{"id":67531,"date":"2017-03-08T12:27:08","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T11:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/2017\/03\/08\/ze-zeiden-allemaal-ik-doe-dit-niet-om-beroemd-te-worden\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T16:55:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T15:55:42","slug":"ze-zeiden-allemaal-ik-doe-dit-niet-om-beroemd-te-worden-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/03\/08\/ze-zeiden-allemaal-ik-doe-dit-niet-om-beroemd-te-worden-2\/","title":{"rendered":"‘They all said: I’m not doing this to become famous’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With increasing frequency, reality self-help TV programmes are being asked the question: is it malicious entertainment or are the TV crew and participants jointly exposing a social problem? Anthropologist Bal\u00e1zs Boross searched out people who had participated in the programme \u2018Uit de Kast<\/em>\u2019 (Out of the Closet) to find the answer.<\/p>\n

In the first instance, they rarely wanted to talk to him. After undertaking a huge Facebook and Google search, Bal\u00e1zs Boross eventually succeeded in tracking down some of the participants from \u2018Uit de Kast<\/em>\u2019 (\u2018I only had a first name and, in a few cases, a place of residence\u2019) only to be confronted by a closed door. However, he eventually managed to coax<\/a> ten participants who, in the past few years, had taken part in KRO\u2019s Uit de Kast<\/em><\/a>, a TV programme in which Arie Boomsma supports young Dutch men women who want to come out.<\/p>\n

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For the classification Science Cowboys, Geert Maarse speaks to scholars who are prepared to go slightly further than their colleagues. Bal\u00e1zs Boross is an anthropologist and is researching the role of the media in social cohesion and identity building. He conducted interviews with participants in the Dutch TV programme \u2018Uit de Kast<\/em>\u2019 (Out of the Closet) and the British programme \u2018The Undateables\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

Why did they take part? Did it help them? And what does this type of programme do as far as the acceptance of homosexuality is concerned? Boross: \u201cIn the end, it took six months to track\u00a0everyone down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why was it so difficult?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cProduction companies frequently protect their participants. Sometimes their websites explicitly stipulate that they will not provide any contact details. Therefore, I had to find another way. I felt like an investigative journalist. All I had was a first name and the area or place where the programme was recorded.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then they didn\u2019t want to.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the first instance, they sometimes didn\u2019t. I had to gain their confidence. In retrospect, I discovered that some of them had already been interviewed a couple of times, and hadn\u2019t enjoyed the experience. But some simply wanted to put a full stop behind the whole event.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Why is this of interest to a scholar?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople always have something to say about these types of television programmes. Some people say: these people are being exploited. Others say: they simply want to be famous. As a researcher, I would like to know how the people themselves experience it.\u201d<\/p>\n

You asked them why they applied to be on the programme. What reasons did they give?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn a lot of cases they were looking for support from the programme. They saw that it had helped other people, and thought: maybe it\u2019ll work for me. In addition, it could be a sort of personal sacrifice, something you often see in these sorts of programmes. I also researched the British programme The Undateables<\/a> and the purpose of that programme is not to find a date, but to create awareness. Participants from Uit de Kast<\/em> actually said that they\u2019d thought: even if my coming out is a disaster, at least I\u2019m drawing attention to a social problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018A number of idiosyncratic things have also crept into Uit de Kast.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Aren\u2019t they just seeking attention?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem with this sort of research is that you can never really be sure what a person\u2019s motives are. Reasons are often construed in retrospect. What you can analyse is what people say about their motives. And they all said: I didn\u2019t do it to be famous. That\u2019s interesting. Apparently, it\u2019s simply not done to say that you want to be on television. There have to be socially acceptable reasons: a social mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did you come across anyone who had regrets?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYes. You know what\u2019s interesting is that there\u2019s always a \u2018cover story\u2019, a reason the participants give their parents to explain why a film crew is there. They say, for example, that a travel programme is being made or a programme about girls who play football. But then their parents are suddenly dragged into an extremely intimate situation. The participants feel safe in the company of the crew, whom they\u2019ve frequently come to regard as friends. But the parents feel betrayed. And the feeling that your own child doesn\u2019t trust you, naturally that\u2019s painful.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Are you gay?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

