Fed up with reality TV and the like? It could be much, much worse.
Pity the poor Chinese - over 500 (yes, really) reality-type programmes have aired in the 'People's Republic' of China in the wake of 'Pop Idol' / 'American Idol' knock off 'Super Voice Girls'. That's a whole lot of 'reality'.
However, help, of sorts is at hand, with a crackdown from above, because "Many are low-quality, low-brow programs, only catering to the bottom end of the market...There are too many reality shows, they are too chaotic and some of them are too vulgar" according to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. Only many? Only some are 'vulgar'?
And the solution, "[The regulator] promised to step up efforts to provide guidelines for program design, censor programs before they air, and carry out real-time monitoring, in order to "curb the trend of pursuing higher audience ratings by blindly catering to public sensationalism."
However, over to 'noted scholar Lin Xudong' for the last word, a fine piece of Confucian logic: "when there are more than 500 reality shows in the country bombarding TV screens simultaneously, something must be done, even if such programs are not wrong in themselves."
And with that, I'm just about out of here.
This entry was posted
on Friday, January 12, 2007 at 5:17 pm.
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Oh, dear. And the Chinese used to be such conservative souls. It all began to fall apart with the advent of karaoke.
Didn't they and the Japanese have those stupid endurance game shows, with that the twat Chris Tarrant used to show on his "TV from around the world show" in the 80's and 90's???
The USA is full of these stupid fucking shows too:
Super models
WWF wrestlers
Stupid rich kids from Orange County
The “Real World”
Oh the list is endless
No. That was Japan, not China.
The Chinese were not affluent enough to have TV in the 80s and 90s. They have only very recently had access to consumer goods.
The television has a deleterious effect upon the mind, sir, as this essay makes plain. We should be grateful that the Chinese hordes are thus addling their brains. Is Reality TV a British construct? I believe it may be; 'twas pioneered in the 1970s or 80s with The Family; we should export more such corrosive nonsense, for 'tis cheaper by far than nuclear weapons and acts as a similar deterrence to invasion.
Dr Johnson, I have much regard for your opinion, sir, but the Chinese, being a nation that will one day be one of our closest allies, would be well-advised to preserve their cleverness undiluted by the degenerative influences of the British lower orders. Thus they would serve themselves, Great Britain and humanity at large.
You say, madam, that they will become our allies. I find your optimism uplifting, but fear it may be misplaced. Pray do you not forget the authoritarianism of the Chinese rulers, evinced on the one hand by the treatment of those of a dissident opinion, and upon the other by the reckless abuse of Nature in such ventures as dam-building. I fear such attitudes will be not left at home. To the contrary, we are perceived, perhaps correctly, as flaccid and dissolute, and hence, to the imperialist mind, as ripe for subjugation.
How thoroughly splendid that lions of the past like the Doctor and His Grace have returned to offer us their thoghts.
You are too kind, sir; too kind by half. May I return the compliment and aver that your own work is distinctly leonine?
reality shows...
In Germany we´ve got so many reality shows that the real reality has become a bit dull now. There are so many tv channels over here that they always look out for a new cheap way to fill the gaps between the commercials. Just read a comment about the start of the new Big Brother (Vol. 8.257 or something like that) where they compared BB with Guantanamo. Thinking of this there´s may be another future option for chinese TV coming up...
Dr Johnson,
Since a high point in the 11th century, prior to the Mongol conquest, China has never been an expansionist power. 300 years of culture based on confucianism give the Chinese a very differnt outlook to ourselves.
They are ot religous crusaders and have little interest in non-chinese afffairs. They may threaten Taiwan and SOuth East Asia one day, but little else.
I am with Verity, they will one day be our close allies. Perhapes even in my lifetime.
Re Flamingstratman's comment about Gitmo. Maybe we should force the islamic prisoners in Guantanamo Bay to actually be a reality show, televised 24/7. Or they could be placed in various reality shows round the world.
City Unslicker - Definitely within our lifetimes. India, China plus the United States together with the Anglosphere will become roughly, maybe even formally, dividing up responsibilitiy for keeping the peace and furthering their own interests.
You are right about China. It has never been an expansionist power and really isn't interested in other cultures. The Chinese name for China, as you know, is The Middle Kingdom. In other words, they believe they are the centre of the world. They are, however, extremely interested in trade and there is no one more pragmatic than a Chinese.
(I do not believe they have any territorial ambitions in SE Asia, where rich and clever Singapore will keep an eye on their interests for them. Singapore will also partner the Anglosphere. Singapore is already the military power of SE Asia.)
Call me Pollyana, but I foresee a long period of peace and affluence coming up for the world.
The one fly in the ointment, of course, is islam, which I think will have to be harshly contained. The Chinese have problems with militant islam as well, and they don't hesitate to take decisive action.
Re Verity's last point, this tale about goings on in North West China might be of interest. I nearly blogged it at the time.
I think I might fit in well with the Chinese in that I have similairly couldn`t care less atitude to foreigners. Typically i see this tale in a domestic light . Why , I wonder , is the state removing money from everyone in the form of licence to provide worm brain level television that could easily finance itself.In fact who cares if it doesn`t..which would be better.
When are we going to drop the state propoganda machine that is the BBC. The good parts would finance themselves easliy as , unfortunately , would the tidal wave of drivel that spews out into the ether daily.
I seem to have reached an age when I am not even indifferent to soaps makeovers and the whole tiresome clutter. It irritates ; and I can`t be in the same room. To know that this soul polluting poison is at my expense makes me crush paper cups in an angry way.
Croydonian - Good link. No human rights rubbish there. Just go in and kill those suckers.
If the world is to live in peace and affluence under the moderately benign influence of the three powers - China, India, the United States (to include the rest of the Anglosphere) - we are going to have to deal with the worldwide islamic problem.
I know that sentence carries a horrifying echo of the German 'final solution' and I apologise, but we cannot be held back by daintiness. The Jews were blameless. The islamics are aggressive, violent, confrontational and determined to force the world to bend the knee to their god, employing great violence to do so. They've been at it for 1200 years, so we know it's not just a phase they're going through.
We (meaning everyone else in the world) must devise a way of containing them.
The media are squeamish and timid or are active fifth columnists. The Queen, who has the power to order the military onto the streets, does nothing. Blair appeases and appeases and appeases. (He has already told them he will not introduce a bill to make forced marriage illegal. Is no one else shocked by this?) Weak. Weak. Weak.
CAIR in the United States hammers away with lies, using Western sensitivy to make dangerous and false points (the flying imams, for example).
The next time there is some islamic demonstration with posters reading Pope Go to Hell and other insults to our country and our people, by individuals who are so daring they all have their faces completely covered, the military should be called out into the streets and should deal with it.
We are continually wrong-footed and made to appear weak (and as far as the will to act is concerned, we are) and the weak get bullied.
While we're at it, we should close down all these disgusting halal butcheries. If they can't live without their halal meat, they can go somewhere primitive where it's legal. It is weak to accommodate primitives.
Samuel,
I beg you pardon for drawing attention to your contradictions. On your blog you claim that you want "to maintain a civilized atmosphere...Impoliteness is likewise deprecated and will be discouraged."
However, here you wrote "The television has a deleterious effect upon the mind, sir, as this essay makes plain. We should be grateful that the Chinese hordes..", which is not a civilized or polite way to refer to Chinese people.
Is it possible that you already have watched too much television?
Colin - Tee hee.
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