The Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has been unfortunate enough to become a victim of bullying and accused racism in one of the UK’s most vapid reality TV shows - Celebrity Big Brother. Read all about it here.
This has blown up into one of the most criticised TV programmes over here in recent times, with Ofcom, the communications regulator, registering over 14,500 complaints and the show’s sponsor threating to quit.
Last night, the three girls accused of bullying Shilpa were sitting in the lounge as she swung past with a pot containing the remnants of a chicken dish she had cooked. As they tried to prevent her from doing it, she threw the remaining bones, oranges and spices down the toilet and clogged it up in the process.
The girls (understandably) got really annoyed with her and said a few more nasty things about how she never has to do any housework in India and doesn’t even know how to make a bed.
It looks like the real problem here is ignorance and not racism. The three bullies in the show have exposed themselves as completly ignorant of the lives of many Indians.
While National Geographic images of poor India are aplenty, the truth is that many Indians lead a comfortable life at home with domestic help - chauffeurs, cooks, nannies and cleaners. With high illiteracy and low labour costs, this is not a luxury for the super wealthy alone.
Take me for example, I never did any housework in India or even entered a kitchen. Once in England, I had to navigate my way around the basics of housework… but not until I had blown up a tin of baked beans in the microwave, served an uncooked meal, burnt a frozen pizza and yes, clogged the toilet with leftovers.
I am a mere ordinary mortal. Shilpa Shetty on the other hand is a Bollywood superstar. What do they expect?
The whole episode was cringeworthy to watch. But by picking on Shilpa the three girls are achieving little more than exposing themselves as the under-travelled, culturally challenged, thugs they really are.
7 Comments
I read it this morning….what a shame, really…I felt bad for Shilpa Shetty, she must be at her wit’s end trying to cope with things she cannot control, as for those 3, I figured it’s jealousy too..combined with ignorance..and lots of Bullying.
Hope it all ends well.
Trupti
Great reading your post…firstly let me say I don’t watch Big Brother…but snippets of the episodes have been aired…agree with you about the ignorance of some of the contestants…and agree the 3 girls are clearly cultural challenged…but that’s no excuse to bully and harsh…when it comes to racism…well I think its borderline…as an example…they cannot refer to Shilpa as an ‘indian’…for god sakes have the decency to refer to someone you live with, with their name…nor should they denigrate someone because they eat with their hands….so does a large population of on this earth…I believe just because one does not understand another culture…one should not belittle it…so I think its more then simply ignorance…its lack of respect for another culture and to me bordering on being a racist…anyway just my humble thoughts….thanks for the post…
I heard that too.Who would throw the chicken in the toilet?! That is really dumb! Oh well!
Yes,I didn’t cook or drive in India either but had to do it when I moved to England.Lot of ignorance is around everywhere.Media always shows the poor Indians so how would a lay American or British know any other way.It is sad.Hope she gets out without much damage!
hai Mallika!!
Ya its such a disgrace right!!!Shilpa is also partly to blame…Once she’s realised they are hostile,she should try and avoid those situations instead of provoking them…like yesterday about the oxo cubes,she could have just asked how many they took instead of making such a big issue about it.also about the chicken roast…once they said 2 hrs…she could have just listened to people who know better about oven instead of going on and on about it…but the other girls are at more at fault by using their own method of abusing and swearing!!!
it was so sad to see all this on reality TV..
I actually think I am more worked up about them calling her mannish for bleaching the pelt. I’d rather be desi and pretty underneath hairy (well, I am a troll, but some women are pretty underneath all the hair) than be a fugly hairless meanie.
Even Aish Rai has admitted to having to deal with hair removal and she’s way prettier than anyone who’ll ever be on Big Brother.
I haven’t seen this show and don’t watch others of this type but I often wonder how much of the abusive situations they show are “put on” to get ratings or attention and how much is real. In this day and age when most people are at least sufficiently aware of how bad it looks to be overtly prejudiced, I have to sincerely wonder how anyone can be clueless about coming across as a bigot. I know they may have such feelings but most of them don’t at on them for fear of censure.
I think all the involved parties are told to let loose with their worst inclinations in order to ramp up the drama. It’s hard to see any of them as victims if such is the case.
I haven’t watched this show, and when I first heard about the incident I thought it was a joke. It was just so awful - the setup, the bullying, etc - that it couldn’t be for real….could it?
Unfortunately it could. This show - and others like it - thrives on highlighting ignorance and conflict. Shipa should have known better than to get into this bed of snakes…