China bans time travel for television

[Renew Deal]

Source: CNN

Hong Kong, China (CNN) – China has been cracking down on dissent of late, as the recent detainment of artist Ai Weiwei suggests.

But the latest guidance on television programming from the State Administration of Radio Film and Television in China borders on the surreal – or, rather, an attack against the surreal.

New guidelines issued on March 31 discourages plot lines that contain elements of "fantasy, time-travel, random compilations of mythical stories, bizarre plots, absurd techniques, even propagating feudal superstitions, fatalism and reincarnation, ambiguous moral lessons, and a lack of positive thinking."

“The government says … TV dramas shouldn’t have characters that travel back in time and rewrite history. They say this goes against Chinese heritage,” reports CNN’s Eunice Yoon. “They also say that myth, superstitions and reincarnation are all questionable.”
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Read more: http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/14/china-bans-time-travel-for-television

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Here today. Gone tomorrow.

[FLPanhandle]

1. That'll make for some fine entertainment programming

I'd hate to be subjected to their TV programs.

[harmonicon]

8. Have you seen US tv programming?

It's almost all unwatchable. There are unwritten rules for US programming which are really no better or worse than these from China.

[Vinee]

21. what?

Justified, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, the Walking Dead, South Park-that's all good stuff.

[BOG PERSON]

24. and yet none of those shows involve time travel

[Vinee]

28. South Park -Go God Go and Go God Go XII

quite simply, it looks like you're wrong BOG PERSON.

[harmonicon]

25. I've only seen two of those shows:

South Park, which I love, and The Walking Dead, which I think is a third rate soap opera with a few zombies thrown in every few episodes as a gimmick. These things aside, there are things that just can't really be questioned in the US media: the unfailability of capitalism and democracy, for instance; beautiful people are better people; being rich is good; material possessions solve personal problems, etc.

[Vinee]

26. well

I think the walking dead is pretty good and will improve significantly in the next season. By improve, I'm talking about gruesome acts of zombie genocide of course. There are plenty of shows that challenge the "beautiful is better" concept, "Mike and Molly" and "Drop Dead Diva", for example. Sons of Anarchy is about a gang of dirty outlaw bikers which throws out all the well established TV norms that you speak of. It has Peg Bundy and Hellboy starring in it btw. Breaking Bad is about a chemistry teacher who gets cancer and goes into making crystal meth to pay for his medical expenses. It too throws out all the norms. I didn't used to be a big TV fan but this show brought me back to the couch. It ain't "2 1/2 Men", that's for sure.

[harmonicon]

48. I'll have to take your word for it.

I've been in the UK for four years now, and even in the US never had cable. However, the actors you mention are still among the "beautiful people" group. It seems that the "ugly" characters are usually just gorgeous people with glasses or bad hair.

[LanternWaste]

30. And the now almost endemic desire to push the envelopes...

"here are things that just can't really be questioned in the US media..."


And the now almost endemic desire of both market and viewer to push the envelopes of social mores (both in taste and content) farther and farther out, which appears to be the precise opposite of the fundamental intentions of this particular Chinese suggestion.

[nolabels]

23. No i haven't, what is it like?

No matter what oligarch owned piece of crap mass-media you check into you will eventually understand that are trying sell you a lemon. I try to tune out of all of it as much as possible. Thanks to DU i have been able keep a steady eye on which way up is for the last decade :-)

[LanternWaste]

31. ichelangelo was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Vatican

I would imagine Michelangelo was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Vatican in his day too.

However, I guess we all justify our subjective interpretations of what different mediums may or may not allow.

[nolabels]

33. My thinking is not of them controling what i feel and desire but more.....

of the crap they are selling is often sub-standard. Mostly i find the good things are the things they haven't cheapened and adulterated by the marketeers and bean counters. Often also they are not much advertized much because they mostly sell all by themselves by word of mouth. Michelangelo's works of art in the Vatican are labors of love which is still a wonder today. He didn't take a penny of it with him and he left us all with so much

[LanternWaste]

39. One man's hack-author is another man's poet.

I imagine we justify and rationalize those parts of Madison Avenue we purchase while righteously maintaining our opposition to it.

One man's crap being another man's treasure is quite an old adage, for good reason I imagine. One man's hack-author is another man's poet. Although I'm not clever enough to make the distinction except for myself, I imagine there are many who pretend they are indeed clever enough to make the absolute distinction.

[LibertyLover]

52. Lots of game shows, panel discussions and classic operas

at least from what I saw. I swear that the Chinese/Japanese love of cheesy game shows is hard wired. My 8 year old daughter, originally from Hubei province, loves to watch shows like Wipe Out and the gods know she didn't get that from me or her father.

[truebrit71]

2. So glad they're our 'friends'...

:sarcasm:

[GodlessBiker]

3. So, I guess Dr. Who is out of favor with the Party tyrants.

[Travelman]

11. Beat me to it

And what about "flashbacks?" Are those verboten now, too?

[freshwest]

42. Their loss. The rest of the world loves him.

[unkachuck]

43. I really....

....shouldn't respond to you because I don't wish to appear mean, rude or unkind....BUT, Dr. Who has got to be the worlds' most pathetic excuse for television program ever conceived....

....I remember back when, while we were putting men on the moon, the British consoled their populations' inferiority with this mythical program about a guy flying around through time in a phone booth....I'm as confused now as I was back then....

....I must admit, over all these years, I've never watched a complete episode; I've tried, but nausea overwhelms me, then I click....

