I’ve never seen a movie starring Shilpa Shetty. I’ve never watched Big Brother. I had no idea until this post on SepiaMutiny that Shilpa Shetty would be on Big Brother. Frankly, I didn’t read it because I didn’t care.
So why, in in the name of all that is sacred, have so many of my conversations in the past few days involved the unholy combination of a mediocre Bollywood actress and a revolting reality show?
Sajit recently tackled the growing controversy surrounding the show, so please refer to his post if you need to catch up. That’s were it began for me.
Then Mr. Cicatrix and I randomly channel-surfed our way to a ABC Nightline News segment on the how Shilpa’s quiet dignity was “Uniting India’s Warring Muslims and Hindus.” So sixty years after Partition, THIS is what finally unites?!
The House of Commons has weighed in. Tony Blair. The British Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Indian Parliament has lodged a formal complaint with the British government. All this over remarks variously described as “girly rivalry,” “bullying,” and “racist abuse.” (link) Remarks made by people so stupid, one thought “Winston Churchill was the first black president of America.” (link)
The talking heads pontificated and culture critics scibbled op-eds. Is it jealousy? Class conflict? Bigotry? Ignorance? (link). Insecurity? Stupidity? (link). A set-up by the show’s creators? (link). Shilpa’s own fault? (Yep. Germaine Greer said it).
The semiotics of racism, of “poppadoms,” “can’t even speak English,” “Shilpa Fuckawallah” and “live in a house or a shack,” have been tossed about selectively and dissected to the point that it’s all just meaningless chatter.
So it was a relief and a surprise to read Martin Jacques’ article in the Guardian (thanks ultrabrown). Jacques, a Fellow at the Asia Research Center at the London School of Economics, roots around the muck to find a very solid reason for why this show is more than a tempest in a teapot, why it resonates so violently in Britain and abroad:
The test of our behaviour, of how racist we are, is no longer what the white British think. That started to change with the self-awareness and growing confidence of our own ethnic minorities. But the matter does not end there. The test now, in this instance, is what Indians in India think, how they perceive us.
As Goody raged and railed against Shetty on Wednesday night’s TV broadcast, she was like a cornered animal, lashing out in every direction against something she clearly detested but also feared and felt threatened by. She was confronted not only with the Other, but a hugely self-confident Other. What could be worse? It was a metaphor for the world that is now rapidly taking shape before our very eyes. (link )
I think he nails it. To go back to that “poppadom” business:
Racism always exists cheek by jowl with, inside and alongside culture and class. As a rule it is inseparable from them. That is why, for example, food, language and names assume such importance in racial prejudice. And that has certainly been the case in Big Brother. Food is a signifier of difference: so are names, so is language. So Jade and her sidekicks homed in on Shilpa’s cooking and choice of food, made fun of her name and refused to learn it. And with food came the suggestion that Shilpa’s hygiene left something to be desired, that she was unclean (she had touched the food, it was claimed, and “you don’t know where her hands have been”). In other words, not only was she different, but she came from an inferior civilisation.
Th world is changing:
Almost from the outset, Big Brother’s racism has had a new and novel dimension. Because Gordon Brown was in India at the time, and was asked about it during his trip, the issue immediately acquired an international dimension. In an earlier era, of course, this would have been dismissed as of no consequence: the natives could safely be ignored. But no longer. We saw this just a year ago in relation to the Danish cartoons and their ridicule of Islam. Europe used to ignore what the former colonial world felt. There was no feedback loop.
I’ve been waiting for this for a long time – the dawning awareness that the “third world” is no longer silent or passive. The realization that “the Other” can speak for itself, quite well, thank you. The acknowledgement that we are here, we are watching you, and we will not be ignored.
Please read the full article here. You might disagree, but it’ll be worth it.
UPDATE: The BBC (thanks Ennis!) reports that the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone said he was “delighted” that Jade Goody was voted off the show with 82% of the vote.
“You can imagine the uproar there would have been in this country if, say, Keira Knightley had been being abused in a Big Brother house in India.”
He added that India is the second biggest investor to London after the US and that without last night’s protest vote, there “would have been a lot of harm to people’s jobs”.
This further underscores the point made in the Guardian article:
India is a rising giant; we can no longer afford to ignore, as we once did with impunity, the views and feelings of a country that represents one-fifth of humanity.
This is HUGE. The economic factor appears to be the decisive one, but Indian investment wouldn’t be a concern if there hadn’t been an outcry in India about the ethnic slurs. Get on board, people! This isn’t really about parsing the racism of “the Indian” or whether Shilpa irritated you personally. It’s about how casually people in the third world, “foreigners,” were dismissed and ignored. It’s about how that is finally, maybe, changing.
