Reality Show ‘The Activist’ Is Proof That The X Factor Format Needs To Die

UPDATE: After the intense backlash surrounding the show's announcement, 'The Activist' have issued an update. Rather than go ahead as a reality TV competition, the series is now going to be 'reimagined' as a documentary. Host Priyanka Chopra has issued a statement to her Instagram apologising for the show's serious lack of oversight. 'I have been moved by the power of your voices' she wrote. 'The show got it wrong, and I'm sorry that my participation in it disappointed many of you.' It's unclear what her involvement in 'The Activist' will be going forward.

The X Factor might have, finally, died its death this year. But the format - of contestants, being pitted against each other, in a week-by-week format - is still being reincarnated, just in different forms. There's Britain's Got Talent, The Masked Singer, The Great British Bake Off, list of shows in this country that follow the same kind of format is endless (and that's just here).

But the latest reincarnation, across the pond, is probably the worst reality offering yet. If you needed any further proof that we are currently living through a Black Mirror-esque hellscape, meet The Activist, a show which has just been announced by production company Global Citizen, and will be aired on CBS.

Yes, it sounds as bad as you will think it will from the title. The Activist is apparently a competition series, with the winners going to the G-20 Summit in Italy. Bizarrely, celebrities (who have faced their own scandals) have actually agreed to host this, with Priyanka Chopra, Usher and Julianne Hough fronting the series.

According to Deadline{ =nofollow}, the show will star 'six inspiring activists teamed with three high-profile public figures working together to bring meaningful change to one of three vitally important world causes: health, education, and environment'.

This would be genius in an episode of Black Mirror, but, in real life, it's heinous.

It's difficult to know where to start with how terrible this idea is. It's hard to believe that not only was this idea conceived, but a TV production company actually greenlit it. In a world where some people are actually killed, or silenced for their opinions, it's tone deaf to have people battling for 'meaningful change' (whatever that means) on reality TV. And how on earth do you decide which of these causes, which are all interlinked, are more important than the other?

A spokesperson from Global Citizen told the HuffPost, 'This is not a reality show to trivialise activism. On the contrary, our aim is to support activists everywhere, show the ingenuity and dedication they put into their work, and amplify their causes to an even wider audience.' But we're not entirely convinced, if we're being honest. As activist Gina Martin, known running the campaign in the UK to make upskirting illegal, tweeted, '1. Why the hell are they judging this 2. Why the hell is there a TV show that turns activist into a competition when the whole essense of activism is solidarity and community.'

Activism is not a way to reality TV fame. And it shouldn't be seen as such, either - otherwise we're in danger of being proliferated with more performative activists. And a TV show, where contestants are fighting each other for entertainment, is not the way to shine a light on important causes. As people in television should know, that's what documentaries are for.

Also, as actress and activist Jameela Jamil pointed out, wouldn't the cash spent on this show be of more use going to directly to charity, if this is what the show claims to care about so profusely? 'Couldn’t they just give the money it’s going to take to pay this UNBELIEVABLY expensive talent and make this show, directly to activist causes?,' she asked in a tweet. 'Rather than turning activism into a game and then giving a fraction of the much needed money away in a “prize…?” People are dying.'

Kim Saira, an activist, also posted, to say the production reached out to see if she was interested in being on the show, as somebody one of the contestants would partner with. In an Instagram post - which you can see below - she alleged that she wasn't offered payment for her expertise. In her caption, she summed it up by saying: 'I just didn’t understand why the premise of the show was to gameify activism, compete for resources and “who could be the most successful” doing it. The whole thing just seemed very Hunger Games, popularity contest to me. After giving it more thought, now knowing who the hosts are, and reading more peoples’ opinions, I hope the show doesn’t air. It gives a false perceived notion that activism is capitalistic entertainment, and that only people who are “public figures” are able to make “effective change,” which is far from reality.'

Following the controversy, one the names attached to the show, Julianne Hough, has now said in a lengthy statement on Instagram that the judging element of the show 'missed the mark', and added that she's shared people's concerns with production. The actress also apologised for wearing blackface in 2013, as Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren, played by Uzo Aduba on Orange Is the New Black. 'Wearing blackface was a poor choice based on my own white privilege and white body bias that hurt people and is something that I regret doing to this day,' she wrote on Instagram. 'However, the regret that I live with pales in comparison to the lived experiences of so many. My commitment has been to reflect and act differently.'

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