The Mourning family throws handfuls of euro notes at the camera. The five-member family sits on two Lamborghinis, brightly colored, and even the baby has fifty in her fists. No rap music video is made here. This is the new season of What are they doing it for? – and you can get excited about it in under a minute.
The family with the “lambo’s” is one of four families who give a glimpse into their wallets in the second season of this EO program. It’s a “how does the other side live” format that isn’t unique to television. Think: Rich, Poor† How much are you worth?† Not to make a cent with ‘De Frogers’, ‘Geer en Goor’ and ‘De Roelvinkjes; Chateau Assistance… Yet this (re-)incarnation also turns out to be entertaining.
The highlight is Nadia: mother, three children, welfare, tiny house. She does it on 1,600 euros a month, and with her compost toilet and vegetable garden, it is so cost-effective that you would trust her to reform the banking system.
But the main fun of the program is in the contrasts. Nadia saves her holiday money: “for the buffer”, the Rouw family books a resort for “two k” a night. Reza and Sahar pay off part of their debt (soundtrack: ‘I want to break free’), the Rouw family misses her flight: “I almost took a private jet out of frustration.” The voice-over: “Vasco laughs at one and a half million, but how are mother Nadia’s finances?”
A comatose mix of surprise, admiration and frustration. Addictive. By the end of the first episode, you’ll want more: will Resa and Sahar get out of debt? Will Nadia lose her social assistance benefit? And, for God’s sake, does the Rouw family opt for “marble mosaic” or just use “a large ceramic tile” for the indoor pool?
The entertainment has a downside. What are they doing it for? seems to have no intention of going deeper. How Rouw earns his money is never clearer than: “real estate, shares, crypto”. Nadia is about to lose her welfare. Why? And when Reza, with a tear in his eye, says that he “almost did not want to continue” because of his debts, the program cuts directly to a church visit by the De Groot family.
What are they doing it for? never becomes more than entertainment. That’s a shame, because topics like poverty and inequality deserve serious attention. Especially with the public broadcaster.
Unprecedented critical television
A few minutes after What are they doing it for? you could see on NPO2 the importance of serious, independent media. The documentary F@ck this Job follows Natasha Sindeeva – founder of TV channel Dozhd (‘rain’), until recently Russia’s only independent TV channel. From a studio, an old chocolate factory (“smells like caramel and rats”), and Natasha’s apartment, Dozhd makes unprecedented critical television. Sketches about Medvedev and Putin, interviews with opposition leaders, reports of protests that silence the state media. Meanwhile, the government is ramping up all the tricks of the repression repertoire – from cyber-attack to arrest.
The film follows the decline of Russian democracy through the eyes of journalists who would give anything for it. Political tipping points follow each other in rapid succession – as if the plot too is fleeing government officials. One of the few moments of rest comes with a shot of Natasha’s house. A gray cube, like an Antarctic research lab in an infinite snowfield. A voice breaks in: “Natasha said: we won’t lose anything. We were so fucking stupid†
Towards the end, Natasha gets breast cancer. And as the radiation device buzzes around her bare torso, the documentary lets us know that Putin has changed the constitution. He will remain in power until 2036, when Natasha turns 65. In March 2022, Dozhd stopped all work.
This column will be written by various authors until April 25.