'Big Brother' Racism Row Sours UK-India Relations

Karthik · 01-18-2007, 09:48 AM

Quote:

'Big Brother' Racism Row Sours UK-India Relations

Contestants on the British reality TV show 'Celebrity Big Brother' have been accused of racism against fellow housemate Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. The row has now spread to India, where newspapers have criticized the show and effigies have been burned in protest.

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has allegedly been the victim of racist abuse on the UK's "Celebrity Big Brother."
Lock a bunch of celebrities together in a house under constant television scrutiny and force them to compete for popularity and conflict is bound to ensue. But the amount of venom that has been spouted against Indian Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has outraged viewers of the British TV reality show "Celebrity Big Brother" and is now causing tension between the UK and India.

Indian newspapers featured the story on their front pages for a second day Thursday, while TV news channels ran clips of Shetty, who has a devoted following in India, in tears. Admirers of the 31-year-old actress burned effigies in protest. India has asked the UK to check whether discrimination laws had been broken in the bullying.

British Chancellor Gordon Brown, visiting India with the aim of improving UK-India relations, condemned the actress's treatment. "I want Britain to be seen as a country of fairness and tolerance," said Brown, who is widely seen as a successor to Prime Minister Tony Blair. "Anything detracting from this, I condemn."

In the UK's House of Commons, Tony Blair also condemned racism in response to a question from Keith Vaz, a Labour party member of parliament of Indian origin. Blair admitted he had not actually seen the program, however.

However the Hindustan Times argued in an editorial that racism was a problem in India as well as in the UK. "Discrimination on the basis of color is ingrained in the psyche of most Indians," it wrote, citing the caste system as an example of institutionalized racism.

The British television station Channel 4, which broadcasts the show, and TV regulator Ofcom have received more than 21,000 complaints about how Shetty is being treated -- the most ever received about a British TV show.

REUTERS
Fans of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty in Patna, India protest her treatment on the reality show. The sign on the effigy reads "Down! Down! Organizers of Big Brother!"
In the show "Big Brother," a group of people is locked in a "house" -- a purpose-built complex of rooms and a garden -- and are voted off one by one by viewers until one person, the winner, remains. The contestants are filmed by hidden cameras, and the footage can be watched on the Internet, with highlights broadcast on TV each evening.

The celebrity version of the show is widely regarded as a way for minor celebrities to publicize themselves or revive their flagging careers. Among the celebrities who have participated in the current series are veteran film director Ken Russell, American singer Leo Sayer and singer Jermaine Jackson, the brother of Michael Jackson. Previous contestants have included feminist author Germaine Greer, and British musicians Goldie and Bez, who won the 2005 series.

Shetty has been repeatedly reduced to tears during the current series by a clique of fellow contestants, led by Jade Goody. Goody qualified to be a contestant on "Celebrity Big Brother" by virtue of her celebrity status achieved during an earlier series of the non-celebrity "Big Brother." Ironically, Goody herself was abused over her weight and lack of education while a contestant in the earlier series.

"You might be some princess in f***ing Neverland but I don't give a s**t," Goody shouted at Shetty in an argument over stock cubes for cooking. "You're a liar and a fake."

Another contestant, pop musician Jo O'Meara, said Indians were thin because they undercooked their food. O'Meara refused to eat chicken cooked by Shetty, commenting that Shetty's cooking was responsible for her "getting the s**ts."

Contestant Jackiey Budden -- the mother of Jade Goody -- referred to Shetty as "the Indian" after not being able to pronounce Shetty's name correctly. Another contestant, glamor model Danielle Lloyd, said "They eat with their hands in India, don't they? Or is that China? You don't know where those hands have been." Lloyd later commented that Shetty should "f*** off home."

Contestant Jack Tweed also called Shetty a "f***ing ****", with the second word bleeped out. This was widely reported to have been "****" -- a British term of abuse for people from the Indian sub-continent. However this was later denied by the producers, who stated that the word used was in fact "c**t".

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Shetty has now said on the program that her treatment is racially motivated. During a discussion with housemate Cleo Rocos, who disagreed that the abuse was racially-motivated, Shetty said: "It is, I'm telling you." Before the series began, Shetty had said that she had "zero expectations," adding that "The only thing I really hope to keep is my self-respect and my dignity."

Channel 4 has played down the accusations, explaining the conflict in terms of "a cultural and class clash" between Shetty and her abusers and denying that there had been "overt racial abuse." Ironically the contestants themselves are unaware of the fuss which the series has caused, as they are not allowed access to the media while in the Big Brother "house."

