Channel 4 star’s new show ‘an insult to Africans’
A GOGGLEBOX star’s ‘exploitative’ reality programme that sees her live alongside cattle-herders in a remote Namibian village has been branded ‘dehumanising and harmful’.
Scarlett Moffatt and her family had an exact replica of their County Durham house built in Otjeme, complete with running water, electricity and wardrobes full of clothes for The British Tribe Next Door.
But the Channel 4 programme has received a huge backlash from campaign groups and viewers describing it as ‘disrespectful’ and ‘white saviour bull***t’.
The first episode of the four-part series, which aired on Tuesday, saw the family getting to know their new neighbours – the semi-nomadic Himba tribe.
Scenes included tribe members tackling their fear of climbing stairs, being shocked by the amount of clothes in Miss Moffatt’s bedroom – compared with the single outfit each of them owns – and being astonished at seeing themselves in a mirror.
Campaign group No White Saviours said: ‘They are making a mockery of African lifestyles, and more specifically, Namibian traditional ways of living. African people are constantly being painted as primitive, exotic and uncivilised.
‘it is a beautiful thing that many in Namibia have been able to preserve certain aspects of their culture that many others have had erased by white supremacy.’ Outraged viewers took to Twitter, with one saying: ‘i hope to God u are paying the tribe in Namibia the same amount of money u paying the Moffatts.’ Another wrote: ‘Leave the tribe alone, black people are sick of the white saviour bull***t.’
But yesterday Miss Moffatt insisted the programme had also received a lot of positive feedback, saying: ‘Honestly, the support that me and my family have got has been amazing.’ She added: ‘Twitter can be a very negative place.’
A show spokesman said: ‘The series is a celebration of our shared humanity, and by exploring the cultural exchange of two contrasting but equally viable 21st century ways of living it is hoped the series will stimulate debate about values and attitudes to community bonds, family life, sexuality, treatment of the elderly and raising children.’ They added: ‘After consulting the head of the village, a gift-in-kind of a modern solar-powered borehole was given to the community. [it] will deliver a reliable clean water source to the village and their animals on a long-term basis.’