I can imagine that this sort of research would be difficult to do if you were straight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not necessarily the case. What makes anthropological research interesting and\u00a0difficult at the same time is that you have to gain the confidence of someone who, in many respects, is not at all like you. Whether this can be done successfully depends on the situation. Sometimes people want to share their stories, because they can see that the other person is genuinely interested and really listening. But sometimes an interviewee really only opens up if he or she believes that you share something, that there\u2019s a supposed connection. In this sense, me being gay helped in some instances. During the interviews, I felt that the interviewees saw me as a fellow sufferer. Sort of: we\u2019ve gone through more or less the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018People should be aware that they\u2019re watching a structured performance.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Is that the case?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, nothing like. The most important difference between a \u2018normal\u2019 coming out and the TV version is that, in reality, it\u2019s never just a single moment. In the programme, it\u2019s presented as a rite of passage. When you\u2019re still \u2018in the closet\u2019 you can\u2019t live an honest and fulfilled life because you\u2019re constantly carrying a secret. But stating that you\u2019re gay\u00a0changes everything. You\u2019re transformed, like a caterpillar\u2019s metamorphosis. That\u2019s a really romantic idea, it implies that there\u2019s such a thing as the \u2018real me\u2019. While in reality, it\u2019s a long process. First of all you tell your best friends, next you tell your family, then your work. But there are also moments when you retreat a bit. Even now when you asked me point blank, I hesitated a little.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the programme presents a simplified picture. Is that harmful?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a good thing that these things are talked about on TV and that young people are offered role models. At the same time, people should be aware that they\u2019re watching a structured performance. It\u2019s not a documentary. For economic reasons, and to make the production manageable, these sorts of programmes have a recurring formula. The Undateables is a good example of this. During the first season they worked with a documentary cast. There was an autistic participant who had a very good relationship with his mother. And, at a certain point, he practised having a date with her. The producers noticed that provided for some great television.\u00a0But an authentic scene like that then becomes a recurring\u00a0element of the programme: a format point in the programme. \u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cA number of idiosyncratic things have also crept into Uit de Kast<\/em>. For example that coming out is, in principle, no big deal: Arie Boomsma is there to fix the conflicts. Furthermore, it\u2019s striking that the participants are always the \u2018girl or boy next door\u2019 types. This makes it easy for you to identify with them, but it\u2019s also tricky, because the subtext is: it\u2019s fine that you\u2019re gay, as long as you act as though you\u2019re straight.<\/p>\n

Have you watched every episode of Uit de Kast?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you have a favourite?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a clip from one episode that I always show when I\u2019m giving a lecture. Because it\u2019s so shocking. It\u2019s about a young boy called Robert, who\u2019s from the Antilles and whose parents still live in Bonaire. Consequently, his coming out was filmed there. And it got totally out of control, his mother completely freaked out. It was really heart-rending. This shows that, while the ritualisation might be successful in the Netherlands, the presence of Arie Boomsma and the crew has a totally different effect when you place the programme in an entirely different\u00a0cultural context.\u201d<\/p>\n

You also interviewed Robert. How is he now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s okay now. But it took years for him to be reconciled with his parents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018I came across numerous personal tragedies.\u201d\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
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Have the programme\u2019s producers contacted you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNot in this particular instance. But I see that there\u2019s a gap between media companies and scholars. They\u2019re often terrified that all sorts of sensitive issues will become public knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not really far-fetched, though?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNo. I came across some\u00a0personal tragedies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are you obliged to protect the privacy of your respondents?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve all been on television; however, in my research, they are all treated anonymously.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Are there any questions you don\u2019t ask?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAs an anthropologist you learn not to be afraid of asking questions openly, even if they sound really na\u00efve or\u00a0touch upon taboos.\u00a0In Uit de Kast <\/em>there was not a lot of danger of that because, to an extent, I could relate the topic to\u00a0my own field of experience. However, with The Undateables it was different. I don\u2019t have a disability,\u2019 (chuckling) \u2018at least, no visible ones. Consequently, I found myself watching what I was saying, which sometimes led to comical situations. I was having a chat to someone with\u00a0dwarfism who\u00a0had no experience with dating. So, looking for a complex narrative, I asked her what the main reason was for her never having had a date. She looked at me as though I were mad and said: my height, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

More Science cowboys<\/h2>