A Bloodless Hunger Game
During my vacation in Portugal I was half-forced to watch a couple of reality shows, something I normally avoid at all costs. But since I was visiting my elderly mother who loves these shows, I watched them with her. And—shame on me—got hooked.
When I first arrived, Big Brother was on its last couple weeks and right after the grand ending gala, another one started, The Secret Story (Casa dos Segredos). As I witnessed what was happening both in the “house” and among the commentators and audience, I couldn’t help but thinking that both games have a weird similarity to the Hunger Games.
A voluntary and emotionally bloody version of the famous dystopian series.
This group of people, of many different ages, voluntarily subject themselves to this game where people are pitted against each other while kept trapped in the same house, isolated from the outside world. Yes, the house is on the luxury side, there’s a pool and many other comforts that many people in this world can only dream of but within those walls and for approximately 3 months, human beings often forget their own humanity, their empathy, their common decency and morality to be the one and only victor (who usually wins quite a large amount of money and ends up with a career in television or other type of entertainment industry).
But the cruelty starts on the outside as the commentators, much like Caesar Flickerman, poke the wasp’s nest, sowing discord with every word and even suggesting reasons to stir the waters. Now, I understand this is supposed to be entertainment, but playing with human emotions, especially to the point of changing lives (not in the best way) and throwing people into near-despair should not be considered entertainment by any means.
Thus, my Hunger Game parallel.
In the fictional game, reluctant contestants are thrown at each other’s throats in a kill-or-be-killed race. The “prize” here is survival.
In reality shows like Big Brother, the very willing contestants are also thrown at each other’s throats in an only-the-nasty-survive race where the prize is monetary.
The problem is that as the audience votes, the dark side of humanity comes to the surface. The last Big Brother’s audience voted one of the nastiest contestants and her minion to the finals because they were enjoying the bullying and oral abuse she imposed on the other, much nicer, much more compassionate and decent ones. The country was shocked when in the end, the “nice” one won instead of the bully. Everyone expected the nasty one to win.
In the House of Secrets currently taking place, the public is yet again getting rid of the “nice” contestants and keeping those who are either obnoxious or morally corrupt because the later are more entertaining. I was flabbergasted when one of the female contestants’ fiancée (they had gotten engaged on camera right before she was accepted as a contestant, two weeks prior) was brought in and interviewed about how he felt as he watched his bride aggressively flirt with and confess her interest in another contestant.
To what level of hell must we drag other humans in order to be entertained? Does inflicting pain on others please us so much we forget what makes us human? Where’s the empathy? The compassion? Where’s the applause when someone does the right thing? Why are we rewarding bad behavior because it’s “fun” to watch?
What’s fun about watching a married man, father of two, cry because the other contestants are constantly on his case, putting him down, even calling him names and, in one case, threatening him with violence?
Just like in the fictional Hunger Games, people today are out for blood, be it the literal kind or metaphorical. Why are we confusing being a bully with being strong and assertive? It’s almost as if we have lost our sense of decency and we prefer to reward the bad instead of the good.
I personally can’t stand it and watching these “reality” shows depress me and make me lose faith in humanity. Now that I am back in the US I have no intention of watching any reality show at all (even though—again, shame on me—I am still keeping tabs on what’s happening at the House in Portugal, lol).
Now it’s your turn: what do you make of this? Do you enjoy these shows? Why or why not?
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