Spanish Show Lost In The Tribe Guilty Of Exoticizing Ethnic Tribes

It wouldn’t seem you’d need to exoticize an African or Indonesian tribe to make them interesting, but that’s just what the producers of a Spanish reality show, Perdidos En La Tribu, or, Lost In The Tribe, are being accused of. The show features middle-class Spanish families living with one of three tribes over the course of a few months with hilarity ensuing when whitey tries to live like a barbarian. Except the tribesman have complained to the press that the show’s producers have gone out of their way to make them seem even more primitive than they really are to reinforce the stereotypes Westerners hold about them. In this promo, the hostess says that the Himba tribe of Nimbia believe their female members don’t have the right to bathe.

But University of Salamanca anthropology professor Francisco Giner Abati, who lived with the Himba for nearly three years says this isn’t true. ”They bathe less than we do because water is difficult to access, but whenever they get water they take advantage of the opportunity to bathe,” he told AFP, adding “the image given is far from reality”. Abati also said he could barely watch five minutes of the series because of the commercial exploitation going on. Maybe if he watched it as an anthropological study of how racist Spaniards are, it could bring back some of the fun. 

The San bushmen, also from Namibia, are seen wearing loincloths on the show, but in reality, they wear shorts. Here’s a comparison. On the left is how they had the women dress on the show–or rather, undress. On the right, is a bushman woman in her usual garb.

They also don’t live in huts. In fact, their entire camp was moved and recreated to be more convenient for shooting, a fact that has kept the San children out of school for a month. It was one of the San families who brought the show’s indiscretions to the public’s attention via the help of a non-governmental agency that advocates for them.

Just another in a long line of fun times for the Spanish. 

Spanish TV show accused of mistreating Namibia tribe [AFP]