Posts
Regular Light Side readers have heard me refer to BBC America from time-to-time, so it will come as no surprise that I'm an avid watcher of this cable channel. I'd like to say I only watch it because of the excellent and extensive coverage on BBC World News America, but the truth is there's a wealth of quality programming on BBC America that we're not likely to see on any American cable channel.Some examples of excellent programming are dramatic series Robin Hood, Doctor Who, and MI-5, comedies Coupling and Little Britain, talk shows Friday Night With Jonathan Ross and The Graham Norton Show, and reality programs, Top Gear, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (miles ahead of the US-based version) and Last Restaurant Standing and the good news is that, because the BBC replays each episode a ridiculous number of times, you're sure never to miss an episode no matter how hectic your schedule may be.
The bad news is, where there's a yin, there's also a yang, and in the BBC's case that massive yang is called BBC America Reveals. The BBC describes this gem as a "...compelling range of ...documentaries (highlighting) a wide range of social and cultural issues", but they're not fooling anyone; it's basic sensationalism-based television with a British accent and I know this because I've watched a few of the "documentaries" myself. While some of them were of genuine interest (Apollo Wives, The Cocaine Diaries and The Fastest Man on No Legs come to mind), here are some of examples of the more sensational topics on offer in this series: 100 Men Own My Breasts, Fake Baby, 476-Pound Teenager, Transvestite Wives, My Small Breasts and Me, and Should I Smoke Dope? Alright, it's all a bit silly, but there's obviously a market for programming such as this and, on the whole, it's basically harmless.
At least, that's what I thought until I saw one of there more recent offerings, Perfect Private Parts and the premise was to explore (no pun intended) how far women will go to achieve perfection for "a body part that not many people will ever see". The documentary shows heavily pixelated scenes of bikini waxing, women having their woman-parts moulded into clay for comparison with other women's parts, men discussing what they find unattractive about that "region" and we also get to see a woman having actual surgery on that area, under local anesthetic, no less. The most stomach churning scene however was a segment featuring what can only be described as a "support group", where women of varying ages sit in a circle on the floor, private parts fully exposed for inspection by all, while individuals share their feelings about the pain and trauma their vaginas have brought to their lives. As todays youth would say, "WTF?!?!"
Really, a bit of trash television is an acceptable guilty pleasure, but does this kind of expose serve any genuine purpose other than to increase viewership with the tempting prospect of seeing a womans sexual organ? Is this what John Reith, the first General Manager of the BBC envisioned as quality programming for the new network? I don't think it does any service to women other than to cause them to question the state of their own "region", and it certainly did nothing for me except make me wince. There's a reason they're called private parts and the key word is "private". BBC, if you want to educate your viewers in the wonders of nature, stick to what you do best. Give us more documentaries with David Attenborough.
