The BBC reported yesterday that Channel 4 documentary ‘Make Bradford British’ has was the Rose d’Or (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22727215) for best reality and factual entertainment series. But should such a show have received such a prestigious award?
With the much more realistic, though slightly too chirpy ‘Bradford City of Dreams’ airing recently, we have a good comparison on how downbeat and exploitative MBB was. As a documentary it was the ‘Wife Swap USA’ of film-making, thrusting a collection of individuals together of different backgrounds, cultures and ages and seeing if they get on. And, just like that ‘Wife Swap USA’ approach (Let’s swap this AfroCaribbean family with the White Supremist couple! The lesbian partners with the anti-Gay religious family!) they didn’t all get on. Surprise surprise.
Even the title was set up to confront. OK, I’m not expecting Channel 4 of all networks to create a straight-forward title that wouldn’t look enticing in the schedules, but the inference that Bradford isn’t British felt out of place and set the programme off on the wrong foot. What could have been ‘Exploring the Cultures of Bradford’ on BBC, became this controversial title. Though at least it wasn’t on Channel 5, where it would have become ‘Bradford: Why Do The Foreigners Have Weird Customs’ or something equally stupid / offensive.
‘Make Bradford British’ had its moments and it did prove that people are much more understanding of different cultures than the media would have you expect, but it was set-up as an exploitative piece of film making, attempting to get dramatic results of camera by mixing up different groups of people. I certainly don’t think it deserves such an award, but what do you think?
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