What a load of bunk. Can I shoot you in the foot and claim you’re perceiving the projectile penetrating your skin and blood leaking from it? The word itself is meaningless, It could be paki, wookie or goblet. The idea is the intent behind the word, when it’s historically been used to dehumanize an entire collective, it cannot be withered away by simply “thinking its a compliment” To even suggest it is placing responsibility for the crime on the victim exclusively.
Think about it this way, if I called a person of latin origin a “hisp” or a “spic”, which would more likely garner a reaction? Both are equal truncations of the word “hispanic”, but which is more powerful, because of a collective historical context?
WTF Germaine Greer?
Does the one of the world’s most (in)famous feminist writers realise what she’s doing in writing this piece?…Granted the Big Brother Shilpa drama isn’t just about racism, or make that simple-crude-insult-racism, but by deliberately focussing on her personal dislike of Shetty she doesn’t quite cover her tracks in hiding her own racism.
What if someone had called one of the white female contestants ‘white trash’ or a similar racist insult? Would Greer be word-vomiting the exotica cliches she’s hurling at Shetty? I thought I’d seen the last of the BB debate but Greer portraying her as a cannibalistic, crazed savage-woman just tops it all.
If only we’d realised earlier that this is what it takes to open up debates on feminism and multiculturalism and racism. A bunch of D-list celebrities locked up in a house filled with 24/7 camera coverage. And I thought global warming was important! Shilpa, congratulations on a career comeback Posh Spice and Peter Andre could only dream of đ
Sajit, thanks for picking up my previous comments and also for the congratulations. I’m not able to comment on SM during the weekdays as I mentioned before, which is the reason for the delay in my participation and the obvious length of this post. Excellent articles by yourself and Cicatrix anyway, and kudos to both you for keeping tabs on the escalating events surrounding Shilpa Shetty. “Hello” to Kush T too, who generally seems to be on the same wavelength as me on this issue (both on this thread and the previous one) and with whom I agree wholeheartedly.
Firstly, the vitriol directed at Shilpa is indeed racism — if you’d seen enough footage every day then it’s patently obvious. You may not realise how bad it is unless you’ve seen all this; what’s been happening is horrific. The “class” issue is a factor too, of course, but it’s made much worse (in the eyes of her tormentors) because Shilpa is not only educated, well-spoken, beautiful etc etc, but because she’s also Indian. There’s another female contestant in there who isn’t so different from Shilpa in terms of her general manners and demeanour, yet she doesn’t trigger such a psychotic reaction because she’s white. It’s as simple as that.
Currently, formal complaints submitted by the British public about what’s been happening stand at 50,000 and rising – far more than any other programme in British television history. It’s not just the racism and the bullying that’s the problem, it’s the fact that the programme makers didn’t intervene until it was far too late. They basically used Shilpa’s victimisation, humiliation and constant ridicule as a source of entertainment. It was almost getting to the point where her persecutors were finding the very fact that she was breathing to be “aggravating”; it went far beyond the normal “personality clashes” which occur in reality shows, and has been truly poisonous in nature. Hence the outcry in the United Kingdom as a whole, and not just amongst the desi community either. Even more damning is the fact that the programme makers hassled Shilpa behind closed doors for 90 minutes in order to manipulate her into retracting her concerns that the bullying was driven by racism – the channel has refused to publicise footage of exactly what they said to her in order to (basically) trick her into a retraction, because any admission that racism was occurring and that they refused to intervene would render them liable to criminal prosecution. Apparently they found it very difficult indeed to convince her that nothing really insidious was going on, because she’s very intelligent and not easily led at all. God knows what they said to her.
Shilpa isn’t really in a position to accurately comment about whether the abuse she’s received has been racially motivated because a) a great deal of it has happened behind her back, and she’ll only realise the full scale of what’s been happening in 2 weeks when she leaves the house and sees the rest of the footage, and b) unlike most British (South) Asians, she’s never had to face this before, so she didn’t recognise what was occurring until much later. For the rest of us, it was all horribly, horribly familiar – that sick, stabbing feeling of recognition – hence the furious reaction amongst the British South Asian population in general and huge numbers of the rest of the British population who also find such conduct disgusting. It’s like being in the 1970s and 80s all over again, and it’s been a very long time indeed since this kind of treatment of South Asians was regarded as acceptable on mainstream British television channels. The huge number of complaints from people of all backgrounds, the fact that corporate sponsors have begun terminating their support for the show after viewing the manner of Shilpa’s targeting, the fact that human rights groups, national newspapers right across the board and senior British government ministers have forcefully condemned what’s been happening, and the fact that the television channel itself is now being investigated by the British police as part of a criminal investigation regarding Shilpa’s treatment and could even lose its license, should all tell you something about the severity of the situation. In any case, the question of whether the harassment was racist in nature is now a moot point – the main perpetrator, Jade Goody, admitted last night that Shilpa was indeed subjected to racist bullying by herself and a couple of her fellow housemates.
