The Media Culling

From: http://news.omy.sg/News/Local%2BNews/Story/OMYStory201007201459-169776.html

节目咨委会：
《双子星》渲染暴力　《小娘惹》强奸画面不当

新传媒剧集《双子星》和《叮当神探》，被华文节目咨询委员会点名批评渲染暴力意识，不应在黄金时段播出。

新加坡媒体发展管理局的华文节目咨询委员会，今早发表两年一度的报告，对2008年7月至2010年6月播出的本地电视和电台节目作出评价。

报告提到，委员会非常关注新传媒剧集一再出现令观众不堪的暴力、残暴的镜头或主题。

委员会特别点名了《双子星》和《叮当神探》。

委员会今早在记者会上也指出，《小娘惹》的暴力和强奸画面也不当。而台湾电视剧《爱》和《台湾龙卷风》等，都有负面主题，如：家庭纷争、欺诈摆布、企图伤害和报复等。
　　
新传媒不改善
委员会感失望
　　
华文节目咨询委员会表示，两年前已指出，电视剧为了收视率放大不适当剧情，如：婚外情、青少年犯罪和对暴力的渲染等，都是不应该的。

对于新传媒不采纳委员会的建议，不改善剧集，委员会深表失望。

委员会认为，这类镜头或主题常出现在电视上，会让观众会对暴力、不堪的内容不以为然。

“尤其是当剧集在黄金时段播出，一家大小一同看电视时，小孩就会接触这类内容。”

-----

Every now and then I would see reports about viewers complaining about the violent or undesirable content on TV. They are usually people who watch TV to gain knowledge and not for entertainment. This time it’s the Advisory Committee who is complaining. Mediacorp has to heed their advice otherwise they will be very disappointed…

I really enjoyed 叮当神探 when it was aired few years ago. If anyone remembers, I even posted some funny screenshots in the blog. Tay Ping Hui’s amusing antics aside, I find the plot pretty thrilling and mysterious among the influx of soap operas.

As for 双子星, I guess the committee is only referring to the rape scenes of Felicia Chin. (Zoe Tay’s parts aren’t considered violent, are they?) Personally I dun find those scenes very explicit or distasteful. Mediacorp has already watered down the intensity. Probably because the actress acted well and screamed so hysterically, the committee might have overstated the extent of violence hahaha.

小娘惹 is also under fire for similar scenes. Maybe in the future, the actress can consider acting more like a woodblock, struggle and scream less, so that the scene can come under the acceptable standards? Lol.

However I seriously think that Mediacorp dramas are relying too much on rape scenes to generate the plot. It feels like in every drama, at least a character will (or almost) get raped in some way or another.

SG dramas generally aren’t very interesting in the first place. If they were to remove or tone down such plot ideas, I wonder how much the entertainment value will further drop. I am not saying violence is entertaining lah haha, but it does add some thrill factor in dramas.

Even the seemingly mild 爱 and 台湾龙卷风 are not spared either. Their negative themes are also deemed as undesirable. Does the committee wants every drama to be Happily Ever After? That would be so unrealistic (and boring). Let’s face it. Society is harsh. No point trying to drown ourselves in ideality.

Maybe the committee could stop underestimating our intelligence and treating us like monkeys – imitating whatever we see. We know how to differentiate between good and bad okay. Kids are not that stupid either. If they want dramas to be entirely educational, might as well just scrape dramas and air variety shows or documentaries all the way.

Other viewers aren’t keeping quiet too:

From: http://news.omy.sg/News/Local%2BNews/Story/OMYStory201007211545-170208.html

观众担心诸多严格限制　本地电视更不好看

媒体发展管理局的华文节目咨询委员会，昨天发表两年一度的报告时表示，当局非常关注新传媒剧集一再出现令观众不堪的暴力、残暴镜头或主题。

委员会点名《小娘惹》、《双子星》和《叮当神探》有强奸、血腥、暴力等不良桥段的剧集。

一些观众在看了咨询委员会的报告后反应，本地的电视节目现在已经不是太精彩了，他们担心，在诸多严格的限制下，本地的电视连续剧及综艺节目下来会更加“不好看”。

一名张姓工程师说：“其实，大家也要对本地的电视台公平一点，他们面对那么小的市场，先天条件不足，这已经是一个很不利的局限了，再又诸多严格的限制，他们更加绑手绑脚，很难发挥。”

也有一名陈姓女读者说：“其实，好看的韩剧及港剧，很多也有大奸大恶、通奸、害人的情节，但是，戏就是戏，是假的，难道新加坡人不懂得辨别戏是假的？”

另一位不愿透露姓名的读者也指出：“当然，大家可以说，要做出精彩的节目，不一定需要暴力和色情，但是，大家也要公平一点，韩国也没有每年制作一部《大长今》啊！”

马炎庆：要拍一出好戏 不需要靠色情

丹戎巴葛集选区议员马炎庆说，本地剧集在“讲故事”方面，比港台、韩国等都要弱。

他说，内容是否有渲染色情暴力，并不是关键，因为简单的故事也能扣人心弦。

“语言限制也不是关键，但如果能配合剧情加入方言，会增加其乐趣，也会较亲切。像《小娘惹》就有方言，但当局并没有批评。”

社青体部高级政务次长张思乐也指出，家庭式的频道需在情色、暴力方面适可而止，毕竟他们有社会责任。

张思乐以常看的韩日剧为例，认为两地的优势在于，他们的故事人能细腻地刻画出人与人间的感情，有时也因题材新鲜，所以得到很大的回响。

李玉云：《大长今》 不靠色情暴力

三巴旺集选区议员李玉云以韩国经典剧《大长今》为例，说明剧集无需刻意渲染负面主题，也能发挥创意。

李玉云说，《大》内的宫廷斗争，虽是“负面主题”，但却靠药膳主题，博得全亚洲观众的心。

阿裕尼集选区议员潘惜玉也认为，负面主题受限，创作人可往幽默、自嘲式的方向去发挥创意。
-----

Can Mediacorp ever create a drama as popular and well-received as 大长今 without any violence and negativity? This comparison is probably an overestimation of its capability. If we can compare SG dramas to foreign dramas, why don’t we try comparing our censorship to countries which are more open and accepting in setting their standards?

After this advisory, I think Mediacorp will have second thoughts in producing something different. Back to the old boring formula of happy family dramas.

Luckily I still have Jdramas to fall back on. Hehe.