Bigg Boss is a hit reality show among Indians and the Tamil version, (which is in its 3rd season) is favorite one for Tamil folks. I need not tell much about the show or how it runs but a hypothetical question must be raised on the subtle games that the show plays on the viewers.
The place the show happens is called House, so why are you watching what is happening inside it?
We are curious creatures and when a fight erupts in a neighbor’s family, a road accident or when there is an argument between two people; we stop to not just show care but feed our curiosity of what has happened.
This is human nature and there is nothing to blame but the show is actually making you to selectively watch what goes on among the lives of people in a house. The show has approximately 100 episodes and when you proudly say that you watched Bigg Boss till the end, what you have actually done is poked your nose in others’ business.
Though it calls itself a game show, it projects its players to deal with relationships that mirror real-life. When we see a movie, we place ourselves in the place of the protagonist and wish the best happens to the character.
So with more and more characters plying the game, what we as casual viewers started to watch, step up a level and start to talk more about it with friends, saying character A is better than Character B. We then go even higher and start to be judgmental.
This TV Show like all other shows entertains but at the same time, it makes you to fell more curious about who will be nominated for elimination. Along with the folks who come to play the game, you too start to have bias.
Being biased and judgmental are part of human nature but this happens without our wish while watching Bigg Boss as your emotions are being played by someone behind the script.
It empties your faith in co-existing with everyone present in a room. For instance, shift the ambience from a house to an office room. There will be many we like and few who disagree with our opinion. We can’t root for a person to get evicted or call for their elimination from the office but here, in this show it provides a place to vent out our inner desires; and in the 100 days, it has the potential to prepare you to crave for more to know what happens in others’ life; like an addiction. Don’t we ask for more of Bigg Boss?
It is painting a darker picture of society without the viewer’s realizing it. Give a thought into it.