However, the perpetrators have now begun to realise that something has gone very badly wrong outside the safety of their four walls, and their belated attempts to backtrack are pretty pointless as everyone here can see right through it all; it’s driven by a selfish wish to save their own necks and a fear of what will happen to them when they leave the house, not by any compassion towards Shilpa or genuine remorse (and they don’t yet know that Jade has now openly contradicted their claims that there was no racist intent behind their actions). I’ve lost count of the number of times Shilpa has ended up crying because of the deliberate psychological torture she’s been subjected to – it’s absolutely heartbreaking to watch — and she doesn’t even yet know the bulk of the poisonous bukwaas they’ve been obsessively spouting about her behind her back.
With regards to the comments by certain people participating on this blog who are using this as an opportunity to smugly stick the knife into Shilpa herself — I’m more than a little disappointed and coldly angry about the lack of empathy (considering the non-stop coverage of “Macacagate” on SM a few months ago – you could say that this is the British desi equivalent of the whole Macaca affair). So much for “brown solidarity”. What a bunch of cold-blooded, weasely bastards some of you are. As for the self-flogging, irrelevant sidetracking into “caste” issues and so on (along with the whole thing about “authenticity” on Sajit’s previous thread on Shilpa), well…..as I said on Anna’s xmas thread, “Only on Sepia Mutiny”. I really wonder sometimes what the hell is wrong with some of you people. Perhaps it’s just as well that I can’t comment on SM during most of the week anymore.
Whatever you personal feelings about Shilpa as an actress or her supposed error of judgement in agreeing to participate on the show, the footage of her normal day-to-day behaviour & personality during the past few weeks has made it clear that she certainly does not even remotely deserve the appalling, psychopathic, viciously sadistic abuse she’s been continuously subjected to.
Anyway, Danielle and Jo are likely to be the next to be kicked out of the house by the public. Although they are now very worried about the fallout, they still don’t realise exactly how bad matters are and the scale of the backlash they’re going to receive. Not to mention the fact that they’ve just committed professional suicide, along with the impact on their private lives (for example, Danielle’s just been dumped by her horrified multimillionaire footballer boyfriend as a result of her actions on the show, although for obvious reasons she doesn’t know it yet).
As for Shilpa, ironically she’s now the favourite to win and, although she doesn’t yet know it, she’s become something of a heroine in the United Kingdom. Obviously she’s still unaware of the scale of the support she has in Britain – I get the impression that, until Jade was evicted (with 82% of the votes against her), Shilpa thought that most of the public was against her too and thought the same way Jade and her cohorts did – and she’s become very popular indeed along with being unequivocally viewed as “gorgeous”. Modelling contracts, along with roles in major films and television dramas await her, as discussed here. Several of Britain’s major national newspapers, both “respectable” such as The Times and hugely-popular tabloids, were even giving away free DVDs of her work yesterday, such as her critically-acclaimed film Phir Milenge. Poetic justice indeed đ
Support from our American desi cousins (and South Asians elsewhere) would certainly be welcomed; if you wish to formally complain to Ofcom (the main British television regulators who are investigating the matter) then you can do so via their website; someone earlier on Sajit’s thread kindly provided the URL link. You can also formally complain to the television channel responsible for all this by emailing bblb@channel4.com . Please help us if you can.
aww Jai, don’t hate us Umreekans. We aren’t living the political moment like you are, live in the UK, so it is hard to get a good grasp of the context of everything. We’ll try to be better behaved in future…
I personally was turned off more by the tabloid-esque media and “international” reaction to the situation, rather than a reflection of modern race-relations in Britain….which is why I was curious about the 2nd/3rd gen reaction.
but wow, I was wondering why she had retracted her comments on the racism. That is pretty twisted of the producers to corner her into a retraction.
And you are right. Even if she is beautiful, rich, leads a largely superficial life, that doesn’t mean it’s ok for people to treat her like crap. I’m glad she has a large cheering-squad in the UK to take out the garbage, so to speak.
this reminds me of middle school, when one of the indian girls in our class was for some reason deemed the least cool person in our class. she was confident and proud of her heritage which made her anathema to the cool white kids in our class. on the other hand, people like dinesh d’souza remind me of the brown kids who tried too hard to be popular, and did everything they could to distance themselves from their cultural background.
Jai,
She went uncoerced on a trashy TV show where raunch and foul behavior is the desired spectacle. Where’s your sense of context in your analogy?
