Know your Africa, just watch Big Brother

Lusophones (Angolans and Mozambicans) are wild partiers, as can be the Tanzanians. Ugandan men are either lovers or fighters ie they have no problem ruffling up a woman when challenged. Nigerian men are calm and collected while their female counterparts are erratic. Ghanaians bear it “all”. Zambians interject religion into conversations yet are good dancers. Zimbabweans are always up for a good fight, regardless of whether they win or lose on the show, they certainly win when they get home. Ethiopians are but traces in our memories. South Africans are confident and opinionated. Namibians, Kenyans and the Batswana are more difficult to categorise.

The stereotypes can go on with other memorable characters from the Big Brother Africa series. The show is important for the following reasons: it highlights how little African cultural content is currently available on television across the continent and reflects African pop culture — a barometer of changing times. As much as many of us might deny it, African youth are highly influenced and generally mirror a globalised youth culture. It’s high time we acknowledge that Africans too have substance-abuse issues, are homosexual/bisexual, promiscuous, lewd, profane and have no shame with nudity, contrary to what we might all be led to believe.

Beyond African geography, history and the same cast of novelists who have been taught in schools for decades, many Africans do not know much about each other (perhaps their own nationals too). Sadly, many happily and ignorantly hold on to entrenched stereotypes with little active curiosity to learn. Some know more about the streets of New York, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and various international televangelists than of the streets of Lagos, King Mswati and his annual reed dance and certainly the Tanzanian “miracle” pastor Mwasapile who attracts hordes of patients daily who believe in his ability to heal all ailments.

Those with disposal income often choose vacation destinations out of Africa, except maybe Tanzania, Kenya or South Africa. Most intra-African travel is as a result of displacement or trade rather than tourism (much less cultural tourism). Considering the rise in the middle class, one is left to hope that intra-African tourism will increase.

I recall one afternoon walking in my mother’s yard in Kabwe, a town approximately two hours outside Zambia’s capital Lusaka and hearing the neighbour’s children, none older than 10 years of age, speaking with faux Nigerian accents. First I was amused, then bewildered. Here were Zambian children who had never left the country speaking with Nigerian accents. I had a flashback to my childhood where the “in” accent was the British one. After hours of watching British shows we would contort our tongues to create faux British accents. For those who had either travelled to Britain or whose English sounded “more authentic”, their social rank in the group appreciated. With the popularisation of Nollywood across Africa, I guess Nigeria is the new England.

My concern is not limited to the mimicking of accents; it also extends to behaviour. Many youth mimic what they see on television. I have always been an independent-minded person but I must admit that some of my behaviour was impacted by television. I recall spending countless afternoons cramped up in one friend or another’s lounge watching Bruce Lee movies and immediately after feeling so inspired to fight that we would get out on the grass and start doing some indescribable form of martial art. It was all fun and games until I got kicked too hard by the boys. After enough injuries I realised that I was not a martial art master and I quit those games. Understanding enough child psychology and how young people adopt the behaviour they see around them, the question stands: “What are they mimicking from Big Brother Africa?”

It is important for parents to caution their children and encourage them to heed the warning often televised “do not try this at home”. The detriment of relying on the show for a better understanding of Africa is that the characters only reflect a slice of the reality of their countries and cultures. They will do whatever it takes to win the prize money. Big Brother Africa is centred on sensationalism in order to keep the viewer enthralled and to cash in on improved television ratings. If no active effort is taken to increase the amount of African cultural educational content, then Africans will continue to be misinformed about their own values, culture and identity.

The show reflects a view of Africa we sometimes refuse to admit exists and I hope that continues. It also “forces” us to discuss the global culture shift Africans are experiencing (and caution our children of its existence). Not all of Africa’s infrastructure might be contemporary, but our culture is certainly globalising.

Jacqueline Muna Musiitwa runs Hoja Law Group, a boutique New York law firm that uses the law to bridge the African development gap through advising on deals that create wealth for Africa. HLG advises foreign investors investing in and expanding into Africa and African governments and companies contracting with American, European and Indian companies. She is a frequent speaker and writer on African affairs.