[freshwest]

44. You read way to much into my post/the Brits. I don't listen to Simon Cowell critiques, either.

[GodlessBiker]

45. It's not a phone booth, it's a TARDIS (which happens to look like a police box).

[Nye Bevan]

49. I grew up hiding behind the sofa watching Jon Pertwee as Doctor Who in the 70s

so Doctor Who will always be special to me.

[Corruption Winz]

4. So Friends isn't allowed then, right?

I mean all those good looking people being good people and friendly is as unrealistic as anything they mentioned.

Seriously, that might sound like a joke. But... the point is that television itself is surreal and fantastical. To essentially outlaw bizarre plots or fantasy, you're essentially outlawing fictional television.

[Jkid]

5. No fun allowed!

Apprently this outlaws Doctor Who in China.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

6. I guess that leaves "Quantum Leap" out of the question.

[Renew Deal]

7. Yup, and Dr. Who

And back to the future and lots more.

[drm604]

9. Science Fiction in general

I would think.

[WatsonT]

10. They could go back and convince the emperor not to dismantle their treasure fleet

Back in the 1400s. Then China would be ruling the world right now.

Of course they'd be imperial rather than Communist (in name at least).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_Dynasty#Treasure_fleet

[progressoid]

12. Time Tunnel!

I remember watching that on our little B&W TV.

[Joe Bacon]

34. Oh, I loved Time Tunnel!

My favorite show when I was a kid!

[SoulSearcher]

13. First thought "WTF??", but possibly a strategy

I mean, whats the point right? But listening to Eunice
Moon's video report, I see how this sets up a soft "steering"
control of sorts for the dictative Chinese government. At the
end she notes they want TV to air content showing how the Gov
leaders are great thinkers/leaders/always-right, etc. But rather than
directly do that with directl decree, they instead take away a
major area or creative-story themes.

I know this sounds "out there" but listen to Moon's report
again at the end - it's a control thing. Chinese Gov can dictate
type and amount of content, and they want a given result.

[BeFree]

17. Yep

We do it here.... anybody who thinks opposite of the "Officials" is labeled any number of really bad sounding names. IOW, get in line or you're a bad person. Follow along or to the dungeon you go!

The Chinese, dare I say it, are at least more open and honest and upfront than some of us in the US.

[AtheistCrusader]

14. We ought to do that.

Nothing ruins a good show, like lazy writers that resort to silly time travel bullshit.

[Uncle Joe]

15. They're; afraid of having anyone thinking outside of their box.

Thanks for the thread, Renew Deal.

[quakerboy]

16. So no chance of Fauz Newz getting in then, eh?

[nolabear]

18. When you've got them by their hearts and minds, their balls will follow.

At least that's the Chinese gov't fantasy. What will happen is that the stories will go underground and become all the more valuable, and sadly, useable as weapons against supposed "storytellers.

[E-Z-B]

19. So they won't get Star Trek: Enterprise

(that was a great show, by the way!)

[yurbud]

20. they realized the wisdom of Obama's ''I want to look forward not back'' which relieved him

of having to prosecute Bush crimes or those of his own Wall Street patrons.

[sakabatou]

22. Dr. Who should really play up on this

[Freddie Stubbs]

50. The Doctor visited China in 1289 and met Marco Polo and Kublai Khan

Unfortunately those episodes are lost:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo_%28Doctor_Who%29

[Blue_Tires]

27. I don't think any of the Chinese cars can go 88 miles per hour, anyways...

[Taverner]

29. Tonight on China TV: The Happy Chinese Family

All about a happy family of workers in China, who are always happy and have what they need. They spend their day being happy and talking about how happy they are. Tonight: The happy family has dinner and is happy!

[Downwinder]

32. No Escape. n/t

[SecularMotion]

35. China bans time travel on the tube

Source: Boston Globe

If you're living in China right now and want to enjoy a nice quiet evening on the sofa watching the classic 1960 film version of "The Time Machine," you may be out of luck.

The New York Times recently reported that China's State Administration for Radio, Film & Television has issued new guidelines as to how TV shows should treat the issue of time travel, saying that shows that involve rocketing through time and space lack meaning and promote an unhealthy belief system.

The Times reports that a press release in Chinese says that these shows "casually make up myths, have monstrous and weird plots, use absurd tactics, and even promote feudalism, superstition, fatalism and reincarnation."

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/source/2011/04/china_bans_time.html

[physioex]

36. Huh....Trying to distract us from the huge financial crisis

That will pale in comparison to the US housing bubble ehhh?

[DeeJay]

37. I wonder where they stand on televangelists?

or any religious programming for that matter.

[unkachuck]

41. "I wonder where they stand on televangelists?"

....probably on their throats and necks....but that's okay, China is now the worlds' largest manufacturer and that makes them 'right'....and every patriotic American can appreciate 'might makes right'!

http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2011/03/china-reclaims-former-perch-as-world%E2%80%99s-biggest-manufacturer/

[whoneedstickets]

38. Its all a ploy to keep Scott Bakula from cashing in...

..on years of Quantum Leap reruns!

[4saken]

40. Banning fiction?!?

Are their critical thinking skills so undeveloped and disjointed based on a need for a lack of criticism of themselves? I don't think any of those time travel movies are asserting themselves as part of reality. And even if they were, how would it be convincing? There are reasons why the huge popularity of Superman didn't lead to mass deaths from falling off buildings. Because luckily even people without any critical thinking skills aren't THAT gullible.

[jpak]

46. Wow - they banned FOX News

too bad we couldn't do that

:D

[Hugabear]

47. Does that rule out Jean Claude Van Damme's "Timecop"?

[Safetykitten]

51. China bans all time related shows. Live shows of kittens eating will be televised.