Shakespeare, the BNP and Big Brother
Last week we carried J D Atkinson’s review of Colorblind Shakespeare, a book on cross-race casting of Shakespeare’s plays. On Sunday we ran an article on the case of Simone Clarke, the English National Ballet principal dancer outed as a member of the British National Party by The Guardian. Now in the last 24 hours the news has been dominated by the alleged racist abuse of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on Big Brother, the Channel 4 “reality” TV show.
The latter is turning out to be an international incident, with protests in the streets of India and comment from Anand Sharma, India’s junior minister for external affairs.
I say “alleged racist abuse” because I have some doubt about whether or not the comments which I have heard - and I’ve only seen the news programmes: I haven’t actually watched BB itself - are racist. They could certainly be construed that way. What they undoubtedly are is abusive, unintelligent and bullying.
The thing is - as any secondary school teacher will tell you - this kind of thing is happening every day in schools throughout the country (and probably in workplaces too). The Jade Goodys of this world - not very intelligent, not very attractive, unable to relate to others except on the most basic of levels, scared of people who are different, having little feeling of self-worth and therefore aggressive in attempting to bolster what little they do have - need people they can despise and attack because it makes them feel good. The victim may be of a different race or colour, have different beliefs, come from a different class, be more intelligent or hardworking: it doesn’t really matter, so long as they are different and vulnerable.
They need their supporters. Usually, because of their aggression, they have strong personalities and attract others who are weaker but have the same lack of self-confidence. These suporters, like Danielle Lloyd and Jo O’Meara, follow the stronger’s lead. It is, in fact, likely that if Jade Goody wasn’t there, they would behave in a totally different way towards Shilpa Shetty. Indeed, one of Lloyd’s friends, Leeandra Anderson who is of mixed race, told the BBC, “I’ve known Danielle for five years now and not once has she had a racist undertone in her voice, ever.”
If there is racism there, it is not an ideological racism: it’s the sort which arises from the need to have someone to look down upon, to claim is inferior to you, to despise so that you don’t have to despise yourself. It’s the bullying reaction of the small-minded (in every sense).
Hopefully this is a wake-up call to those who promote (and those who are taken in by) the cult of celebrity!
January 22nd, 2007 at 04:05 am
I agree that the Big Brother affair was blown all out of proportion. However, it has not become an “international incident” here in India, where it seems to have received much less attention than it did in the UK. What street protests? It’s always possible that some political thugs took out a procession, but they have nothing better to do with their underemployed followers. I didn’t hear of protests myself, and not one of my approximately 1,500 newsmongering & eager-to-chat neighbours has bothered to mention it.
British Asians & Asian Americans, however, seem to be more deeply affected by the issue, and I think that’s really at the heart of matter.
Finally, Goody is hardly one of the wretched of the earth, even if she’s not a movie star. In any case, she seems to have agreed with the original charges, while Shetty has retreated. There’s a nice recipe for reconciliation.
Meenakshi
January 22nd, 2007 at 09:05 am
What street protests? you ask.
In Patna (Shetty’s home town, I believe) protesters burned an effigy of the producers of the show - interestingly not of Jade Goody!
January 29th, 2007 at 05:29 am
Yes, sorry, you’re right–I saw a photograph after I posted my blog (online, as it didn’t appear in papers where I live). There’s been quite a bit of (level-headed) commentary in our English-language papers but nothing on the scale of what’s been written & debated in the UK. I wonder why this silly incident strikes such a raw nerve.
January 29th, 2007 at 05:30 am
PS, also wanted to say thanks for running the newsletter; it’s a great source of information.
MP