I haven't been watching Celebrity Big Brother so all the information that I have on the current racism row has come from a number of media outlets (and via BlogLines).
I have come to a few conclusions though.
- I don't understand why people are surprised by this. Do people really think that people in the UK aren't racist? If you're surprised by the opinions shown by the contestants then you really need to get out more.
- If the media are going to create an environment where people like Jade Goody are made into "celebrities" for no good reason (25th most influential person in the world!) then you can't possibly be surprised when the under-educated little morons start to believe that their ill-thought-out opinions are valid and important.
- The one thing that surprises me is the way that our xenophobic tabloid press are covering it. Littlejohn is constant sniping at foreigners and many Sun editorials contain thinly-veiled racism. But today they are all pretending that doesn't happen (relying on the goldfish-like memories of their readers) and promoting a vision of the UK where all races live togther happily.
I have never voted for a contestant in Big Brother. But right now I'm very tempted to do all I can to ensure that Shilpa Shetty wins. Well, anything short of actually phoning up and voting. Obviously.
I too am tempted to vote for the first time to ensure that Shilpa Shetty wins and I'm encouraged by the fact that Channel 4 has acknowledged that there will be many 'protest votes' and has therefore decided to donate the profits to charity:
The media attention generated by Celebrity Big Brother this week is likely to produce a higher than usual number of votes for the Friday night eviction.
On this occasion Channel 4 has decided that all of the profits made from the voting lines will be donated to the charities sponsored by the housemates.