Another prank lands Given Carter in hot soup
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Sunday February 20, 2022 06:00
"I was arrested by the police telling me that it is illegal to put a child on the video of which I might be charged around P5,000 or six months to two years in prison for violating child’s rights,” he told Arts & Culture in an interview. In the video, the man is seen pushing the woman perceived to be his baby mama and the baby out of his car, throwing out their belongings in the street before driving away.
The video got many talking.
The angry social media users had different opinions concerning the issue. Some said the guy found new love and therefore kicked the baby mama out so that he could spend Valentine’s Day with a new lover while some said the man had to be found and beaten. Even though the public grilled the man for being heartless, little did they know that it was a prank, thanks to Given Carter who never seizes to amaze people with his creative pranks that are always on point and relevant.
Some said they could tell that the video was all act, but many were convinced that the whole scene was real. In an interview with the young talent, he explained that Gender Based Violence (GBV) was a disturbing issue recently in Botswana. He said GBV was destroying a lot of people’s lives and needed to be dealt with quickly and accordingly.
He said serious action has to be taken against abusers. Given Carter added that GBV has left some children with no parents, families lose breadwinners and parents lose children. “I was motivated to shoot this video to see how Batswana react to GBV, to see if they tolerate it or not. Before Botswana knew that the video was a prank, they reacted angrily towards it and they even went to an extent of revealing the number plate of the car. They wanted to hunt for the driver and deal with him,” he said. “Mob justice is against the law. Rather maybe they should have suggested that he be reported to the police or shared the clip with Botswana Police Service (BPS) Facebook page than suggesting violence." Even though some Batswana seem to not understand what pranks are, Given Carter said some do understand it because they do not do followups to attack actors and actresses after knowing that the videos were pranks. He said only a small portion confuses pranks with movie clips.
In relation to the recent clip, they suggested that Given Carter should have put a disclaimer that the child was not harmed during the shooting. But doing that was going to distort the prank because it was not going to be a prank anymore. He stated that Botswana was slow in terms of arts saying no one was supporting or endorsing local talent that is why he had been inactive for sometime.
He said he was demotivated and became lazy to do more pranks. However, he explained that he was back on track and would continue with his pranks no matter what because he was confident that one day he would reach his goals. “I love arts with all my heart. It is my passion so in Botswana there is still that hindering for you to progress. There are still rules and laws that are supporting us to progress,” he said.