Not So Anonymous
' LOL, LOL and LOL!!!! Obviously dear, you have never done anything positive with your life which is why you would bitch about what other people are doing. You just came across like another unhappy, underachieved female...and might i add fat??? cos only ugly, unhappy fat people bitch about skinny ones!!! If you are such an authority on TV shows, wheres yours darling? Until you have one, pls go crawl back under your stone and die there...the world does not need you and what you dont have to offer! '
This was the message I received from an irate anonymous who had read this post and felt the need to make her 'contribution'. Unfortunately, the message came in on my blackberry, and I mistakenly rejected it before I had a chance to digest it. When I did go back and read it though, I found it so hilarious that I had to give it a post of its own. Now, ordinarily I would not bother replying a disgruntled anonymous, but because I know this anonymous in question is most likely the person I spoke about in the post, and because TV is an issue dear to me, and because I have long met her only criteria for critcising - which is having my own TV show(s) - I will leave a few 'last words' - it's my blog afterall. LOL.
1. Let's start from the bottom. It's a very Nigerian thing to think that because you have done something, however mundane, you have achieved something noteworthy. That's why TV is chockful of the genre crap that Style Me represents. I subscribe to the school of thought that postualtes that what we need, especially in this part of the world, is developmental journalism. Media that builds, not one that exists for the heck of it. You have a powerful medium to influence and bring about change, yet you waste it on self promotion.
2. Has it occurred to Mrs Anonymous that I am not the only one with this opinion? How many of us will she fight, or 'cuss out'? Years ago, Kenny Ogungbe, of Primetime Jams was on Ben TV, London, with , his partner Dayo Adeneye, as celebrity hosts or something. Someone called into the show, and asked what the rationale was behind having 2 men, over 40, hosting a program for people under 21. Kenny immediately flared up, and began insulting the guy, telling him to 'go and do' his 'own' ( host his own show) while Dayo tried unsuccesfully, over Kenny's rants, to explain in a more civil manner. At some point Kenny even told the guy to shut up, after which the station went to commercial. In those few minutes, Kenny had done more damage than he could quantify to his ratings, and his reputation, than any other action he had ever taken. When the show came back on, he had to apologize. The reason? The caller said it, but we were all thinking it. So how many people will you fight?
3. You're right , I am fat. It's no secret, it's even the reason for my fitness blog. But what you don't get is that I am not an oyibo. It is only in America and Britain that 'fat' is a bad word. Back here, in my lovely Naija, it's just a way of describing a lot of people. But the real issue is not whether you or anyone else is skinny - skinny by the way IS derogatory, so you know,LOL - the real issue is your incompetence and blandness on air. Slim ladies, like Funmi Iyanda, still have a lot to offer,because they know their onions and do not hide behind a totally useless accent. And plump ladies, like Oprah, haven't lost out on intelligence or ability either. So when you are in your quiet place where you tell yourself the truth (hopefully) find ways you can be true to yourself and to your audience. The key is mind-FUL not mind-LESS television.
(And don't even come at me with that lame quotation ' no statue was ever erected in honour of a critic'; that was said waaaaaay before Simon Cowell.)
Chili!
This was the message I received from an irate anonymous who had read this post and felt the need to make her 'contribution'. Unfortunately, the message came in on my blackberry, and I mistakenly rejected it before I had a chance to digest it. When I did go back and read it though, I found it so hilarious that I had to give it a post of its own. Now, ordinarily I would not bother replying a disgruntled anonymous, but because I know this anonymous in question is most likely the person I spoke about in the post, and because TV is an issue dear to me, and because I have long met her only criteria for critcising - which is having my own TV show(s) - I will leave a few 'last words' - it's my blog afterall. LOL.
1. Let's start from the bottom. It's a very Nigerian thing to think that because you have done something, however mundane, you have achieved something noteworthy. That's why TV is chockful of the genre crap that Style Me represents. I subscribe to the school of thought that postualtes that what we need, especially in this part of the world, is developmental journalism. Media that builds, not one that exists for the heck of it. You have a powerful medium to influence and bring about change, yet you waste it on self promotion.
2. Has it occurred to Mrs Anonymous that I am not the only one with this opinion? How many of us will she fight, or 'cuss out'? Years ago, Kenny Ogungbe, of Primetime Jams was on Ben TV, London, with , his partner Dayo Adeneye, as celebrity hosts or something. Someone called into the show, and asked what the rationale was behind having 2 men, over 40, hosting a program for people under 21. Kenny immediately flared up, and began insulting the guy, telling him to 'go and do' his 'own' ( host his own show) while Dayo tried unsuccesfully, over Kenny's rants, to explain in a more civil manner. At some point Kenny even told the guy to shut up, after which the station went to commercial. In those few minutes, Kenny had done more damage than he could quantify to his ratings, and his reputation, than any other action he had ever taken. When the show came back on, he had to apologize. The reason? The caller said it, but we were all thinking it. So how many people will you fight?
3. You're right , I am fat. It's no secret, it's even the reason for my fitness blog. But what you don't get is that I am not an oyibo. It is only in America and Britain that 'fat' is a bad word. Back here, in my lovely Naija, it's just a way of describing a lot of people. But the real issue is not whether you or anyone else is skinny - skinny by the way IS derogatory, so you know,LOL - the real issue is your incompetence and blandness on air. Slim ladies, like Funmi Iyanda, still have a lot to offer,because they know their onions and do not hide behind a totally useless accent. And plump ladies, like Oprah, haven't lost out on intelligence or ability either. So when you are in your quiet place where you tell yourself the truth (hopefully) find ways you can be true to yourself and to your audience. The key is mind-FUL not mind-LESS television.
(And don't even come at me with that lame quotation ' no statue was ever erected in honour of a critic'; that was said waaaaaay before Simon Cowell.)
Chili!
Comments
Most times this kind of negative talks come from envy me love...