Great post Cicatrix. I believe the sentiment I quoted is the crux of the whole issue. In the long run, Shilpa and Jade will be forgotten, but the realization that there are still scars from colonialism is a lesson that should have been learned long ago. The next question is how to get past it. Now that China and India are on the rise, should people who have roots in those countries still feel a grudge against former colonial powers? Further, I think its important to recognize that there might be a bit of an inferiority complex at work. If that is the case, you can’t place all the blame on the west. South Asian nations also have to deal with their own issues.
I love this line from the article linked by Jai Singh:
Hmmm, never heard that one before.
Jai Singh, specifically what laws are people saying may have been broken here? Could email me (off-thread) to direct me to any sources that talk about this? Thanks.
and the fact that the television channel itself is now being investigated by the British police as part of a criminal investigation regarding ShilpaĂâs treatment
Criminal investigation! Hello? So what exactly is the British police going to do? Arrest Jade? Bullying an adult is now a crime?
Also if its so bad, why doesnt Shetty just leave? Would she be penalized? Lose her appearance money?
Jai: Nice to see you again. I was wondering about where you had disappeared to. Also how are the Pakistanis in Britain reacting to the whole Shetty saga.
Cicatrix –
This lens on the controversy is an interesting one, and calls to mind the ways in which this may or may not be the British equivalent of the “macaca moment,” as Jai Singh suggests, and also calls to mind the underlying premises about Indian American political activism in articles like Manjeet Kripalani’s, which Siddhartha blogged about yesterday. Is the reaction in Britain to the Celebrity Big Brother row about getting past the long history of racism against South Asians in the UK, discussed by Jai Singh? Or is it more about economic investment in India and the almighty pound? Is the outcry in the UK independent from the outcry in India or shaped by it?
I’m curious what people think would have happened if instead of Shilpa Shetty, an Indian citizen and resident, the recipient of all this abuse in the CBB house had been (1) a prominent Pakistani citizen/resident, (2) a prominent British Pakistani individual, or (3) a prominent British Indian individual. In each case, the reaction in India would almost certainly not have materialized the way it had here. But — and I guess I’m mostly directing this question to British readers — is there any reason to believe that the reaction in the UK would have been significantly different?
In the macaca situation, after all, the kid was an unknown, second generation American, and the strong reaction to George Allen came from all kinds of people in the United States, well before anyone in India was injecting the transnational element into it.
“Brown solidarity”, in this context, only applies to browns with American accents. Consider it the typical American insularity and arrogance towards “non-Americans”.
Jai, thank you for your insightful post. I think it is impossible for most of us ABCD’s/American FOB’s to understand the extent of the everyday racism that permeates British culture. I lived in London between the ages of 6 – 11 and spent a long, long time trying to deal with the feelings of being somehow worse than everyone else for reasons that I didn’t understand. The frequent racial comments (eg, constant Paki/wog usage, Indians breed like rabbits, sh*t colored skin) from the other kids created a situation where I was ashamed of what I was and everything it stood for. Thank God my parents moved us out of there before the damage was permanent.
Although that was a long time ago, I can’t believe that the vestiges of all that animus has gone. I know that just a couple of years ago when I was practicing law I had a British colleague (we were at Kirkland & Ellis, a big US law firm – so this woman was extremely bright and highly credentialed). In conversations with me she used the word “Paki shop” and referred to the fact that I seemed so different from most Indians except for my (outside-of-work) landlord duties, which apparently seemed a fitting occupation. I fight against it, but I still react badly the instant I hear an English accent.
I basically spent most of the rest of my life of my life in the States, and never experience anything like that time in England. Whether it’s the “model minority” paradigm (which I agree is bullsh*t) or the fact that there’s just not as many Indians to become a racial flashpoint, it really is different here.
As a white Brit (hello!) I would say that the force and cruelty of the bullying was such that there would have been a significant reaction regardless of the economic situation. It was a childish, unprovoked and vicious attack, and most of us can relate to that from our own childhoods, regardless of race. It was deeply unpleasant to watch, but as a media student I was committed to seeing it through. The media storm was obviously fed by the fact that Gordon Brown happend to be in India at the time, but (despite the low reputation that “reality TV” has) BB viewers have a proven record of siding with the bullied, rather than the bullies. In the aftermath, it’s been great to see so many eloquent “talking heads” speaking up in favour of tolerance and understanding.
Greer’s article is a mad bag or rambling nonsense. The argument that victims are to blame for their treatment, because they “know what they’re doing” to encourage it, is not one a feminist should really be falling back on, imho.
Peace.
The importance of Shilpa Shetty:
Jai – this might well be a Macaca moment for the UK, but the context is very different from Macaca gate in the US, which might partially explain the lack of a similar reaction on this side of the Atlantic.
In the US, the Macaca comment was made by a very popular senator who was considered a front runner for the Presidency. HR Sidarth did little to attract that sort of attention – it’s routine to have your remarks taped by your opponent. And he wasn’t making a dime for his work – he was a volunteer, not a highly paid star.
