“An Idiot Abroad” on Geldof

I stumbled across a UK television show entitled, An Idiot Abroad, recently. Comedians Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant send their friend Karl Pilkington on adventures around the world. Pilkington is described as having led a sheltered life, “not having done any traveling, he enjoys living within the comforts of what he knows, basically that being what is purely British.”

Say what you will about the premise of the show or the antagonistic relationship between these three men, but Pilkington seems to be pretty perceptive and reflective when it comes to “doing good” in other people’s countries and contexts. Given the controversy with Band Aid 30 (see collection of links below), this so-called moron’s observations from Season 2, Episode 5 seemed rather apropos:

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Stephen (via phone from the UK): We’re going to start you off in South Africa because there’s a couple of projects there we want you to take part in. There’s a chap called Sipho. He runs one of the local charities. We’ve arranged for you to teach some local kids, build some huts. You’ve got a chance here to give something back. Literally get your hands dirty. Alright mate?

Karl (in South Africa): Charity? I mean, has it got worse? Is it just me as I’ve got older. Does it seem like there’s more and more stuff I have to give to?…Now you can’t walk down the street without someone going, “I need your help.”

Karl: I think these people are sick and tired of people coming in from England with a camera crew. That’s probably why they haven’t moved on. They probably wanna build new house and all that. They haven’t got time. Crews keep turning up. If it’s not Geldof, it’s that Richard Curtis bloke or Lenny Henry cropping up. You can’t get anything done.

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Karl (en route to the school): How many kids will I be teaching?

Sipho: How many can you handle?

Karl: Twelve

Sipho: Twelve?

Karl: Is that? You happy with that?

Sipho: Not really.

Karl: You see, that’s the problem with charity, in’t it? It’s never enough.

Karl (inside the school): I mean if you just drop me in here, everything’s a bit of a shock to the system…By sending me in to teach the local kids here, I think it’s more of a hindrance. I know nothing. I’m in a program called “idiot abroad”…You’ve seen where they live in. What can I teach ‘em?

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Karl (en route to the building site in the township): Geldof. He did a lot didn’t he? He got involved in all this in the 80s. And he’s got sick of it. He’s moved on. I don’t hear about him comin’ here anymore, because you feel like, ‘what can you do?’ What can you do? How can you sort this out?

Karl: I give loads to charity. Helping old people. Deaf kids. Save the kids. If anything, I’d say I’m singlehandedly causing the world’s population problem, because I’m saving everybody. I’m like superman…I’m quite happy helping out. I help anyone out if someone needs a bit of help. But me turning up for one day, doing a bit of DIY, is that really going to sort this out? It goes on forever. Look how many need to be replaced. 600,000 people live here, you said.

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Stephen (after the house is built): Did you do some charity work?

Karl: Ya I got it done. I got the hut done. But there’s about another 600,000 to do. I don’t quite understand what I was meant to get out of it.

Stephen: All you’re doing is just helping others because that’s a good and honorable thing to do.

Karl: Ya, but I do that. When I get back, I’m gonna show you me bank statement, and you’ll see all this stuff flying out left, right, and center, helping all these other charities.

Stephen: But Karl, but don’t you understand the difference between a little bit of money dribbling out of your account once a month and actually getting down there getting your hands dirty?

Even Pilkington asks questions about the structural issues around poverty. — Pilkington may be “an idiot,” but he asks questions about the structural issues surrounding global poverty. Photo: http://bit.ly/1yuTD9z

Karl: What I’ve done, I’ve built a nice shiny hut where the old hut was. There’s still a river of shit whizzing past it.

Stephen: All these years, I’ve been thinking it was good to help other people. But do you know what, talking to you…I’ve realized Karl is absolutely bloody right. I’m canceling all my standing orders.

Karl: I’m just telling you what I’ve seen with me own eyes. What more can I do?

Karl (later): I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s just a bit of frustration. And I just feel that just because I build one hut. It’s not enough.

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For others’ reactions to Band Aid 30, see:

Africa doesn’t want any more western band aids, by Solome Lemma on Al Jazeera

Is Band Aid 30 out of tune on Africa?, by Milton Nkosi for BBC

Band Aid 30: clumsy, patronising and wrong in so many ways, by Bim Adewunmi in The Guardian

Africans to Geldof: We don’t need another Band Aid solution, by Tom Murphy on Humanosphere

Little Is Known on How New Band Aid Song Is Funding Ebola Fight, The Chronicle of Philanthropy

This Viral Video Raised $1.5 Million for Ebola, But Who’s Getting the Money? by Claire Suddath in Bloomberg BusinessWeek

25 questions about Band Aid 30’s new version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas” by Amanda Taub in Vox

They know it’s Christmas, by Laura Seay in The Washington Post

“Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of”…. Band-Aid 2014’s “Crumbs from Your Table” by Cecelia Lynch on the CIHA blog

“Do They Know It’s Christmas” Is Still a Misguided, Patronizing, Terrible Song, by Emma Silvers in SF Weekly