The current season of Bigg Boss 15 couldn’t get any better for its ardent fans. Unlike the previous seasons, the show will air not just for three months but almost seven months. With that, the show promises to deliver a good dose of voyeuristic pleasure to viewers with its extended run time.
Anusha Dandekar on how the show triggers anxiety
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Recently, VJ and actor Anusha Dandekar—who was a rumoured contestant this year—tried watching the show for a few minutes and gave up. She took to Instagram to share how those 20 minutes actually triggered her anxiety.
She wrote, “I just watched 20 minutes of Bigg Boss because I have VOOT now because of Supermodel. I just have to say it gives me mad anxiety for real and so many bullies. My goodness. Like I just can’t watch.. uff negative energy and vibes.” Well, that’s something most of us who tried watching it but gave up can relate to.
The show impacts its viewers too
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The show not only affects the mental health of contestants who are cooped up inside the house but also the viewers. While most believe it’s a good pastime, what we often fail to gauge is how it can wreck our mental health, and promote toxic behaviour and negativity—something that we all can do without, especially during a pandemic when everyone is already having a tough time.
Explaining how the show affects the viewers, Dr Anita Gautam, Director Clinical Operation and Consultant Psychiatrist, Gautam Hospital and Research Center, Jaipur told India Today: “Emotions are contagious. Bigg Boss 14 had an adverse effect on people’s minds, especially after the Covid-19 situation when people’s mental health was already at its worst. Moreover, participants are celebrities and have a huge fan following who adore them and copy them. It makes them think that such hatred, assault or violence is the only way to handle negative emotions. Even the abusive language used on the show has become a norm for young people now as they imbibe the body language and aggressive behaviour!”
Mental health experts believe the show normalises toxic behaviour for TRP
Image Credit: Bigg Boss Endemol Shine India
Stressing on the impact it has on the mental health of the contestants and viewers, Sunil Mittal, Director, Cosmos Institute of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences (CIMBS), told IANS, “It has a huge impact on the mental health of people who are inside, and the people who are watching it. It normalises a certain language. I agree that abusing and cuss words are used in real life, but (what about) the context with which it is used in the show. Then there is a heightened drama for TRP.”
How the show feeds us voyeuristic pleasures
Sadly, nothing has changed over the past 15 years. The show still reeks of bullying, body shaming, hate, abusive behaviour, violence, brawls and bruises. Unfortunately, the format of the show promotes and normalises all of it. It’s been a hit and draws a massive fan following as the biggest reality show in India.
Clinical psychotherapist Radhika Bapat, told IANS, “There is a perversion in looking through a peephole and gaining access to information. They say ‘there is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable’. There is also the psychological term ‘humilitainment’, that is used with such reality dramas, which is the tendency for you and me as viewers to be attracted to spectacular humiliation and subjugation of real people.”
What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
Lead Image Credit: Bigg Boss, Endemol Shine India
