China Orders Pro Commie TV Propaganda Blitz

[Sea Skimmer]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13308162

May 2011 Last updated at 08:55 ET
Chinese regulators suspend TV crime and spy dramas

China has ordered TV stations across the country not to air any detective shows, spy thrillers or dramas about time-travel for the next three months.

All have been ordered off-air with immediate effect.

An official at China's state TV regulator confirmed to the BBC that the verbal order had been made.

China's Communist Party is preparing to mark 90 years since its founding and the authorities want TV stations to air programmes praising the party instead.

The government wants China's one billion television viewers to tune in to a wholesome diet of patriotic propaganda that will glorify the party ahead of the anniversary on 1 July.

Wang Weiping, the deputy chief of the drama department at China's state TV regulator, called this a "propaganda period".

There are "dozens of good TV dramas related to the founding of the party" that stations can broadcast, he told the Beijing News.

Oriental TV in Shanghai told the BBC it was postponing its spy drama Qing Mang, due to air in 10 days time. It will be replaced by a comedy about mothers and their daughters-in-law.

An official at Oriental TV said the government often issues orders about which programmes should and should not be aired.

"TV stations quite often have to rearrange the TV drama broadcasting schedule at short notice. We are always ready to rearrange things. And we normally don't ask why," Ouyang Lina of Oriental TV told the BBC.

So what many Chinese viewers will now see in the coming weeks are shows like the specially-made historical drama Dong Fang.

According to the show's publicity, it follows China's Communist leader Mao Zedong between the founding of the People's Republic of China and his second visit to the former Soviet Union 12 years later.

And the show charts the development of Marxism-Leninism in China and the achievements of the Communist Party in politics, military, culture, economics and diplomacy.

At least they are honest about the intentions.

[K. A. Pital]

Methods of propaganda in the West and in China differ a lot. China prefers open propaganda, a legacy of the USSR.

The West subtly puts enormous amounts of propaganda into "detective shows, spy thrillers or dramas about time-travel", so it doesn't distract the viewer. He has fun and consumes propaganda at the same time.

[kaeneth]

Methods of propaganda in the West and in China differ a lot. China prefers open propaganda, a legacy of the USSR.

The West subtly puts enormous amounts of propaganda into "detective shows, spy thrillers or dramas about time-travel", so it doesn't distract the viewer. He has fun and consumes propaganda at the same time.

I think we know which is more cost effective.

[fgalkin]

Chinese friends assure me that this is total bollocks and that the program includes medical dramas, romance, English dramas, etc..

http://epg.tvsou.com/programys/TV_1/Channel_1/W1.htm

Can someone confirm this?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[K. A. Pital]

There's lots of dramas, but the schedule has no spy movies as far as I see. It might be that it never had them in the first place, which would mean the "news" is sucked out of thin air.

[fgalkin]

There are a LOT of detective shows, no? Also, that staple of Communist propaganda, Ice Age 2.

There is also a show about heroic Nationalist officers, even.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Lusankya]

I don't actually know anyone who watches television. Once people have enough money to buy a computer, they start watching all their shows over the internet.

Could this possibly be another westerner misunderstanding China putting a hold on the production certain types of tv shows, because they're being overproduced and thus turning into crap? I know that that's what's happened with time travel shows: there was one popular one, which spawned a whole bunch of inferior copycats, and then the people in charge got sick of it and basically said, "No, we're not going to pay for any more of that." The same thing happened with television adaptions of the four Chinese classics.

There's lots of dramas, but the schedule has no spy movies as far as I see. It might be that it never had them in the first place, which would mean the "news" is sucked out of thin air.

I don't remember watching ever seeing any spy dramas on the telly. As a general rule, the television should be about equal parts wu xia, war dramas, historical dramas, documentaries, dating/variety shows, soap operas and Xi Yang Yang. Anything outside of these categories is a bit of an aberration.

The West subtly puts enormous amounts of propaganda into "detective shows, spy thrillers or dramas about time-travel", so it doesn't distract the viewer. He has fun and consumes propaganda at the same time.

I would like to disagree with you here. The Chinese viewer is just as capable of having fun and consuming propaganda at the same time as the Western viewer. The production of many of the propaganda shows really is quite excellent. The difference between the two is that the Western viewer is oblivious to the fact that his propaganda is propaganda.

[Sarevok]

What an awful country to live in where government can control what fictional TV shows people can watch or not.

