THE NAKED CITY: The Ultimate Reality Cheque!
SBS would probably be loath to describe its recent series Go Back To Where You Came From as a reality show but it certainly had all the ingredients of one. That’s not to suggest it wasn’t a powerful and thought provoking piece of TV. However all the elements of the classic reality show were there to be exploited.
Firstly there was the disparate collection of participants (one a self-confessed racist) carefully chosen to represent a variety of views on refugees both before and after the experience. Any six strangers thrown together in a number of stressful situations will create a dynamic within the group and this is what reality TV thrives on – the arguments, the bickering, the true life human soap opera.
There were also the highly contrived scenarios like the boat that suddenly started leaking and the drive through Baghdad in the US armoured vehicle, all aimed at providing a life changing experience for the handpicked group of average Australians. And as you might expect when the ordeal was over there was a predictable range of emotions and revelations on the part of the six – for some a complete change of attitude, for others not so moved.
What we really liked about the SBS series was the politicisation of the reality concept and a move away from the inconsequential triteness of shows like Masterchef, Big Brother and The Block. Here’s a list of reality shows we would like to see, where the outcome might actually do something to change the world in which we live – for good or for bad!
The Biggest Hoaxer: In the tradition of the recent Pauline Hanson electoral hoax contestants are set the task of fooling one of our more colourful politicians like convincing Barnaby Joyce that the Priory Of Sion is behind the massive pro global warming conspiracy.
The winner is the first to see action in the Supreme Court although the producers bare no liability when costs are awarded.
Masterchef Darfur: The Masterchef franchise moves to Sudan where a group of budding Australian chefs apply their kitchen wizardry to a whole variety of dishes in which the UN handout of sorghum is the only ingredient. Contestants are encouraged to participate in the regular food riots with the proviso that failure to scoop up a handful of grain means instant dismissal from the show.
Survivor Nauru: Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison invite a group of average Aussies to join them on the delightful Pacific hellhole of Nauru and compete in a series of both physical and mentally debilitating challenges. The highlight is a seemingly endless cycle marathon around the island’s tiny 20km circumference during which the tandem combination of Tony and Scott take on all comers. The winner gets to spend another two or three years on the island and a bag of guano.
Mexican Apprentice: Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, the Mexican drug lord, interns a group of young, ambitious business men and women (all coke snorters of course) as part of his billion dollar drug empire. One by one the potential apprentices are eliminated (along with the other 38,000 Mexicans killed in the so called war on drugs) until the last left standing is declared the eventual winner. The “apprentice” gets his or her own drug cartel, a Taco stand in Juarez, all the ammo they can shoot and an exclusive CIA contract to supply.
