Learn mandarin - Fame addicts scorn public social norms

Opinion / Liu Shinan

Fame addicts scorn public social norms
By Liu Shinan (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-09 05:50

As a newspaper employee, I read columns in other newspapers and try to
learn something from them in my attempt to write my own columns. I always
wondered privately if there is a knack for column writing but never found
any. Recently, however, I discovered a trick to some columnists' writings.

Here is the trick: If you want to impress your reader, write something
that defies common sense.

About two weeks ago, in a regional contest of Super Girl (a Chinese
version of American Idol) in Guangzhou that was live cast on TV
throughout the country, Ms Sun Yixin was singing and dancing when her
left hand moved to have the hem of her miniskirt lifted and her white
underpants exposed.

The episode caused widespread attention. In the following days, most
media and cyberspace critics and audiences reproached the girl for the
"indecent" behaviour. A number of people, however, defended the girl,
claiming that her move was an unintentional one.

An opinion columnist, while making the same claim, criticized the girl's
critics for being "dirty minded" and "muck-raking." He questioned them:
"What the hell have you seen?"

The columnist, surnamed Jing, then continued: "The lifting of the skirt
hem is nothing dreadful, nor is what was exposed to our eyes. What is
really worrisome is what we have in our mind."

This remark is really astounding. He was actually saying that so long as
the audiences have a clean mind, it does not matter how much the girl
exposes her private parts. This viewpoint obviously offends against
common sense.

If Mr Jing's viewpoint holds water, we needn't worry about children being
contaminated by TV programmes involving sex and violence, for children
have the cleanest mind. But I am certain Mr Jing would not allow his
child, if he has any, to watch any such programmes.

Mr Jing may argue that he was referring to adults rather than children.
Then I would like to ask him: Is it really acceptable for a TV station to
screen any indecent scenes, no matter how abhorrent they are, because
adults have strong immunity?

Another media columnist, named Hongshui, angrily berated the government
department supervising the TV industry because the department reportedly
had criticized the Super Girl programme and requested to "clean the TV
screen." He called the criticism a "farce" and ridiculed people's worry
about the influence of the indecent TV show as "having underestimated
today's youngsters' ability to stand (the test)."

Mr Jing and Mr Hongshui are undoubtedly much more liberal minded, more
avant-garde than those who they jeered as "apologists of old ways." They
must have felt indignant that old conventions still prevail in this
country.

They must also, however, feel disbelief if told of a law called the
"Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act" in the United States. Under the law,
radio stations and over-the-air TV channels may not air obscene material
at any time, and may not air indecent material between 6 am and 10 pm.

I wonder what Mr Jing and Mr Hongshui would say if they were in the US
and heard about CBS's being fined US$550,000 for airing a brief exposure
of one of Janet Jackson's breasts.

Of course, in the skirt-hem lifting event, there is controversy over
whether Ms Sun did so deliberately or accidentally. The Hunan Provincial
TV Station, the host of the Super Girl gala, claimed that the skirt-hem
was "fanned up by the movement of Sun's hand while dancing."

I examined the video recordings and photos published on Internet and
found that Ms Sun's pulling the hem with her left hand was so obvious
that anyone who has a normal sense would regard it as a deliberate move.

And any average person would think the move was an indecent, disgusting
act that should not be allowed on TV screens. This is common sense.

Email: liushinan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/09/2006 page4)

Hot Talks

� Can one love two grils ?

� N. Korea launches 6 Missiles

� Taiwan's (Irrational) Fear of China

� Former US Treasury Secretary says dump T-Bills

� MC'DONALDS + SINOPEC = FUBAI

Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours

Alibaba is the largest B2B marketplace in the world. Source model ship,
wooden puzzle, one-piece toilet, RC hovercraft, photo album, prom dress,
pocket bike, Vaginal Speculum, Samurai Sword, String Panty and PVC Pipe.

Learn Chinese, Learn mandarin, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet