Johan Derksen is completely done with the SBS 6 program Steenrijk Straatarm. He believes that this kind of poverty entertainment in 2022 is no longer possible. “I don’t like it that way.”
The Steenrijk Straatarm program regularly generates discussion among viewers. Each episode, two families with completely opposite wealth levels swap homes, budgets and everyday lives for a week. This week there was a rich couple on the show who with their boastful behavior for disgust took care of viewers.
Unpleasant feeling
Johan Derksen is also completely done with it. He believes that this kind of television in 2022 is actually no longer possible. “I don’t know what the ratings are like, but it makes me feel very uncomfortable, because it’s very unfair to parents who want to give their children everything, but can’t,” he says in Today Inside.
It particularly bothers Johan that poor people are allowed to look around like circus monkeys in a luxurious life, only to return to their poverty-stricken existence. “These children enter a world that they do not know at all. I don’t like watching that and who are you doing with that to suddenly plunge very poor people into wealth?”
‘This is painful’
In fact, it’s just highly distasteful, Johan thinks. “They know in advance that it will be over after a week and that they have to go to the food bank again.”
Can he not address his idol John de Mol about this? “Talpa has so many programs that I think: why do you have them? If they score then that could be a reason, but I find this painful compared to poor people.”
‘Yeah, bah’
Johan sympathizes with the ‘poor’ participants. “For a week they have enough money and they can go to every animal park and the Efteling with the children, which is never possible, but look: that is nice TV to portray that euphoria, but behind that euphoria there is actually a lot of sadness .”
René van der Gijp completely agrees. “Yeah, bah.”
