Thursday, August 02, 2007
TV Is Your Friend!
When several years ago we here at MYL saw that we were getting visits from Afghanistan, we didn't stop to consider the potential effects. We should have, as a recent NY Times article about television in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban shows the extent of Monz' influence on that war-torn yet hopeful nature. Consider these exerpts:
>>Each night, people in Kabul obey the beckoning of prime time much as they might otherwise answer the call to prayer. “As you can see, there is truth on the television, because all over the world the mother-in-law is always provoking a fight,” said Muhammad Farid, a man sitting in a run-down restaurant beside the Pul-i-Khishti Mosque, his attention fixed on an Indian soap opera that had been dubbed into Dari.
...
In one restaurant after another...profound metaphysical questions hover in the dim light: Will Prerna find happiness with Mr. Bajaj, who is after all not the father of her child? “These are problems that teach you about life,” said Sayed Agha, who sells fresh vegetables from a pushcart by day and views warmed-over melodramas by night.
...
We’ve just bought the rights to ‘24,’ the American show,” he said. “We had some concerns. Most of the bad guys are Muslims, but we did focus groups and it turns out most people didn’t care about that so long as the villains weren’t Afghans.”
...
“It has been quite odd,” said Saad Mohseni, Tolo’s chief. “This is Afghanistan, a young democracy, and we don’t have problems with the drug dealers or the Taliban or even the local populace. Our problems are all with the government, either because of red tape or attempted censorship or someone with a vested interest trying to extract money.” He paused for effect. “With democracy comes television. It’s hard for some people to get used to.”<<
We don't know what will happen when they find out that today Monz had two Amy's Indian Samosa Wraps, apple and a banana, and pronounced "these wraps rock!"
When several years ago we here at MYL saw that we were getting visits from Afghanistan, we didn't stop to consider the potential effects. We should have, as a recent NY Times article about television in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban shows the extent of Monz' influence on that war-torn yet hopeful nature. Consider these exerpts:
>>Each night, people in Kabul obey the beckoning of prime time much as they might otherwise answer the call to prayer. “As you can see, there is truth on the television, because all over the world the mother-in-law is always provoking a fight,” said Muhammad Farid, a man sitting in a run-down restaurant beside the Pul-i-Khishti Mosque, his attention fixed on an Indian soap opera that had been dubbed into Dari.
...
In one restaurant after another...profound metaphysical questions hover in the dim light: Will Prerna find happiness with Mr. Bajaj, who is after all not the father of her child? “These are problems that teach you about life,” said Sayed Agha, who sells fresh vegetables from a pushcart by day and views warmed-over melodramas by night.
...
We’ve just bought the rights to ‘24,’ the American show,” he said. “We had some concerns. Most of the bad guys are Muslims, but we did focus groups and it turns out most people didn’t care about that so long as the villains weren’t Afghans.”
...
“It has been quite odd,” said Saad Mohseni, Tolo’s chief. “This is Afghanistan, a young democracy, and we don’t have problems with the drug dealers or the Taliban or even the local populace. Our problems are all with the government, either because of red tape or attempted censorship or someone with a vested interest trying to extract money.” He paused for effect. “With democracy comes television. It’s hard for some people to get used to.”<<
We don't know what will happen when they find out that today Monz had two Amy's Indian Samosa Wraps, apple and a banana, and pronounced "these wraps rock!"
Comments:
Post a Comment
0 comments
