Tribes try UK life for Channel 4

Aug 18, 2006 15:26

Tribes from remote parts of the world are to be brought to the UK by Channel 4 for a documentary series ( Read more... )

customs, pygmies, television, uk

Leave a comment

pbmnh_anthro August 18 2006, 22:42:26 UTC
Funnily enough, I had just finished posting this article to my own blog. Here is what I said:

I am not sure how I feel about this latest reality TV endeavor. On the one hand, this seems like another terrible and exploitative stunt in a long line of such TV programs. However, on the other hand, it presents a very interesting exercise in viewing our world through the eyes of those whom we usually study. Anthropologists have been living with these groups for years, but what happens when they live with us? What will they think of the purportedly "advanced" western world? Will they want to stay in the UK, or return to their regular lives? And, considering how connected the world is today, will they really be that shocked by what they see? I honestly do not know the answers to these questions, but I can just hope the producers of this show treat everyone involved with dignity and respected.

Reply

kabuki_no_kaze August 19 2006, 00:06:58 UTC
I think it might be the best damn cure for ethnocentrism the unwashed masses may ever recieve. And a highly amusing foreign vacation for the islanders, which is not to be sneezed at.

Reply

sonofzeal August 19 2006, 03:10:11 UTC
Here's the conundrum as I see it. I initially had a knee-jerk reaction that this was exploitive, but then I considered that if it is done tastefully, it might be alirght. Certainly, it won't be any more or less exploitive than when westerners go vacationing to learn about other cultures.

I guess I'll have to wait and see. Or read, rather, as I don't get the BBC.

Reply

beaconeer August 19 2006, 04:35:54 UTC
Ditto...However, one thing I am concerned about is, how will the trip and the exposure to bustling Western culture affect the future of the tribe? Will they continue to revere the Duke of Edinburgh? This is a vastly different scenario from strange visitors, and misunderstandings in circumstances where a group is cut off from their usual means of support can become larger in scope then they really should. I doubt the TV crew would really know how to deal with it, or desire to treat it with the time amd patience it requires. I think it should be done, and the cultural exchange would be extremely beneficial, but I think it should be done carefully, patiently, and diplomatically (non-sensationalist). I doubt it will be.

Reply

keishalojen July 17 2008, 05:33:24 UTC
  Funnily enough, it really split my book group, with some people really not enjoying it and others agreeing with me that it was an amazing achievement.

Reply


Leave a comment

Up