Posted on 01/17/2007 7:07:21 AM PST by quesney
LONDON (Reuters) - Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, a contestant on hit reality television show Celebrity Big Brother, finds herself at the centre of a storm over racism and bullying that has many Britons asking -- are we all bigots?
The 31-year-old, a major star in India but little known in Britain until now, will be one of the last people in the country to know that her treatment in the Big Brother house, which is cut off from the outside world, is front page news.
A record 13,000 complaints have been made to media watchdog Ofcom, politicians are weighing into the debate, the police are investigating e-mail threats against contestants and the row has spread to India where the movie industry is up in arms.
The actress has been called a "dog", one housemate said "she makes my skin crawl", people refused to learn her name, her accent has been mocked and she has been reduced to tears by a group of contestants ganging up on her.
But there have been no overtly racist attacks, prompting a debate in Britain about whether what viewers have been watching is racism or bullying or both.
"Racism is racism," Sunita Patel wrote to the Mirror tabloid. "Shilpa is from another country and they are taking advantage of her manners and general differences."
One contributor to Web site www.digitalspy.co.uk added: "As an Indian, I feel thoroughly ashamed. It seems racism is still rife in this country."
But many people disagree, arguing that mocking someone's accent does not constitute racism, and that it is Shetty's beauty and poise that has triggered the abuse, not her race.
"I think racism is probably a bit strong," Philip Lindsey wrote on the BBC's Web site. "I would consider it some fairly intense female rivalry, especially in such an unnaturally claustrophobic environment."
MIRROR OF A NATION?
What makes Big Brother uncomfortable viewing for some is the idea that its contestants reflect broader society.
Commentator Germaine Greer argued that Britons should not be surprised at Shetty's treatment, in a country where bigotry was widespread.
"This is a racist country," she said in the Guardian newspaper. "There is almost no inter-penetration of English and Indian cultures in Britain."
In the same newspaper author Hari Kunzru said a contestant's refusal to learn Shetty's name was "straightforwardly racist".
"This is what Big Brother is for. It holds a mirror up to national attitudes. If we don't like what we see, we ought to change," he said.
Finance Minister Gordon Brown, widely tipped to take over as prime minister from Tony Blair, was drawn into the debate on a trip to India on Wednesday.
"I understand that in the UK there have already been 10,000 complaints from viewers about these remarks which people rightly see as offensive," he told reporters in Bangalore.
"I want Britain to be seen as a country of fairness and tolerance ... and anything that detracts from that, I condemn."
Calls for action from Channel 4, which airs the show, have grown, some coming from unlikely sources like tabloid The Sun.
"This is prime-time telly, with millions of impressionable teens tuning in," the newspaper said. "Can Channel 4 turn a blind eye any longer? In a word, no."
Channel 4 is likely to have mixed feelings about the row. While it is under pressure to act, ratings for the main highlights show on Tuesday evening hit 4.5 million viewers, up from 3.5 million on Monday, the BBC reported.
And Shetty is now the bookmakers' favourite to win the show.
(Additional reporting by Sumeet Desai in BANGALORE)
Teeth are naturally an ivory color ie white with a touch of yellow. Badly yellowing teeth is due to smoking usually, not to bad dentistry.
Call it what it is, racism. Oh wait, both nations are majority white. Well maybe it's just a stereotype and a joke then.
I'm sure it is - its just that only Americans seem to get the joke. No one I know in Britain is more than even vaguely aware that such a stereotype exists..so how come it came about?
Do some Indian parents cause an outrage if their children date/engage Pakistanis? Or is racism only something found in the white Western world?
Of course not! What is militant islam's attitude to us other than blatant racism?
I'm also led to believe there is a lot of racism in Japan, especially against Koreans.
One of the girls, Danielle Lloyd, is actually a former Miss Great Britain and is very attractive. She is, however, thick as two short planks, which kind of detracts from the whole package.
Shilpa_Shetty.jpg? (34KB, MIME type: image/jpeg
)
Oh wait, both nations are majority white
Well Britain is, I'm not sure about Amercia.
Evidently, the ratio of dentists to the general population in much of the UK is very low and a problem for some. Besides, we have to razz you about something besides the bonnie prince. ;o)
Bonnie Prince? He looks like they crossed Ted Kennedy with Chelsea Clinton.
Oh...that explains it, it's a peta freak set up. They are going to claim that woman was abused, whether she was or not. Maybe the other contestants are even PETA freaks, too.
One is a French fancy one is German/Greek take your pick.
You are right, prejudiced is probably a better term.
Sort of like the difference between someone who doesn't like spiders, and someone who is completely psychotic about them.
Of course Indians are appalled by discrimination, being consumed with the equality found in Hinduism...
LOL.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.