Can We get some Real Entertainment in the Chinese Media? And Seriously, who Gave the CCP the Right to Define what is Moral in China?
by how the same hosts, same singers, and the same comedians makes same
appearances in concerts and "galas" that practically have not
changed...eh...since I started watching TV in China....(just an
explanation, "gala" is a comprehensive TV event that incorporates all
sorts of entertainment, i.e. comedy, dancing, singing, acrobatics,
magic, etc. in a short time, generally around two to four
hours....yes, it has roots in communist thought as a form of mass
entertainment for the common people because they can see all this in a
short time for free...and its a form of mass employment for little
known entertainers as each of these galas generally involve more than
ten thousand people in performance, logistics, and preparations)
To be fair, there has been reforms in Chinese media: the provincial TV
stations have evolved to more than local rebroadcast stations of China
Central TV (CCTV), the main propaganda station located in Beijing.
Both the local stations and CCTV have been keen to gain more viewer
interest by creating new programs that appeals to different viewer
groups...
Well, I do believe that Chinese people are generally some of the most
creative people in the world (just look at all the cute and highly
functional modifications that they can make to their illegally
produced electronic goods) but when it comes to "creating new
programs," the stations simply resorted to completely copying foreign
program formats (just saw the Chinese version of "Family Feud"...the
price money was less than 1500 USD) and showing foreign dramas and
movies (Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese, American...). News of
celebrities and pop culture are mostly foreign (other East Asian ones)
Some argue that Chinese culture plus lack of experience makes it
impossible for the Chinese to produce any worthwhile entertainment
program, but seriously, considering that we are importing so much from
other immediate neighbors who we share a lot of cultural background
with, shouldn't we blame the lack of creativity in China on concrete
institutions rather than some abstract "emotional or cultural
differences of the Chinese people"?
And really, by institutions, I do mean the censorship system that is
so prevalent...last time, I did note that the Internet is so censored
because the CCP wants to reshape the public opinions of the netizens,
and I am pretty sure that they use the same strategy with
TV...However, they seem to forget that while the Chinese Internet is
dominated by blogs and forums (text-based stuff), the TV is highly
visual and flowery in many aspects by design. Sure, news programs can
be as monotonous as an Internet forum, but for the average TV watcher,
they perhaps spend less than 10% of the total time on watching news
(at least thats how its supposed to be...news isn't exactly using the
TV's best advantage).
And then there is the "moral aspect" of censorship...Somehow, the CCP
thinks it has some sort of mandate to guide the Chinese people toward
"ethical" way of living...in other words, it thinks that it has the
right to define what is immoral and unethical in this society.
Evidently, the elderly CCP leadership and the youth (who most despise
the pretentious TV programs) have quite different understandings of
what is considered "immoral"...often, what is considered frivolous fun
on the part of the youth is deemed serious violation and harm to the
people's moral integrity by the CCP elders.
And with their narrow views of what is moral, even the popular
copycats of foreign programs are blocked off after short, successful
runs (and at the same time, once again dashing the youth's hope that
Chinese TV can be any good)...In response, the youth head of to the
Internet and the pirated DVDs to watch the latest foreign dramas,
movies, pop music, making them popular despite lack of initial
exposure on TV.
At the same time, the government's "high moral standards" have stifled
any productive use of the innovative energy to create truly
interesting TV programs in China. The ideas and works of many
producers who have succeeded in any other country cannot get the
approval of CCP cadres in the still state-owned (i.e. all of them) TV
stations...their ideas die, and so do them and their ambitions for
improving Chinese TV.
As a result, we have a cycle in which Chinese domestic TV gets worse
--> youth follows foreign programs/music and celebrities/singers -->
then Chinese government import a bunch of foreign copycats and
broadcast news about foreign celebrities/singers to get the youth to
pay more attention to TV --> the youth become more interested in
foreign stuff --> the government crack down on foreign copycats for
"moral violations" (TV gets worse again) --> the youth goes back to
the Internet to get scoop on foreign stuff and so on as the cycle
repeats itself.
The only way for Chinese TV to truly escape mediocrity and for China
to truly become a cultural power (as Korean Wave of dramas and pop
music have made South Korea one), the CCP must stop regulating the
content of the entertainment programs. I don't care if the government
censor political stuff on TV and Internet, but if they continue to
"approve" (or "disapprove") cultural programs in TV based on their
1960s world view, then Chinese youth will continue to focus
exclusively on foreign lands for entertainment.
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