[Hawkwings]

I remember watching Chinese TV... there was this one show I loved, I forgot the name and I don't remember the time setting but it was about this girl in the Imperial court (the Emperor's adopted daughter I think?) and her group of friends and the only episode I remember was when the emperor gave her this golden medallion which entitled her to three requests that everyone, even the Emperor, had to obey. It had bright costumes, silly fun fight scenes, and pretty standard drama. That show was quite a few years ago though. When I was there last summer I remember seeing a detective drama, a recently-produced Warring States period martial arts movie, a revolution-period drama that involved a protagonist spy, and a soap opera. Oh, and the commercials, hilarious.

I remember a lot of revolution-period TV shows though, those are pretty standard fare, especially ones featuring or involving the 8th Route Army.

[Edward Yee]

The same thing happened with television adaptions of the four Chinese classics.

I hope you're not talking about last year's Three Kingdoms series, because at least in the first ten episodes (didn't see any more with English subtitles yet) it was AWESOME.

[Lusankya]

The same thing happened with television adaptions of the four Chinese classics.

I hope you're not talking about last year's Three Kingdoms series, because at least in the first ten episodes (didn't see any more with English subtitles yet) it was AWESOME.

No, I'm thinking more of Water Margin and A Dream of Red Mansions. I think there were were several productions of A Dream of Red Mansions being produced at the same time, each crappier than the last, and the government decided to just pull the plug on them.

[Lusankya]

What an awful country to live in where government can control what fictional TV shows people can watch or not.

Even if this article is true (and since it reminds me distinctly of another article which was also wrong), the government's not actually controlling what fictional shows people can watch or not. What they're doing is controlling which fictional shows go on television. People are still perfectly capable of watching whatever time travel detective spy thrillers that they want on the internet. For those without internet, DVDs cost 7 kuai apiece, and DVD players are affordable even to peasants who don't even have plumbing yet.

[mr friendly guy]

I remember watching Chinese TV... there was this one show I loved, I forgot the name and I don't remember the time setting but it was about this girl in the Imperial court (the Emperor's adopted daughter I think?) and her group of friends and the only episode I remember was when the emperor gave her this golden medallion which entitled her to three requests that everyone, even the Emperor, had to obey. It had bright costumes, silly fun fight scenes, and pretty standard drama. That show was quite a few years ago though.

This one ring any bells And no, I haven't watched it. Whistles innocently.

When I was there last summer I remember seeing a detective drama,

This it by any chance?

On another note, I heard some idiot most probably from the ministry of culture banned "supernatural" shows. I have no idea how true this is, since AFAIK they are still planning to do a sequel of Painted Skin, so its most probably an exaggeration.

Their Wuxia shows still looks pretty neat, so the crap degeneration hasn't spread there so far. Yi Tian Tu Long Ji 2008 had high production values. The fight scene between Zhang Wuji, Zhou Zhiruo and the 3 Shaolin monks was awesome. Then we have the woman in yellow come and kick the traitorous Zhou Zhiruo butt in a fight scene. I love this genre.

Oh, Lusankya, are the television stations in China all government owned, or are there any private ones? If its all government owned, then the government would dictate whatever it wants to be shown.

[Lusankya]

All the CCTV stations are government owned. Not sure about all the satellite/cable shows. I think most of those are run by the provincial governments.

[Exonerate]

I'm a member of a fansubbing group for Chinese dramas and this was brought up almost a month ago. Somebody managed to dig up the announcement:
Link
It's a private forum though, so I'm not going to quote the translation done by one of the members. Basically, it reads as though the Party frown upon shows involving things like time travel, made-up mythology, sensationalist superstition, reincarnation, etc and calls for a a greater adherence towards traditional Chinese culture. I'd personally interpret it as not a blanket ban on all shows with those elements, but more of a "stop making up random shit" warning. I don't see an outright ban on them, but it does advise the filmmakers carefully consider market risks in order to avoid blind investments. Lastly, they call upon TV stations to actively involve themselves with putting out reconstructions of the revolution, as a celebration for the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.

Edit: Upon reflection, this doesn't seem to be quite the same order as what was mentioned in the OP, but it's along the same vein.

[Hawkwings]

This one ring any bells And no, I haven't watched it. Whistles innocently.

Yep, that's it! I may have to go look up some episodes...

This it by any chance?

Nope, the one I watched was a TV series set in contemporary China.

