It's five to two, and, whilst flicking aimlessly through the TV channels looking for something soporific to lull me to sleep, I've stumbled upon 'Naked: Nurses'. Now, don't jump to conclusions, this is not (entirely) about to be a feminist rant about the exploitation of the female form for the titilation of the general public, but I do have deep concerns about this programme. It's one of a series, in which a group of people who work together embark on a series of challenges designed to tackle their insecurities and deal with their negative self images head on, culminating with a 'get naked' challenge, a la Gok. The first in the series was a group of beauty therapists, four female, one male, with their final challenge being life modelling, posing for an art class.
That is where the similarity 'How to Look Good Naked' ends. I have deep concerns about this programme, on many levels. The interactions are forced, the situations contrived, and the naked challenge is, to be frank, gratutious. Please understand, I am in favour of nakedness on tv; compared to the instances of violence, nudity is still seen as something 'shameful', and the fact that it is still illegal to show an erection (something that most of us in our lives are fairly likely to see for real) compared to some of the unlikeliness of say, Shameless or Skins... or Eastenders... is beyond comprehension. One of Gok's prime achievements is to show lots of nakedness, in a very relaxed way, that allows women (and men) to make a sensible comparison of themselves against the rest of the female community, as opposed to the airbrushed perfection in the media. And I'm in favour of the same 'comparison' being available for men. However, the nakedness here feels... well... I don't know. I'm uncomfortable.
That is not my main issue, however. More deeply, the thing that concerns me here is the 'quick fix' psychology that is on display. There are two 'experts'; Jonathan Phang, who clearly fancies himself as Gok but is way too bitchy behind the participants backs to be truly on their sides, and who is styled as 'mentor', and Emma Kenny, who is the psychologist. In the two shows I have seen, I've watched as the group are encouraged to shout their worst things about themselves to the sky... 'I am fat', 'I'm a bad mother'.... in an attempt to 'let go' of the negativity surrounding these thoughts... and, no really, made to do it a few times- "I'm sure you can do better than that... come on, just a little louder." They're then almost wrestled into a hug... "Yes, you let it out, there, there..." with those unable to squeeze a few tears labelled as 'hostile' or 'not up for the challenge'.
Having worked extremely hard myself in therapy, for a long time, I feel angered by the way this tears- and- hugging remedy is portrayed as somehow 'fixing' the people involved. On one level its shallowness is unproductive; on another, downright destructive, as people who are encouraged to tackle serious issues- long absent fathers, neglectful partners, are almost patted on the head for the effort, then disparaged if they somehow don't feel up to getting their kit off for the cameras at the end. I'm concerned that people will think this is somehow what therapy is really like, and that they will be put off trying it, when it is something that could really help.
I know TV can be rubbish; a diversion, a distraction, entertainment, and I also know that there is some excellent programmes taking on issues and airing debate, but... even by these standards, this show is disturbing. And more so as it's produced using my money by the BBC.
Hopefully, no-one's watching.
1 comment:
I think your view is a thoughtful and reasonable take on the programme. I doubt the value of the negative shouting in terms of "curative" or "therapeutic" and frankly I am appalled that any psychologist would condone it.
There is a definite feel to the show of gratuitous nudity, an element which is thankfully lacking in 'Gok'
Post a Comment