The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Brenda Nisile
2 November 2007
column
So it is Richard, Tatiana and Ofunneka on the home stretch of Big Brother Africa II. Wow! Who would have imagined on August 5 that our own Richard would still be in the running for the grand prize of $100,000 at this point in time? Surprising, huh? Come to think of it, with Tatianaís decision last week not to replace herself with him for eviction, he actually became the very first finalist in Big Brother Africa II! And that is not mere hair-splitting; none of the other 12 competitors can ever brag about that kind of achievement.
The thing is, the final two weeks seem not to be moving fast enough for poor Richard who is already wearing the exhaustion all over his face. And true to the overbearing nature of ìBig Brother,î he is just not content to let the housemates lie back and relax for their final fortnight in his house. So he has refused to end the mind games.
After plonking two fake housemates into the house on Sunday night apparently ìto stir things up,î Big Brother turned up the heat a notch further on Monday announcing that ìall five housematesî will be up for possible eviction this coming Sunday. He told the housemates that it is the viewers this time who will decide whom they want to evict.
And as the rest of the housemates reacted with frowns and groans to the news, Richard continued lying back in the sofa with the unmistakable face of a man who has just about had enough. Personally, I think he should simply loosen up and let his hair hang. Itís the nature of the game he signed up for - very unpredictable and very taxing on the mettle. If heís come this far, he surely can hang onto his humour up to the finish line just ten days away today.
In truth there will be no eviction this Sunday. The announcement on Monday night was just Biggieís idea of how to keep the show interesting. But the rules of the game have now changed. From Monday night at 10p.m. the voting lines were opened and we should by now be voting to our very last shilling for the person we want to WIN, i.e. Richard. We still have to write the text message the same old way (VOTE RICHARD), except that this now means he is the one we would like to win the grand prize rather than to be ejected as before. So get voting (for Richard).
And there is a lot going for Richard right now. The way things stand, Ofunneka might be a ìgood personî as her compatriots have been screaming themselves hoarse, but one has to wonder if any of them ever really rushes to beat the traffic as they try to get home or to the internet in time for the latest update on what she is doing - most probably dishes in the kitchen. Indeed, she may be nice and all that, but that is not for me to talk about. As it is, her countrymen are doing a good enough job of it all over the Internet and the screen text messaging.
Richard and Tatiana, on the other hand, have kept people glued to their screens not just because of their tempestuous romance, but also with their natural bounciness and the mere fact that they are quite a pleasant pair to look at.
And at least in Richardís case, he has remained true to himself throughout the show, preferring even to eat with his hands rather than with fork and knife, and speaking with his natural Tanzanian accent. Some people have criticised him for not contributing enough during discussions to do with general knowledge, but Iím sure they are the same ones who nailed the Untouchables for pretending to be ìtoo smart.î In any case, in real life none of us can claim to know each and everything; even those who think Richard is ìnot smartî must admit they are not the worldís ìsmartestî folks themselves.
Moreover, this is not the BBCís Weakest Link. This is Big Brother Africa where people were supposed to play the game simply by being themselves. Did Richardís detractors want him to discuss atomic physics whilst he doesnít know the subject? Clever people are not the ones that yap about everything; they are the ones that contribute given what they know or are familiar with. That is why Richard the film student that he is, was the one that excelled in the recent Jollywood Task for which he was the director.
In his quest for the prize he has not stepped on anybodyís toes the way some people did and he has not pretended to be better than others in the competition. This show is really about how one survives with other people in confinement for a long time - 98 days. Richard has acquitted himself well by maintaining his humanity and his humour through out. He is a team player and he has gotten along well with everybody - except in the case of the Untouchables, though you canít blame him for that since that is a group that defeated all rational beings in the way they carried themselves.
He is a good person too. He suffered the task of dipping their feet in the ice crate last week and yet after winning a well-deserved brand new Motorolla mobile phone (together with Ofunneka) he gave his to Ofunneka too telling her she could go and give it to her grandparents or to anybody in her village. That he thought of this before Ofunneka the ìgood personî did, should say something to us the viewers about his big heart. Donít forget that he is the man for whom Tatiana sacrificed herself in last weekís nominations. He was deserving enough or else voters would have eaten her up for her effort.
Above all, Richard is a student. He needs the money. So let's all get busy voting to get our Richard the loot.
To vote for RICHARD, send your SMS with just the message VOTE RICHARD to 15726 or visit www.mnetafrica.co.za/bigbrother. Make sure you spell his first name right: RICHARD. No nicknames please.
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Big Brother Contestant On Fingering That Passed Out Housemate: "Well, This Is Africa"
Here's a reason to never wish The Hills were "more real": so remember Richard? He raped a housemate on Big Brother Africa and they're apparently showing it next week because they decided it wasn't rape even though it was. We were confused enough to start touring Big Brother Africa blogs, and we figured it out: Reality Rapist Richard is really popular. He's had a really fun affair with another housemate, and whereas his victim Ofunneka is sort of an boring neat freak who is kind of motherly and crap, Richard is really cute and chill, and in fact everyone in his native Tanzania still cheering for him to win the prize. "In his quest for the prize he has not stepped on anybody's toes the way some people did," wrote one fan, TODAY. (Um, yeah, because he was too busy sniffing the finger he stuck in that unconscious housemate's pussy?)