[fgalkin]

Speaking of propagaganda....

The government wants China's one billion television viewers to tune in to a wholesome diet of patriotic propaganda that will glorify the party ahead of the anniversary on 1 July.

Wang Weiping, the deputy chief of the drama department at China's state TV regulator, called this a "propaganda period".

Are you telling me that phrasing is not biased as hell?

In other news, today is Victory Day in Russia and every channel is full with war-themed programs, to the point there's almost nothing but it on TV. ZOMG! Propaganda!

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Lusankya]

I thought that when your own side does it, it's "bias" and not "propaganda".

[Enigma]

I thought that when your own side does it, it's "bias" and not "propaganda".

Hey Lus, I was wondering if you know the title of this Chinese movie based on my recollection posted on another thread.

..... there's a Chinese movie I saw years ago about two adult brothers living with their father, who runs a bath-house. One son wants to do something other than work in the bath-house while the other one is mentally handicapped but loves to sing except he only sings good when he's in the shower. Nevertheless, the father passes away and the non-handicapped son takes over his business.

I forgot the plot but it was a very good movie. All I remember in the end was that the MH son was able to sing in front of an audience because someone (I think his brother) setup a shower on stage.

The other brother ends up keeping his father's business.

[Molyneux]

Yet another reason to be very glad that I don't live anywhere the fuck near China.
Why are we not embargoing the fuck out of them, again? They may be a big market for Western goods, but their government still imprisons people who look at it sideways. Remember that Nobel Peace Prize winner who's still rotting in a cell?

[fgalkin]

Yet another reason to be very glad that I don't live anywhere the fuck near China.
Why are we not embargoing the fuck out of them, again? They may be a big market for Western goods, but their government still imprisons people who look at it sideways. Remember that Nobel Peace Prize winner who's still rotting in a cell?

Embargoing...China...

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Enigma]

Yet another reason to be very glad that I don't live anywhere the fuck near China.
Why are we not embargoing the fuck out of them, again? They may be a big market for Western goods, but their government still imprisons people who look at it sideways. Remember that Nobel Peace Prize winner who's still rotting in a cell?

From what I understand, they've got a lot of resources that we need. Why would we jeopardize our economies by embargoing them?

[Molyneux]

Yet another reason to be very glad that I don't live anywhere the fuck near China.
Why are we not embargoing the fuck out of them, again? They may be a big market for Western goods, but their government still imprisons people who look at it sideways. Remember that Nobel Peace Prize winner who's still rotting in a cell?

Embargoing...China...

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Well, doing something. Write up letters of marque against their shipping, or something.

Every time I hear news about business interests in China, it just brings to mind exactly how much of a shithole their government is; I would barely shed a tear if their entire political structure spontaneously vomited up their lungs.

[fgalkin]

Yet another reason to be very glad that I don't live anywhere the fuck near China.
Why are we not embargoing the fuck out of them, again? They may be a big market for Western goods, but their government still imprisons people who look at it sideways. Remember that Nobel Peace Prize winner who's still rotting in a cell?

Embargoing...China...

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Well, doing something. Write up letters of marque against their shipping, or something.

Every time I hear news about business interests in China, it just brings to mind exactly how much of a shithole their government is; I would barely shed a tear if their entire political structure spontaneously vomited up their lungs.

I think I'll let this post stand as a testament to the massive superiority of Western propaganda over its counterparts.

I mean, if a blatantly false story has gotten him riled up like that, I can only commend the Beeb for its excellence. I mean, when they write articles like this, what else can one expect? (Hint: Most of Sudanese technicals are still Toyta pickups. Let's go after them for breaking the embargo!)


Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[montypython]

Every time I hear news about business interests in China, it just brings to mind exactly how much of a shithole their government is; I would barely shed a tear if their entire political structure spontaneously vomited up their lungs.

I think I'll let this post stand as a testament to the massive superiority of Western propaganda over its counterparts.

I mean, if a blatantly false story has gotten him riled up like that, I can only commend the Beeb for its excellence. I mean, when they write articles like this, what else can one expect? (Hint: Most of Sudanese technicals are still Toyta pickups. Let's go after them for breaking the embargo!)


Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Completely unsurprised by this sort of thing, seeing full well how those with an ideological axe to grind will invariably find any and every little excuse and trick in the book to savage anyone whose mere existence acts against their notions of superiority.

Let a thousand socialist blossoms bloom in that case...