Over the past few weeks, whenever we picked up a local tabloid, the pages were flooded with reports on the ongoing reality TV show, Big Boss Season 2. From the incident of Monica Bedi crying to the politician Sanjay Nirupam insulting his fellow contestants, the Indian audiences were very much hooked on to the show.
Somehow, people found a lot of joy in seeing the troubles of other people. Some people said, that it is entertainment. But, I see nothing entertaining in people being stripped naked emotionally in front of an entire nation. Is it something that has arisen over the past decade?
Well, actually it has been a very integral part of the entire human existence. Remember the ancient Romans, when the toga wearing citizens used to enjoy gladiators spill blood on the grounds of the Colosseum. With each wound inflicted on the warriors, the crowds cheered and applauded the efforts.
During the medieval times, public execution was an integral part of social life. People through rotten fruits and vegetables at the accused to punish them. They cheered as the executioner used to tie up the prisoners to the guillotine.
But, humans have matured in the last century. They believe in peace and non-violence. We do not like inflicting physical pains on others. We would rather see them break down emotionally. We would have them cry and speak about their personal lives.
We enjoy the judges in MTV Roadies abusing at the participants. We laugh when the judges of Indian Idol comment on people's singing. One can't help but wonder, why we enjoy such content?
Is it because it gives us a vent to our frustration of our daily lives, where we go through equal amount of emotional turmoil. In that case, are we laughing at ourselves?
With the media being insensitive to such issues and actually feeding on the sadistic tendencies of humans to increase the TRPs, this trend doesn't show any sign of stopping. Is it just human to be sadist? If that is the case, then I guess i am better at not being much of a human.
