I just watched the first episode of The Scheme last night after discussion about it in our meeting yesterday. I found it compelling and slightly horrifying if I'm honest, had to watch most of it through my fingers. I had a wee trawl through comments online to see what's being said about it, and whether it has prompted any discussion about 'the underclass' as was speculated. The debates seem to be around whether this is an accurate depiction of life on that housing estate or indeed on housing estates round the country and whether the editing process has sensationalised it or not.
The local MSP and those who live in that community say the programme has picked the most extreme families of the area, and painted a picture that does not do justice to many people who do an honest day work and do the best for their families.
Even if this is case and these are the most extreme cases, it nonetheless provided a textbook casestudy worthy of any developmental criminologist's inquiry. Yikes, somebody call a social worker.
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Who knows what the intentions of the film-makers were here, but in the absence of any serious public debate about the glaringly obvious questions that arise - cycles of deprivation, drug and alcohol dependency etc - it's hard to resist the conclusion that this is grimly exploitative entertainment.
ReplyDeleteThere is an undeniable voyeuristic attraction to this sort of viewing. It's interesting that The Scheme has gained such extreme publicity and a cult following after only 2 episodes, in relation to other reality TV shows which depict people in negative situations, for example those which show people battling with eating disorders or other problems. The popularity surrounding other shows (Jeremy Kyle springs to mind!) is similar to this. I wonder why poverty, crime and substance misuse have such a strong appeal compared to other issues?
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the argument that this is expolitative and voyeuristic. It is also interesting that much of the media interest has seemed to highlight that many people do not know that communities facing such levels of poverty exist. Here's an article in the guardian which asks why this form of 'poverty porn' is so popular...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2010/may/28/the-scheme-bbc
Not having a TV (and being happy about that) I cannot question the 'poverty porn' issue. Nevertheless, it brings in mind last year's presentation in the group by L. Cheliotis who discussed - amongst else - the psychological significance of presenting the "degradation". TV shows ranging from poverty in Africa to real-life documentaries in prisons as well as the very view of crime or begging in streets create a narcisssistic or self-indulging feeling which is summarized in the phrase "Thank God! We are not like them".
ReplyDeleteP.S. No typos this time, I hope. :-)