In the UK, all of this is happening as part of a reality TV show. The problem is that in the US, there is strong suspicion of anything that happens on reality TV – unless we know otherwise, some of us assume it’s all an artifact of editing. And we’re only seeing tiny YouTube clips of it anyway.
Until I heard from my British friends, I was agnostic as to whether she was getting bullied, or whether this was being generated in the editing room. And yes, Shetty does have reasons to invite the sympathy of the audience and play the victim, which increases skepticism.
So you’re right – we’re not as up in arms over this as we were over Macaca gate. It just seems odd that the police are getting involved and major politicians are speaking out … all over a reality TV show, and in particular over the behavior of Jade Goody – a celebrity whose only claim to fame was earlier Big Brother. That’s why we’re not posting about this daily.
Thanks, Andie (hello back!). If you, Jai Singh, or anyone else has insights about the legal dimension, whether they involve broadcast regulation or criminal law, I’d be grateful for an email or comments on this thread.
It maybe different here – I’m a Canuck and from the things I’ve heard on this board we have it a lot better than Yanks – but that should not stop us from supporting Brit desis when stuff like this happens. Besides, there are no real borders anymore. This Shetty episode hit the newspapers here too. I for one sent off a complaint to Ofcom (though God knows what they will make of the address and phone number on it…)
I have read that call center workers in Bangalore find brits to be the most insidiously racist of all callers in their interaction with the indians trying to help them. What makes the brits so contemptuous of desis? I suspect that the pakistani terrorists being bred in the ghettos of England are reacting to the racism desis encounter there. The first generation of pakistanis and indians in the UK, mostly punjabis, encountered some truly brutal racism when they first immigrated to the UK. They were spat on, yelled at, chased through the streets and beat up by skinhead thugs in a “sport” called paki-bashing…..
The point of view which says ‘but we don’t understand what it’s like over there’ as a justification for apathy is simply not acceptable – if it were, the indifference of so many whites to the racism around them would be acceptable. I can’t count the number of times I’ve encountered this type of apathy in otherwise nice, normal white liberals. If we desis in the States and Canada display a similar level of apathy to the obvious distress this episode has caused Brit desis, how does that make us different from such apathetic whites?
It still amazes me that Indians are so touchy about “racial abuse”. Life in India is full of racism everyday. Clueless, gives an example of it in #22. Just go to any paper and you will read about racist instances like that on a daily basis. Then this cry baby pulls out a cheap race card. How pathetic!! I f@cking hate it when Desis pull out the race card. (I have been called “Mohammad go home” in the US, in 1995.)
Kush in #1,
Why does this apply to whites only?? Because Desis are powerless inferior beings??
The reason I hate Desis pulling out the race card is that, it is admitting that Desis are lower in the pecking order of race. The same reason why a lot of you dont like the model minority term. Such as what Siddhartha said in other thread
RC, minority is in part a state of mind, but race is a little different. Race is something that at least in large part is imposed/applied on you by the eyes of the world, of other people, of powerful interests, etc. So what you call “playing the race card” — a cliche’d term, by the way, that is every bit as useless and distracting as the term “model minority” — needs to be understood in this context. For you to point out that people feel free to treat you in disparaging ways and with impunity on the basis of the color of your skin, is a perfectly valid point to make if it is indeed what is happening. Making that statement is every bit as important, in that case, to your dignity and self-respect, as is not thinking of yourself as a “minority.” Indeed, the two make sense together.
Even though the broad analogies made in the article are probably off the mark, the spectacle of this debate may shame some of the dodgy stereotypes out of colloquial vocab of the average Brit. Assigning a moral value: good.
However, less we forget the source, this is reality tv, so if it looks like shit, don’t be surprised that it smells like shit.
Sure, why not…this after all has to be about something right?
Let’s put things in perspective here. The world will respect India when Indians start respecting themselves. As a second-generation Indian, I find it offensive the amount of corruption and that little is done to improve the condition of the common man. I find it offensive that Indians, such as dalits, are treated better in the West than in their own country. These unfortunate facts are more important than what three people say in a reality show. I guess the huge outcry by Indians and the hypocrite indian government, is because India is really a slum characterized by unsanitary conditions, social disorganization and pollution everywhere.
I see this incident as a case of bullying, nothing else.
Vir Sanghvi’s views on india’s over-the-top and yes, hypocritical, reaction, but why it’s also satisfying to be the preachy one to one who preached down to you for so long.
I find it amusing that you call for perspective and then characterize India as a slum. Perhaps you need to gain another perspective? Or at least view your own a wee bit more critically.
