Big Allah

Now, Cakesniffers is not, not, NOT going to do anything Big Brother. However, Thursday is Popbitch digest day and I found this amusing/distressing:

Big Allah: Middle East bans Big Brother
Any of us already-tired of being drawn into pointless conversations about the new set of Big Brother wannabes should think ourselves lucky that we have the right to watch the show at all. MBC, the Middle East Broadcasting Company, spent a fortune this year making Al-Akh Al-Akhbar (Big Brother Arabia) in Bahrain but it only lasted one broadcast. Protests from Islamic clerics, - "Stop Sin Brother! No to indecency!" - took it off air.

MBC is hoping to salvage some money with a new production idea... putting a group of women with mental health issues into the Big Brother House. Which, apparently, is all right.

It's sad. In the 80s and 90s Bahrain was a cosmopolitan place but since Dubai came and eclipsed its tourist industry (and took away the economic need to stay liberal) so Islamic conservatism has made a comeback. Then again, watching Celebrity Love Island, maybe the Mullahs are on to something after all...