The ill wind of the row appears, however, to be blowing certain people some good. The TV show's ratings have gone up as a result of the controversy and Shetty is now predicted to win the contest.

Linkhttp://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,460589,00.html

The good thing about this is that it has exposed the racist mindset of some Britons for all Indians and much of the world to see.

I mean, some of the things being shouted at in the show about Indians in general makes me sick.

My own cousin, who was on a research scholarship on nanotechnology to the UK, returned home after barely six months, because the unbearable racist slur that she had to endure there.

It is mark of how deep and mature the Indian polity has become that several Indian newspapers today ran articles how even we Indians, though not may be not racist, are obsessed about fair skin.

India was under vassalage before. But not anymore.

I'll really be glad to listen to what our British members of WAB have to say on this.

Callmecur · 01-18-2007, 09:53 AM

I admit to watching this show (yes, such a sad man am I) and it seems to me to be more bullying than any racial overtones being directed at Shilpa. The three British girls are all from the British underclass and cannot accept that Shilpa is educated, beautiful and compassionate whereas the girls are just stupid and follow the fat one (Jade) like sheep. Give me Shilpa above the 3 idiots any time. Oh, and I personally think it is a storm in a teacup, there are more serious issues going on in the world at this time.

pdf27 · 01-18-2007, 09:57 AM

Concur. Big Brother is car-crash TV where they try to set up personality conflicts and the like, and are generally s***-stirring non stop. The more trouble they can start the better - witness George Galloway pretending to be a cat and this case of a well educated Indian girl being put in a house with a bunch of English girls who make two short planks look slender. Trying to draw wider conclusions from it isn't smart.

Karthik · 01-18-2007, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callmecur

I admit to watching this show (yes, such a sad man am I) and it seems to me to be more bullying than any racial overtones being directed at Shilpa. The three British girls are all from the British underclass and cannot accept that Shilpa is educated, beautiful and compassionate whereas the girls are just stupid and follow the fat one (Jade) like sheep. Give me Shilpa above the 3 idiots any time. Oh, and I personally think it is a storm in a teacup, there are more serious issues going on in the world at this time.

Thank you for telling us your views Callmecur.

I concede that there are far more important things to discuss, but I hope you do understand that it is often these sort of sensitive things that linger in the minds of ordinary people - who might form an opinion about other cultures and countries.

Karthik · 01-18-2007, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdf27

Concur. Big Brother is car-crash TV where they try to set up personality conflicts and the like, and are generally s***-stirring non stop. The more trouble they can start the better - witness George Galloway pretending to be a cat and this case of a well educated Indian girl being put in a house with a bunch of English girls who make two short planks look slender. Trying to draw wider conclusions from it isn't smart.

Some would say that because the show, by its very nature, forces its participants to reveal their true colours.

soutie · 01-18-2007, 10:16 AM

i totaly agree with Karthick(**** sorry bad spelling)when i look at that fat slag
the has been from a cheesy pop group and an ex-model who has 2 brain cells
it makes me sick to the stomach,i lived along the working class in londen and these girls give the working class a bad name they are nothing more than trailer park trash.Shilpi is a lady she is beautifull well mannered fit to be a kings wife,i said to my wife she is far to good for the likes of me.I mean this
with the utmost respect and speaking as a foot soldier she can put her shoes under my bed anytime.However Channel four must have known these girls where racist towards indian people,how did they choose them in the first place.I know one thing for sure that those girls will not be able to go their curry house again,i am not born in britain but hold a british passport,i would like to apologize on behalf of the good people in england towards shilpi and the indian people that not all brits are like that some unfortunatly are upper class and working class

Karthik · 01-18-2007, 10:18 AM

You're calling me thick ? LOL.

soutie · 01-18-2007, 10:40 AM

sooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Srirangan · 01-18-2007, 10:43 AM

'sniff 'sniff

Sorry but I smell a publicity stunt.

percentage_plyr · 01-18-2007, 10:47 AM

no.i dont think its a 'scripted stunt'.
channel 4 face 22,000 plus complaints.....a storm brewing in house of commons and elsewhere around the world......and their main sponsor threatening to withdraw.

they cant be so foolish as to do this willingly.