We’re not going to gain respect if we keep criticizing each other (ourselves) so harshly.
sorry, the correct link for Sanghvi’s article: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1905830,0008.htm
the argument seems to be; only a 100% perfect society can criticize another. so since there aren’t any, everyone should just keep quiet and work on their own sins and uncomplainingly absorb any ill-will/bullying/racism, especially if one is being paid (whether on Big Brother or on your own job – because both are jobs in the end) towards oneself as a sacrifice for all the sins your own society has perpetrated on others since the beginning of time.
India is vastly more complicated that most Westerners, Americans, and if Cisco is anything to go by, second-genners, think.
As a Sri Lankan, I can’t claim to know all that much about it. But India’s immense scale, complexity, and defiance of generalizations become pretty obvious when I visited a year ago.
I’m looking forward to reading In Spite of the Gods, an economic analysis of India by an Financial Times reporter. The linked review says it:
No von Mises,
The guidelines for participation on the British version of the show explicitly do not allow any kind of bullying or (especially) racism towards the other housemates. To put it bluntly, Shilpa didn’t sign up for that crap. I’m not a lawyer, but it makes me wonder if Channel 4 and Endemol are liable for breach of contract (amongst several other things).
Anil,
Channel 4 is not allowed to transmit racist material (unless it’s some kind of investigative documentary, for example), so the fact that they allowed racism-based bullying to occur unabated for several weeks without intervening, despite the fact that the victim was clearly in extreme distress because of it, renders them liable to criminal prosecution. Also, Jade Goody and her cohorts could be liable to prosecution for perpetrating the racial harrassment of Shilpa.
No. Not when one considers the scale of what Shilpa was inflicted to. It was basically 24/7, and considerably beyond simple “bitchy banter”.
AlMfD,
See above. Bullying an adult for racial reasons is indeed a crime in the United Kingdom. Also, as mentioned before, it’s not just Jade who’s the problem — there are 2 other white female housemates who have also participated in the racial harrassment of Shilpa — one of whom has been undeniably racist multiple times — along with Jade’s boyfriend Jack.
I expect she’ll answer that question when she finally leaves the house, either via eviction or by winning. It’s generally regarded that one of the major reasons is that she doesn’t want to give her tormentors the satisfaction of successfully driving her out of the house — which was apparently one of the intentions of the “three witches”; Shilpa was regarded as their biggest rival to win, so they wanted to give her so much trouble that she’d eventually “break” and walk out of the show. Unfortunately, they went a little too far.
I believe so, based on the precedents regarding two other housemates who recently walked out. They might make an exception for Shilpa though, considering everything she’s gone through (speculation on my part).
Thanks man. I’m only around for the weekend, though đ
The same as the Indians, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans here, as far as I know.
Ennis,
British laws have possibly been broken.
The level of racism-motivated sadism towards Shilpa has gone far, far beyond what you would normally expect on a “controversial” reality show. It stopped being merely “entertaining” a long time ago and crossed the line into vicious unwarranted psychological persecution.
It’s been at least 15 years since any deliberately racist material was allowed on mainstream British television and depicted as “entertainment”.
Officially, the kind of behaviour directed at Shilpa has been regarded as completely unacceptable within mainstream British society for a very long time. Apart from the fact that it touches a lot of nerves with British South Asians (and others from various ethnic minority groups here) who have experienced this sort of abuse in their own lives, along with members of the majority white community who have either witnessed such behaviour and/or virulently object to it, it was Channel 4’s silence on the subject and lack of intervention until the public and political outcry which has made matters even worse. You may not realise how bad it’s been unless you’ve seen all of the relevant footage — what’s happened in front of Shilpa and what’s gone on behind her back. Desis in Britain stopped taking this kind of bukwaas a very long time ago, and we sure as hell aren’t going to sit and watch a fellow South Asian being persecuted like that on television, irrespective of whether it’s a “reality show” and irrespective of whether it’s an Indian actress rather than a “regular” person. Not when it was having the horrendous effect on Shilpa Shetty that has been evident during the past couple of weeks. It’s much worse than you may think. In short, it stopped being a game pretty quickly and has gone to far greater extremes than that. And there are still at least 2 other racists in there who have been doing some serious backtracking to save their own necks and are still obviously unrepentant about their actions.
Ok, I am not a big Ms. Shetty fan, but that said, there is really no justification or acceptability when it comes to racist behavior. I don’t care how much money you make, or whether you signed up for a stupid (and crappy) TV show.
I think folks should really spend some time in the UK before talking about how this was a trivial event. Also, the justification that this happens on U.S. tv and is “no big deal” is not useful; I would argue that these events should be a “bigger deal,” but that’s OT. The things happening on UK Big Brother are not trivial in a country where the racial structure/hierarchy is completely different. In many ways, desis have been treated similarly to the way African Americans were treated during the late Jim Crow era in the U.S. I don’t think it’s helpful to try to analyze this from a U.S. perspective, particularly not around race or TV.