In the case that they take offense to his actions, it often has to do with his ignorance and foul mouth. ("You would have thought the foul-mouthed Tanzanian had had sewage for dessert.") But worstest, when bloggers DEFEND Ofunneka on message boards, their posts disappear mysteriously. Which is why we're thankful for the Big Brother Africa II Official Fan Weblog, for courageously posting this viewer's defense of Ofunneka, which was so strident and controversial the viewer actually prefaced it with this:
At the risk of being shot down, sworn at and abused by the die hard Richard fans who believe that no matter what their boy does he can do no wrong I will post this thread.
In the same way that some forumists have the right to say what they want and go to the extent of blaming Ricki, alcohol and whatever they will next concoct as an excuse I have the right to post this thread and be heard.
So yeah, kinda makes you relieved that no one on American reality TV is all that sympathetic/ congenial, right? No one would give the benefit of the doubt to, like, Spencer.
4:30 PM ON FRI NOV 2 2007 BY MOE 7,730 views Read More:
share digg facebook email MORE: big brother africa defamer live nude rape! top Subscribe BY MISSSAMADAMS AT 11/02/07 04:51 PM "No one would give the benefit of the doubt to, like, Spencer." God, I love Spencer and his utter douchbaggery!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY DAYGLO AT 11/02/07 04:56 PM This creeped me out. It's too real for me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY LEIAKAT AT 11/02/07 04:57 PM What is wrong with people.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY SINISTERROUGE AT 11/02/07 04:58 PM So creepy this whole thing. I cannot believe he wasn't arrested never mind still on the show, hugely popular and on his way to winning. Disgusting.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY KNITSANDWICH AT 11/02/07 05:03 PM Are you fucking kidding me????! Holy shit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY BISCUITDOUGHJONES AT 11/02/07 05:08 PM I hope the victim takes him for everything he's worth, ruins his marriage, and leaves him disgraced forever. But that will probably never happen. He'll get away with it just like everybody else. I'm gonna go hang myself now..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY KLEPTOMARNIE AT 11/02/07 05:18 PM not acceptable. BB in the uk has got really near the knuckle. & shown some despicable interactions but this is not ok.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY CANARY AT 11/02/07 05:27 PM Why hasn't this event gotten more attention from the international press. Have we come to the point where we can have proof of rape on camera for the world to see but no one gets up in arms about it because they don't like the girl? Where is Oprah when you need her. Wait, isn't she already in Africa...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY STARREDREVIEW AT 11/02/07 05:30 PM remember when David got kicked out off the Real World: LA because he pulled the blankets off of one of the housemates who was in her underwear?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY BOWLESERISED AT 11/02/07 05:56 PM And people say feminism has gone too far. Jesus.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY MISS SMITH DRANK YOUR VODKA AT 11/02/07 06:00 PM Any reaction from his WIFE??!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY CANNOTEDIT AT 11/03/07 02:18 AM @BiscuitDoughJones: he's been working to ruin his marriage throughout the entire season. his little affair with the other finalist is a bit racy. @canary: richard said it many times and it rings true: it's africa. certain things done to women are just... fine, i guess. this is a sad story. especially since i've been following the online clips since earlier this summer my friend went home to South Africa and told me about it. ricahrd is likable. but this will take a lot of remorse and apologies for people to really forgive him. what he did was terrible (i don't think the girl felt it was a violation, but more like an embarrassment), but the fact that he's unapologetic is even worse.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY LADYE AT 11/03/07 03:39 PM @cannotedit: I have to reply to your comment i.e. "it's africa". That is just totally incorrect. This is not some let's all be culturally sensitive response. Rather, as someone who just spent the last summer in Botswana (right above S. Africa) as a law clerk for a judge on the High Court and who spent a GREAT deal of that time writing judgment orders reviewing appeals of rape conviction/sentences, it is completely false from any legal sense to state that "certain things that are done to women are just...fine". Nonsense. I'm not going to take up space on this board to explain the historical relationship (particularly in terms of the law) between Bots/SA, but if you are familiar with it, you would know that, at least, most of Bots precedent law comes directly from SA (and most of their judges did too for quite some time post-Independence). Please be aware that your statement is quite offensive, ignorant of reality and easily disprovable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY MISSFIFI AT 11/04/07 01:59 AM this situation is repugnant
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY AND TALKING OF NEW MEDIA AND SEXUAL ASSAULT..... ON THE F-WORD BLOG AT 11/05/07 06:41 AM Viewers of Big Brother in Africa have been complaining about what appeared to be a rape shown live on the show.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- BY CACAFUEGO AT 11/05/07 07:15 PM Ladye: Rape might not be legal in SA, but its clear that the cultural mindset is far from enlightened when it comes to the treatment of women on the continent as a whole. The fact the fucker is still on the show and not in a jail cell tells you that right there.
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