The glamorization of foreign invaders who killed countless natives on their own land is not just something we Americans impose on foreigners -- just look at any "old west" stereotype or even the history course I had just five years ago at a major state university, which was taught like there was nobody of any importance living west of the Appalachians or south of Virginia until white people and/or African slaves came during the 19th century.
I would expect that, if a version of TAR, particularly a foreign one, ever swept through my part of Texas, I would hope for better, but I would expect every bad stereotype of cowboys, crude oil, The Alamo, and (depending on how much they focus on Austin and not just Texas) pot-smoking, Barton Springs-swimming slackers to appear -- not because it's what *should* be focused on, but because it's *television*. I wouldn't set a bar for factual accuracy on a show with a primary purpose of being entertaining (as opposed to informative) high enough for me to limbo under, even if the show is non-fiction, and I'm kind of surprised that someone who worked in the industry would set it as high as you appear to have. On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 10:14, Kevin M. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > To all who have commented so far. > > If the show went to America's deep south, to a replica of a small > plantation, and contestants had to grab their next clue from a bunch > of African-American slaves picking cotton, would you all point to that > as a brief taste of American culture? Would you say that, though not > truly representative of the country as a whole, it was more > entertaining than watching contestants walk up to a well-dressed black > man or woman and to take their next clue from them? Or a less extreme > example, if the show tried to use some modern day back woods town like > Bakersfield, CA as a microcosm of America, would you be alright with > that town representing America on the series? Because the parts of > Almaty they chose to show did not represent the city I know Almaty to > be, much less the country Kazakhstan is. > > Almaty has a rich history and a vibrant present. Hell, the airport > alone has improved leaps and bounds from when I was there five years > ago. What did they focus on? The Mongols. The Kazakhstani people were > raped, slaughtered, and conquered by the Mongols (among about a dozen > other peoples). What appear to be foothills on the outskirts of > Almaty, at the foot of the Tien-Shan mountains, are actually countless > graves... sacred ground. That was the aspect of Kazakhstan's culture > they chose to spotlight. > > I agree that the show should be entertaining, but, at a higher level, > Americans should strive to be better than the ones on that show, and > American viewers should strive to be better represented. I agree with > Darren that trying to change my mind about this show would be next to > impossible. I find most reality TV to be deplorable wastes of prime > time real estate, and this show seems to be as bad as the worst I've > seen. As I said at the outset, I don't know if this installment of > "The Amazing Race" is indicative of the series as a whole, but > people's replies would seem to indicate that it is. If so, there is a > lot of shame that should be felt by a lot of people. > > > -- > Kevin M. (RPCV) > > > > -- David J. Lynch [EMAIL PROTECTED] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Like TV only smarter. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
