First Gentleman with Wilson Orhiunu
Email: babawill2000@gmail.com Twitter: @Babawilly
You do not have to eat the entire pot of Ukodo to establish too much salt lies therein. A drop will suffice. Babawilly. Circa 419 AD. Timbuktu.
Fast forward to contemporary times and Dr Milo Moro of Jordan Infirmary says one does not exsanguinate the patient to determine a Blood Glucose level. Again, a drop will do.
These two quotes transport us to the matter at hand which is sampling. A representative sample can be studied, providing important information so long as the quality being studied is spread homogeneously within the lake from which the sample is drawn.
There are however some traits that are not homogeneously distributed and there are myths to the contrary and this is the birth of stereotypes.
Some might say all black people are athletic and they look at the 100 metres Olympic final as proof of the hypothesis. But they forget that Africa has one billion people many of whom are poor runners.
In today’s fast paced world where time is money and the point needs to be made very quickly to an audience with a none existent attention span, stereotypes are the way forward. If no stereotype exists then a role model will do. No one questions a star without O Levels telling you what car to purchase in an advert.
Known myths, stereotypes and ‘memorable extremes’ are tools that can be used to make a case in a few seconds.
Drama is all about extremes and conflict. And what is more dramatic than television?
Extreme affection, extreme wealth or poverty and extreme beauty are tools of the trade. The lead man is muscular, strong and witty and the lead lady is beautiful and looks like she would be fertile for the happy ever after phase of life.
Television needs you to get the message very quickly and they trade in stereotypes, nothing wrong in that. It is entertainment after all and we surely need a little diversion in today’s world. The problem is when people substitute the library with the TV and actually start to quote TV programmes in conversations. Basing life decisions on programmes intended as entertainment is fraught with dangers.
You hear people say, “I watched this documentary where a guy had a fever and it turned out to be Tuberculosis. He died before the diagnosis could be made.”
Television is full of rare stories which people watch and accept as the new norm. Human interaction is non- existent for some people. When you meet people who are not really picking up the vibes you are emitting but are trying to place you in one of their mental boxes accrued from watching black people on TV you tend to know it. TV has few Blacks buried in books all day. It is rap, sports or hooliganism. No wonder I care little for people who get their information from TV. I have absolutely nothing in common with the stereotypes of Black people on TV when I look at my typical day.
No smoking or drinking and owning no guns and not using swear words means I don’t ‘keep it real’ compared to TV’s Black America.
Having a job, loving Beethoven’s 5th symphony and watching Ted lectures. To that add being a Pentecostal Christian and it is hard to see what a Black person like me will get from the Black television programming. I just don’t keep it ‘Gangster’.
My opinion is that television arrests people’s imagination. The internet is better as you can to some extent choose your own content however crafty YouTube tries to match you with your last viewings and suggest similar videos.
So, I am pro library and anti-television. Reading books makes your brain work. It helps one think outside the box (no pun intended). Television is quite passive. You sit there in comfort and imbibe what the programme makers want you to ingest.
Television however is empowering. It makes you believe you understand the topic you have just watched but it is a false empowerment. The rudiments of the topics are never dealt with.
Some believe they understand the music industry because they watched X factor and voted for an act. These are acts who basically are sampling the body of work of an experienced act. They have the semblance of stars but are not stars. That takes time. But TV seduces its audience to believe things by taking known elements from the established and gold plating them on cheap metal for a fast buck.
The same thing can be found in the ‘football experts’ who never venture to any stadium but feel they know who should be the manager of a Premiership club. These deluded people have become so familiar with the game which they watch in their underpants at home, they start to believe they know more than they do.
Television is still a very important part of our lives but it has to be put in its proper place and watched at the proper dose. It is hard to prescribe what constitute an overdose of television but for those whose profession is outside journalism, anything above 30 minutes a day is pushing it a bit.
Back to the Babawilly parable from 419 AD, in the case of the TV producers, they lace the supposedly clean spoon with salt, then dip it into the Ukodo and hand it over to you to taste. Being unaware they had doctored the spoon for dramatic effects; you make a conclusion about the Ukodo full of false confidence. Your taste buds and brains suddenly become tele-arrested in a falsehood.
