Just a bit about Who is the Mole...
First things first: I get messages about where my column is. Because yes, Monday is Who is the Mole? day on Amayzine and then we chat about our favorite program. I can be brief: I can't discuss the episode in 10 points because I couldn't watch the broadcast live on Saturday night. Because that particular broadcast has since been removed with shame on my face. Because this time it went horribly wrong with my favorite show.
Whether it was acted out of foolish speed, ignorance, or white privilege, it doesn't really matter. There was a segment that was downright hurtful. At the moment you receive hundreds of angry messages from fans, you know as a TV program: something is not right here.
Still, I wonder how the segment (in which a South Korean was portrayed by making slanty eyes) could still pass the selection committee at AvroTros in 2021. “The candidates immediately addressed it after the game because they realized that this is hurtful.” How can the candidates realize this but the editors in the editing rooms cannot? How can the candidates realize this but the final editorial team cannot? We all make mistakes, but is this program really checked by so few people before it is broadcast? Or has it been seen by ten people but no one had a light bulb moment?
In any case: hurting people seems to me never the intention of making TV. Not even if you didn't mean it ‘badly’ in your head. Or even: if you weren't even aware that your choices could hurt someone else. Falling down and getting back up, listening to your fellow human beings and learning. Being open to others and connecting. And above all: taking responsibility when you have gone off track.
P.S.: Next week just another nice chat, but I couldn't avoid this for a moment, you understand.
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Image: AVROTROS