Srirangan · 01-18-2007, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by percentage_plyr

no.i dont think its a 'scripted stunt'.
channel 4 face 22,000 plus complaints.....a storm brewing in house of commons and elsewhere around the world......and their main sponsor threatening to withdraw.

they cant be so foolish as to do this willingly.

Yea yea .. any press is good press!

Srirangan · 01-18-2007, 10:52 AM

If I was marketing for Big Brother, I'd definitely try something similar. Hey, if you are paying an Indian actress big money, you better make big use of it.

The Indian community is generally wealthy and is significantly large in the U.K. and don't tell me that there isn't a "buzz" that has gotten created now!

kams · 01-18-2007, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callmecur

Give me Shilpa above the 3 idiots any time. .

Lol you have to compete with a billion Indians for Shilpa

Frigging row was on CNN today morning...nice publicity for BB.

Karthik · 01-18-2007, 11:53 AM

I think what Sri's saying is interesting.

But if all this was carefully crafted, I think they might have gone a bit too far. The main sponsor to BB has withdrawn its sponsorship, saying racism was against its brand value. Its reached all the way upto the Blair and the House of commons.

Gordon Brown, I didn't even know that he was visiting India. Now its brought him to the front pages.

If this is a publicity stunt, then its absolutely cheap.

The point I'm trying to make is, had this been an anti-semitic, the watchdog would've acted. But because this about a '****', its nothing more than 'cultural differences'.

Cultural differences? The only difference I can see is that between the sane and the haughty!

Ray · 01-18-2007, 12:14 PM

It gives me immense pleasure to find that the British society in general has condemned the rather unfortunate incident, including the British friends out here on WAB.

I maybe jaundiced because of my father being from the British Indian Army and my public school education, but I always had a soft corner for the British character qualities for uprightness, being sticklers in maintaining form and a sense of fairplay and justice. I,too, have imbibed these qualities as also the sterling qualities of Indian society of yore, where respect for elders, family honour (without honour killing), service before self etc are part of life.

I am deeply shocked at the degradation of the high standards of British society that I see of late. Too much of PC, egalitarianism and guttersnipe attitude.

I had commented earlier on another issue here, where the British came in looking rather poor and had stated that it was but an example of the lower classes and not British society in general and thus one could not blame the British. Surprisingly, I was taken to task by the Britishers themselves!

I will always maintain that a charwoman cannot have the decorum, dignity and grace as the Queen of Great Britain, who is such a wonderful lady!

A charwoman can never elevate herself from the floor that she sweeps. That is her karma and that is her environment.

I maintain that one's attitude is based on one's genes, environment and upbringing and station, even though it may appear unpalatable to many.

I am glad that our (Indian) politicians have been matured and have downplayed the issue.

These women who have bullied or been racists are the lowest strata of British society and I have no reasons to disbelieve the same. It is surprising as to how such scums could be on British national Television! But then, it takes all sorts to make the society. They also serve who let down their society and their Nation!

01-18-2007, 09:57 AM	#3 (permalink)
pdf27 Contributor Join Date: 06-05-06 Location: UK Posts: 538 Country:	Concur. Big Brother is car-crash TV where they try to set up personality conflicts and the like, and are generally s***-stirring non stop. The more trouble they can start the better - witness George Galloway pretending to be a cat and this case of a well educated Indian girl being put in a house with a bunch of English girls who make two short planks look slender. Trying to draw wider conclusions from it isn't smart. __________________ Rule 1: Never trust a Frenchman Rule 2: Treat all members of the press as French

01-18-2007, 10:43 AM	#9 (permalink)
Srirangan *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 08-06-04 Location: New Delhi Posts: 3,030 Country:	'sniff 'sniff Sorry but I smell a publicity stunt. __________________ I rant, therefore I am.

01-18-2007, 10:47 AM	#10 (permalink)
percentage_plyr Contributor Join Date: 05-12-06 Location: india Posts: 478 Country:	no.i dont think its a 'scripted stunt'. channel 4 face 22,000 plus complaints.....a storm brewing in house of commons and elsewhere around the world......and their main sponsor threatening to withdraw. they cant be so foolish as to do this willingly. __________________ ALL RIGHT RESERVED, ALL WRONG AVENGED. ......and on the 8th day,God said,"OK,Murphy,now you take over!"

