How do you know if something is right?
We shall get back to this in a bit.
I’ve been meaning to talk about this but never had the words or the courage , but the more ‘these’ new shows keep coming, the more I realise I need to shed some light on issues that really matter.
Now, I know and (as a little disclaimer) not everyone has vested interest in the building of an outstanding nation, that is, a nation with people of high standards and excellence. And, that’s cool, totally understandable. Look around you, who’s doing the most to see other people do great? This is no one’s job, it is a collective effort to contribute to the greater good of the society, and it is not happening, at least at its greatest but does that mean we can just watch mediocre take over? Obviously not.
Am I fit to talk about this?
Listen, I was raised by a TV, like many other children who’s parents left to go work or handle other things, TV played a big role in my life and I’m sure in others as well. I can also bet, it is doing the same right about now.
I further studied Film and TV, with communication and philosophy as extra majors, so I know how messages flow from both ends. I know the difference between what can be right and when a society is really pushing it. Having kickstarted my career at SABC Entertainment, as an Assistant Commissioning Editor (or Content Officer), I further learnt a whole lot about the art of creating TV shows.
Fast forward that to this day, I consult with producers as a development producer, a digital strategist and an all round content specialist, and as they say, the rest is history.
Why do we need to talk about the rise of these shows?
In simple words, Emo-tainment shows do not contribute any good to society. This is a sub-genre within entertainment, Emotainment, a noun means an amusement generated by ridiculous statements/actions by people.We do not take kids to prison to see how they will turn out if they do bad, but rather, we focus on the brighter side, by showing them role models such as Lewis Hamilton, Oprah or Cornie Ferguson as a benchmark. We trigger their curiosity by showing them aeroplanes, and the NASA rockets. So what good are the current shows then, what are we saying through them?
I will answer this with an analysis of SABC, and maybe SABC is a terrible example as they are a broadcaster and not a private station like ETV or DSTV. But their approach, well, their past approach/mandate can be used to evaluate this.
In one of our media studies lecture, we once had heated debates on the role of media. I’m referencing Peter J. Fourie’s Media Studies here so that I don’t mix up my words. One of the role of media, as a tittle would suggest, is to play a ‘nation building’ role, and as you may well see, SABC was the right fit for job. And did they do this?
Yes, post apartheid, the new SA needed to reposition how black people should be, by showcasing the black middle class in positions of ‘power’ or having ‘made it’, by accelerating them to a better position from ‘previously disadvantaged’ past. Hence shows such as Generations, Top Billing, etc. came into play, by shaping a new narrative for black people. Fast forward to today won’t you say SABC did a good job? Yeah, I know you didn’t look at it from this perspective but follow my thoughts and think about this. I personally liked one guy, Sbusiso Dlhomo’s character, a media guru, and you do recall the likes of Karabo Moroka and the others leading big media companies in the series. The whole purpose was to drive the message and say ‘Black Child’ it’s possible. And no, let’s not talk about Yizo Yizo, cause that brief went wrong. Lol. Hahaha…
The key take away here?
You can’t play an important role in society without a proper strategy at play. You can’t even play that role, when you have no interest in the well being of a society. Let’s recap, high level thinking: How do you position black people different? Answer: create content that inspires and moves people. You’d say the rise of black middle class is a coincidence right? Right!
Now, let’s talk about DSTV. Lol, my current branding lecture who’s an ex employee of the company likes to say, ‘So Much More’ or joke about Multichoice’s slogan ‘Enriching Lives’.
Can we say they have a strategy? I know getting more subscribers and retaining their earnings is the key thing and that is okay but, I feel a clear strategy when it comes to their content does not exist or if it does, it’s not the best one in my view, and it worries me.
We also can’t Balme DSTV, they are a business, and are also trapped in the model they built themselves and as such the channel executives are hard pressed with deliverables, money has to be made, and bonuses are due end of the year. And given this, we can’t really blame them, well, at least for now.
We also can’t blame the viewer, it took me a while to understand the impact of content on anyone, as you can see with reference to the SABC example. Not everyone is fully equipped to comprehend a long term impact of what the current ‘Trending’ shows are capable of.
In a session I once sat in, with a group of TV show producers and developer friends, we wanted to establish a framework of how we are intending to approach the industry; we questioned ourselves wether going with the ‘trend’ is the right thing to do or not, and let’s consider that we all needed to pay bills, and buy Levi’s jeans (lol), but at what expense? How are we going to report back to our grandchildren on such accomplishments….? Hmmm.
I talk of black people needing protection, the black brand needs protection, a protection especially from themselves. Having suffered historical damages, it is now more than ever that we need to reconsider how we portray a black person. I feel that as black people we have suffered a lot and it seems we are going back in time, while there’s a few working hard, there are lot more working against it. Showcasing lack of fathers on TV does not benefit anyone if you factor historical background, nothing works in isolation, rather we should be showcasing how modern fathers are winning at it. (Roll your eyes) lol. Can we showcase love as opposed to cheating, of course, it is possible, but why would a broadcaster do that?
So going back to my initial question, how do you know if something is right? I will close in with Umair Haque’s arguments. Umair’s view is that passion corrupts. Here by passion he mean the pursuit of greatness, or whatever the goal might be. In the pursuit to media dominance, DSTV is killing it’s own brand by tarnishing the black brand. Let me rephrase that, if your pursuit to your dreams is making you do bad – if your pursuit to building a big business is making you commit crime; fraud or corruption, in justification that you are building something people need, then you are doing it wrong.
I’ll end it there to let you do the thinking…
Nelson,
Joburg, South Africa
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