There is a reality show that puts a bunch of strangers in a big house with no contact with the outside world for 100 days. They have to live together with cameras fitted in every corner of the house and individual mics to record everything they say. Every week a person is evicted and the goal is not to get eliminated. The house is a fancy prison of sorts.It’s probably an urbanized version of the ‘Survivor.’ So, how hard is it?
The group of strangers run the house with limited supplies every week. They have no idea about what’s happening outside. They have no means to contact anyone. The only outside contact they have is a weekly one with the show’s host through video where he lists out and discusses the things they said, did, fought, cried over in the previous week. This show is notorious for the drama and ruckus it creates. A lot of people believe that this show is scripted , I for one did, but the more I watch it, I realize this might not be fiction. It’s pretty much what happens in everyone’s homes- a home with family members of different ages which means different thought processes. Try recalling your lockdown with your family. Inspite of having contact with the outer world, internal conflicts was unavoidable. So imagine this- if we couldn’t get along easily with our fam, how on earth would you stay locked up with strangers?
The contestants are of varying age groups and varying life experiences. Young, old, stubborn, stupid, loud and annoying are some of their traits. They fight over things that may seem silly to us but are a big deal for them because they are locked up together with nothing to do. You would remember how indoor confinement unravelled for us. Unpleasant! What’s worse is after a fight, they have nowhere else to go to cool off. They have to face the very person they fought with and live together. I cannot fathom such a situation!
The show also puts forth tasks and opportunities where you pit against one another and your worst version manifests. Your otherwise great virtues of patience and silence is nowhere in sight and what remains is the demonised you that brings great TRP(exactly what the producers want). So, why does such a bizarre show have great viewership?
I used to wonder what’s the element or the USP for a show of such sorts. Is there something extraordinary that I am missing? When I started watching it daily (the Malayalam version) I realized this is one hell of an addictive show! I am intrigued by how this show is equivalent to a social experiment on human behaviour. They play around with psychological tricks to ensure the contestants behave in a certain way without imposing them to. The very evident one being, limited food supplies. By providing rationed food, people are left to be cranky and irritated most of the time. This cuts short their tolerance levels and breeds conflicts.
Throughout the show you have your favourites and your despises amongst the contestants and these are usually based on their behaviour. If their thought process and reactions are aligned to how you usually think or react, they become your favourites. These are some tactics to make the show resonate with us (subconsciously) when we watch. You can simply correlate to how some of the tussles they face are similar to the ones at our homes except that we have it with our loved ones. Hate it or love it, this show has been a fabulous hit in the country, with spin-offs in various regional languages flourishing.You may not learn anything from it, but it sure is entertaining! It’s the exact kind of show to unwind to at the end of the day when your brains are exhausted.
