Friday, June 20, 2008

Roadies Are Smarter

I know the sentence is incomplete and grammatically incorrect but given the subject(s) of this post I am guessing it does not matter at all. At the outset let me admit (please no snickers) that I did catch of few episodes of Roadies while it was on. And no it was not because I thought that the demented juvenile delinquents were my role models or smart, neither did I think that the format had an iota of adventure, thrill or goose bumpy moments. I just watched it because I was intrigued by it all. I was intrigued by how any one could take the insane and incessantly screeching bald guy seriously or how could this group of “roadies” be so incredibly dumb or whether their Attention Deficit Disorder had actually been captured as a pathological condition.

Anyway to sum it up I was intrigued, they were dumb and I caught a few episodes on the telly. Thankfully the show ended

I was flicking through channels on day and I stopped at something called “splitsvilla” on guess what….yes, MTV. I know, damn that intrigue, I mean can you blame me, “splitsvilla” does sound intriguing. And I know I have no only else to blame but myself and my intrigue for the onslaught on my senses that followed after that.

It suffices to say that those young girls made the Roadies look smarter. Considering their inability to construct sentences that had more than three words it is safe to conclude that they were inarticulate. They had more exclamation marks than words or ideas to express themselves and to top it all they were not even pretty!!! From whatever I could make out in those 5 minutes the format of the show involves girls being dumped week after week by two losers of the Roadies. Anyone who agrees to participate in that is an undisputed nincompoop without an iota of self respect or dignity. Or more scarily without anything better to learn, or without any other rainbow to chase or any more cherished friendships to make and nurture……

Before you all conclude that I am being judgmental please sample what happened in those five minutes.

Nincompoop 1: She called me a “sweet bitch”

The “tortured yet outwardly smiling and minting loads of ka ching” Host: Wow that is something, but did she really mean it?

Nincompoop 2: No I meant it in a good way.

Nincompoop 1: *%$$$$###

Nincompoop 2: &*^&$&^#&^%#

The host: *%*($@)&$@#$$%&

Basically it was all Bull shit…

The only thing I can safely say after those five minutes is that these girls have their priorities misplaced. At 17 you don’t need to be told that a complete stranger judging and “dumping” you on bizarre standards is what will write your destiny. At 17 you need to know that you will become your own person, you will chase your own rainbow, you will chart your own destiny and finally people who care will never judge you. I am feeling sad to report that the girls were superficial, one-dimensional and without a doubt completely disconnected from reality. And that brings me to the point of the tirade: reality television today is NOT REAL.

Reality Television is as artificial as the much maligned K Serials on the tube. I don’t think I need to write about the fact that none of the shows deal with anything REAL, to top it all the emotions on the each one of them are also completely FAKE. Fake laughter, fake tears and fake excitement. What petrifies me is that is builds “Fake Role-models”. The out of tune “Indian Idol” who wins because of regional biases, the hysterical dancing starlet, the emaciated size 0 aspiring model, the conniving Roadie…. are these the real role models? Can I please get the “reel” role models of RDB back?

But like always I am overreacting. It is comforting to know that there is also the Hunt for India's Environmentalist on NDTV Green, that kids came out in support of handling the Aarushi case with dignity and finally that there is a kid who forces his mom to switch off all the lights for an hour every week.

5 comments:

LoonyTalk said...

First of all, my sympathy with you for enduring the idiocy of the idiot box...
Nevertheless when was reality TV supposed to be real? It is as scripted as the K-tortures.
Back home my favorite show on the telly was BBC Mastermind that wasn't exactly a reality show, but was a lot of fun! :)
Finally, if you think RDB had "heroes", read on Sagarika Ghose's take on the subject in her blog on IBN Live (Google "Rang de Bizarre" and you'll find it)

Anonymous said...

True they are all scripted and eventually I think that most of the television would be a brain drainer, if it is not now...watch it..for its morphinic properties!!
...nice perspective on RDB @ Sagarika Ghose's blog

LoonyTalk said...

Don't tell me this anonymous comment is by the blog owner... :o

Anonymous said...

Nay loony...respect anonymity...99% of the world's population is anonymous....beat that ;)

Nandita said...

Hey this is owner of the blog commenting in her real name... but really curious to who "anonymous" is.. it is rather painful to not know the identity of 50% of your loyal reader base.
Agree with both of you that reality tv is scripted and no really expects anything real from it...
However do not agree with most of what Sagarika Ghosh's POV on RDB