Anil, the laws you should look for are the Race Relations Acts. They were passed in 1958, 1962, 1965/68, and the big rewrite was in 1976. Subsequent amendments were passed in the 1990s and in 2000/2001 (I think), around the same time as the asylum amendments. Among other things, it is illegal in the UK to incite racial hatred, particularly via broadcast networks.
Alright, now – BEAT this :))
http://www.hindu.com/2007/01/20/stories/2007012005121300.htm
I’d have never expected such a thing from Indan govt :))
I think the fact that Big Brother (and especially Celebrity Big Brother) is generally regarded as a trashy bit of fluff added to the horror that so many viewers felt when faced with what they were seeing. In many ways it gets the issue across far more powerfully than any “dramatisation” or government campaign might do, because people sat down to laugh at silly ex-popstars, and got slapped in the face with the housemates’ (and possibly their own) raw prejudices. It was a “Naked Lunch” moment, where you’re happily eating your fast-food burger, and suddenly notice a human toe sticking out at you. In general, the commentators seem to agree that, with reference to the bigger picture, this might have been a good thing for Britain, shocking people out of their complacency. I don’t know. All I can tell you is that as a white Brit, I was stung and ashamed, and it’s made me want to be more vigilant about my own ignorance. Hopefully other viewers will feel the same.
Been watching some of the drama from Big Brother on YouTube. The majority of controversy is over petty, girl fights that have nothing to do with racism. The few episodes that could be deemed racist are quite shocking. But if you do a little research on Jane Goody, one of the girls in question who said the racist comments, you will find that she is quite ignorant. Apparently, she doesn’t know what the word “influential” means. She thought Saddam Hussein was a boxer. And she thinks Rio de Jeneiro is a person. Clearly, she is not the smartest cookie (in fact she seems like a very Jessica Simpson type but with a temper). Yes, some of the comments were quite offensive, but look who is saying them? I feel more sorry for this Jade person – she’s so dumb!
Here’s a classic from Danielle Lloyd:
Now I really regret my earlier flirtations with Ms. Greer. It was an attempt to parade my feminist credentials and to kowtow to Mr. Kobayashi, a well-known subversive and modern day pied piper. I was seduced by her nuanced approach to racism, where one blames the victim a bit, which is more or less in line with mine. But there’s a time for nuance and a time for Bushistic “you are either with us or against” rhetoric. I am with Ms. Shetty.
In all seriousness, this incident is very much like Maccaca-gate, though I suspect it’s getting even more press across the pond than Maccaca-gate received here. That the context is pop culture, not politics, doesn’t make it any less serious, IMO. I’m an optomist when it comes to race relations, and I’m glad to see it’s opened a serious conversation about racism in the UK. This reflects well on the British people, and if Shilpa is really the last one left standing…and is richer for it…it shows the good guys are winning.
Jai Singh, thanks so much for your comments. It’s difficult to get a sense of what really happened (though I agree that’s no excuse for the lack empathy) so you’re providing much needed information and an on-the-ground perspective.
I want to retract the above statement which I made in the earlier thread started off by Sajit on this topic. Not that I think it was totally off (for what I had in mind at that time) but it was inappropriate for that thread. I hadn’t seen a single Big Brother clip when I wrote that…but now, days later, I’ve watched quite a few on youtube, and I feel really bad for Shilpa, while at the same time very proud of her. It’s true that no one appointed her to represent Indians or desis, but she’s done a great job of it (eccentricities related to being a sheltered Bollywood star notwithstanding). She’s handled herself with so much dignity and poise. There WAS a huge gulf in class between her and the others, but not (merely) socioeconomic, largely behavioral. As for those women who bullied her, I really hope their careers are over from this and people make their lives miserable for a while. All in all, even from a distance, it’s been a crazy, disturbing ride, and (I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit), I plan on watching this thing through to the end. I hope Shilpa keeps her elegant demeanor and enjoys all the accolades she’s going to get when she gets out. It’s also important to remember that she was UNAWARE of most of the racist stuff that was said…but just the bullying she faced was bad enough.
