After wave of protests, Arab "Big Brother" taken off the air
Bahrain (AsiaNews) On March 1 MBC (Middle East Broadcasting Centre) suspended the airing of "Al-Rayes" ("The President"), the Arab version of the "Big Brother" reality show which had begun last Feb. 22.
MBC was the first Arab TV network to broadcast the progam, a reality show born 5 years ago and now watched by 2 billion people worldwide. However, at the same time, MBC now becomes the first in the world to cut transmission of the series after 5000 people protested against the show (which they termed "Brother Sin") last Friday.
Controversy concerning the reality show exploded into parliamentary hearings and accusations against the United Arab Emirates' minister of communications. The heart of the scandal stemmed from the mixed setting in which the show's contestants lived, where both single men and women slept under the same roof.
The precautions taken by the show's producer, in creating to separate female and male quarters, served little to soothe the anger of Islamic fundamentalists, even if in TV cameras were forbidden in bathrooms. The Arab version of the Big Brother was accused of going "against Islamic and Arab values and traditions".
Contrary to expectations, the reality show was not warmly received by Arab TV viewers, by those young in age. There was no enthusiasm or curiosity to spy on the house's inhabitants. A survey conducted by an Arab newspaper showed that 95% of people were against the Arab version of the show.
The reasons for people's refusal to watch the program are not only of a religious nature.
People were turned off by the program since show is viewed by many as lacking a cultural basis, of dealing with a context that has nothing to do with daily life.
Arab citizens were reluctant to follow the show not based on nationalistic sentiments against a western television program otherwise it would be impossible to explain the success of South American soap operas in Islamic countries. (PB)
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18/04/2018 20:18
