers in across that continent. From Nigeria to Botswana, Kenya to South
Africa, the show has become “a Rosrschach test of Africans’ views of themselves,” Marc Lacey reports. (Free
registration required.)
Using a formula already familiar to American and European TV viewers, the
producers intalled a group of strangers in a house in Johannesburg and televised their trials,
tribulations and foibles — including all the usual bickering and romantic liaisons, not excluding
breakfast belches, kissing and “shower hour” peeking.
The Malawi parliament has banned the show. Religious leaders have denounced it. But, Lacey
writes, its many fans have invoked a subtle theme in its defense: the idea of
democracy. “The contestants are nominated for eviction by their housemates and then voted off
by viewers on the Internet or by cellphone text messaging. The will of the people decides how the
show unfolds.”
In a region of the world where Big Brother is a reality and democracy a rarity, the mere
display of such a social system no matter how trivial or contrived has educational value and,
Lacey writes, sends a message to authoritarian rulers. This is the same argument Friedman
made for “Superstar.”
First thought: If they’re right, will we soon see the U.S. military command in Baghdad
producing reality TV shows? Second thought: Not if it requires electricity.
