The story has made the headlines in India, and a small-scale protest in the eastern Indian city of Patna saw the burning of an effigy of the Jade Goody. The citizens of India were angry and disappointed in the way channel 4 had let Shilpa receive the unacceptable treatment. The National Bullying helpline has reported a rise in phone calls since the alleged bullying on Celebrity Big Brother. The topic had become a major worldwide debate, figures raised drastically with 3.5 million viewers tuning in on Monday, 4.5 million on Tuesday and 5.2 million on Wednesday.
The topic has reached the House of Commons earlier in the week, the alleged accusations have caused the Indian government to step in, and have their say. Gordon Brown has got involved and has assured the Indian government that Britain prides itself on “tolerance and fairness".
Channel 4 was told by Ofcom producers that they had a couple of weeks to respond to the thousands of complaints. Channel 4 stressed that racist behaviour and language is not tolerated under any circumstances in the Big Brother house. The government also felt the need to apply pressure to Channel 4 stating that if no action was taken to stop the racism the show will be stopped.
However viewing figures rose drastically throughout the controversy of Big Brother, this shows that audiences are fascinated by the arguing, and conflict that went on in the house. It is evidence that the public love to watch conflicts and disagreements.
Personally I believe Shilpa was a victim of bullying and racism, and that is not acceptable, I think channel 4 should have intervened earlier and try to resolve the issue quickly. Some of the comments made offended me and to see how upset and distraught Shilpa got was not nice.
I think the media were right in making this event into a big issue, racism is not nice, and should not be tolerated by anyone. Many people would argue that the issue had been blown out of proportion but I feel the media were right in showing people what was being said and done in the house. It is not right how reality TV shows can ruin somebody’s life and career. Every person has a right to their own personal time and space, but reality TV shows are taking away this right! This is not fair.
Reality TV has a major impact in the world we live in. Many people seem to be fascinated by these shows that involve watching people carrying out normal everyday activities. I feel there should be stricter rules over reality T.V. Shows like “Big Brother”, “Im a celebrity… get me out of here” etc have become an important part of television in many peoples life’s. I think reality TV is like reality, the swearing, bullying, laughing this is all reality. We all know what goes on behind closed doors, but do we really want to see this on T.V?