I live in Canada and I don’t watch the show nor do I have any intention of watching it. I did read Greer’s article because I thought she might provide an interesting perspective on the issue. One of her points, if I understand correctly, is that when you put someone as “irritating” as Shilpa with a group of “white hicks,” the consequences are fairly predictable. Clearly Greer’s not absolving those responsible for these supposed racial slurs of any wrongdoing but she does devote a fair bit of her article to describing the many ways in which Shilpa is “irritating.” To be fair, although I have not seen the show, I have very little doubt that someone like Shilpa could be “irritating.” Call it a personal bias. But Greer’s approach does strike me as being somewhat incompatible with what I would expect from such a distinguished member of the feminist movement. Consider for example, a hypothetical scenario involving a victim of sexual assault who was by all standards dressed too revealingly. My hunch is that Greer would not be inclined to give any consideration to what the victim was wearing or how she conducted herself. I don’t understand why she gives much consideration to Shilpa’s “irritating” ways in this case. To be fair, sexual assault is a far more egregious crime than the supposed verbal abuse Shilpa is said to have received. I just don’t understand why Greer would devote so much attention to what the “victim” did to bring about this situation.
It makes me think that the instances when we encounter racism are really only the tip of the iceberg; most of the racism against us we never find out about.
“Hello” to Kush T too, who generally seems to be on the same wavelength as me on this issue (both on this thread and the previous one) and with whom I agree wholeheartedly.
Hello to you too, Jai. Welcome.
I am going to read your comments, as you are our man on the scene.
Are you going have a dinner date with Shilpa soon, once she has won CBB?
Jai, your writeups (comments) are excellent.
I did lodge protest to Ofcom last week.
Camille & Jai — many thanks for the pointers. It’s interesting to me that any of this might rise to the level of “incitement to racial hatred.” My initial reaction (tentatively expressed here) was that “incitement” would require a fair bit more than this, but like so much else in the States-side discussions of this hangama, maybe that’s resulting from a distinctively American view — perhaps I don’t yet fully appreciate what the British laws provide.
It does seem rather ironic, however, that the real incitement resulting from this program seems to have been hatred of Jade Goody, rather than racial hatred — so much so that the public gathering for her eviction was cancelled and people are speculating about her need for protection by the police or private security! [link]
I’ve a question – specially for the 2nd generation Indians here. I’ve heard the untouchable story many times from friends who’re not Indian/ 2nd gen and over Indians. I myself have lived in cities all my life (so I admit I’m not in tune with what goes on in some small village in rajasthan, for instance), but in spite of living in India for close to 26 years, and being part of an othodox Brahmin society, I’ve not seen people shunning someone as an untouchable in my life – EVER. The argument that what I’ve seen/ experienced may not be reality will stand – but is the practice still as rampant as it was some years ago – I think not.
Looks like I missed the actual question – why do you (I’m clubbing non-Indians/ 2nd Gen and above Indians together – no connotations please) think untouchability is still a big factor in India? What serves to fortify that image?
Respect is earned, not something you demand… specially by hiding the reality. It is cynical for the Indian government to start crying “racism” because someone in a stupid show said that India is a slum. Guess what? Most Indians live in abject poverty and have no water, or sanitary conditions. With all this talk about being the next superpower and having the nuclear bomb, the majority of people live in appalling conditions. This more offensive than what people say in a Big Brother. And I do go to India every year to visit my grandparents and family and have travelled North and South, so it is much more than what you read in your books. To be fair, India is defintely progressing, but a lot of people are getting behind… and this progress happens despite the government we have in India.
I’m personally not feeling this, “how dare you criticize the west when what happens in India is bla bla bla” The two are mutually exclusive. People act as if solving India’s caste issues (which are not totally unconnected to the West’s colonization of the country) will somehow magically cure the white racism that’s prevaled throughtout the world, and is responsible for much of the damage and oppression in the world.
Re #96:
I don’t agree with that. Look at the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S– sadly, the racist institution in America would never have given people of color the respect they deserved unless they demanded it themselves. And everyone, including brown folk, are all better off for it.
Re #97:
I agree with HMF. I don’t understand why people keep talking about the “racism in India” issue. I am not denying its importance (it definitely is a relevant issue), but what does that have to do with the fact that NOBODY -whether it is IN India or miles AWAY- should have to endure racism? Nobody should have to suffer, even if you’re a highly priveleged actress, and that’s that.
Are you serious? What does the caste system have to do with the West? Foreign rulers may have exploited caste divisions to their advantage but they were always there. If anything, aspects of Western thought may have helped in establishing laws outlawing caste.
I don’t understand why this matter has created such an enormous uproar that is vastly disproportionate to the actual amount of “racial abuse.”
Why do we hold white hicks to higher standards than a large number of educated middle class and upper class Indians who continue to observe the caste system? What about members of our own communities in North America and the UK who regularly make disparaging remarks about blacks and other races that I am very sure we’ve all heard ourselves? Of course, none of that justifies what happened but these loud complaints sound kind of hollow when we’ve got bigger problems.
What is with the white bashing the last few weeks on this and several other posts on Sepia Mutiny the last few weeks.
If any other race or group get bashed even 10% as whites on this board there would be an outrage.
Is due to the fact the almost all of the top 20 countries in the world are 51% or higher white population.