01-18-2007, 12:14 PM	#15 (permalink)
Ray Postmaster General *Military Professional* Join Date: 08-20-03 Posts: 27,117 Country:	It gives me immense pleasure to find that the British society in general has condemned the rather unfortunate incident, including the British friends out here on WAB. I maybe jaundiced because of my father being from the British Indian Army and my public school education, but I always had a soft corner for the British character qualities for uprightness, being sticklers in maintaining form and a sense of fairplay and justice. I,too, have imbibed these qualities as also the sterling qualities of Indian society of yore, where respect for elders, family honour (without honour killing), service before self etc are part of life. I am deeply shocked at the degradation of the high standards of British society that I see of late. Too much of PC, egalitarianism and guttersnipe attitude. I had commented earlier on another issue here, where the British came in looking rather poor and had stated that it was but an example of the lower classes and not British society in general and thus one could not blame the British. Surprisingly, I was taken to task by the Britishers themselves! I will always maintain that a charwoman cannot have the decorum, dignity and grace as the Queen of Great Britain, who is such a wonderful lady! A charwoman can never elevate herself from the floor that she sweeps. That is her karma and that is her environment. I maintain that one's attitude is based on one's genes, environment and upbringing and station, even though it may appear unpalatable to many. I am glad that our (Indian) politicians have been matured and have downplayed the issue. These women who have bullied or been racists are the lowest strata of British society and I have no reasons to disbelieve the same. It is surprising as to how such scums could be on British national Television! But then, it takes all sorts to make the society. They also serve who let down their society and their Nation! __________________ "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination." I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to. HAKUNA MATATA Last edited by Ray : 01-18-2007 at 12:22 PM.

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01-18-2007, 09:53 AM	#2 (permalink)
Callmecur *Military Professional* Join Date: 01-09-07 Location: Eastern England Posts: 228 Country:	I admit to watching this show (yes, such a sad man am I) and it seems to me to be more bullying than any racial overtones being directed at Shilpa. The three British girls are all from the British underclass and cannot accept that Shilpa is educated, beautiful and compassionate whereas the girls are just stupid and follow the fat one (Jade) like sheep. Give me Shilpa above the 3 idiots any time. Oh, and I personally think it is a storm in a teacup, there are more serious issues going on in the world at this time.

01-18-2007, 10:16 AM	#6 (permalink)
soutie *Military Professional* Join Date: 01-05-07 Location: spain Posts: 415	i totaly agree with Karthick(**** sorry bad spelling)when i look at that fat slag the has been from a cheesy pop group and an ex-model who has 2 brain cells it makes me sick to the stomach,i lived along the working class in londen and these girls give the working class a bad name they are nothing more than trailer park trash.Shilpi is a lady she is beautifull well mannered fit to be a kings wife,i said to my wife she is far to good for the likes of me.I mean this with the utmost respect and speaking as a foot soldier she can put her shoes under my bed anytime.However Channel four must have known these girls where racist towards indian people,how did they choose them in the first place.I know one thing for sure that those girls will not be able to go their curry house again,i am not born in britain but hold a british passport,i would like to apologize on behalf of the good people in england towards shilpi and the indian people that not all brits are like that some unfortunatly are upper class and working class

01-18-2007, 10:18 AM	#7 (permalink)
Karthik Seeker of Rivendell *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 12-15-04 Posts: 1,569 Country:	You're calling me thick ? LOL.

01-18-2007, 10:40 AM	#8 (permalink)
soutie *Military Professional* Join Date: 01-05-07 Location: spain Posts: 415	sooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

01-18-2007, 10:52 AM	#12 (permalink)
Srirangan *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 08-06-04 Location: New Delhi Posts: 3,030 Country:	If I was marketing for Big Brother, I'd definitely try something similar. Hey, if you are paying an Indian actress big money, you better make big use of it. The Indian community is generally wealthy and is significantly large in the U.K. and don't tell me that there isn't a "buzz" that has gotten created now!

01-18-2007, 11:53 AM	#14 (permalink)
Karthik Seeker of Rivendell *Senior Contributor* Join Date: 12-15-04 Posts: 1,569 Country:	I think what Sri's saying is interesting. But if all this was carefully crafted, I think they might have gone a bit too far. The main sponsor to BB has withdrawn its sponsorship, saying racism was against its brand value. Its reached all the way upto the Blair and the House of commons. Gordon Brown, I didn't even know that he was visiting India. Now its brought him to the front pages. If this is a publicity stunt, then its absolutely cheap. The point I'm trying to make is, had this been an anti-semitic, the watchdog would've acted. But because this about a '**', its nothing more than 'cultural differences'. Cultural differences? The only difference I can see is that between the sane and the haughty!

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