On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 8:18 PM, Kevin M. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I don't expect it to be a documentary series, but I also don't expect > them to outright lie about what the country is like. Darren suggested > the show was a teachable moment. It was. Many of my students watch the > show, and I spent the morning undoing the damage that had been done. >
Did you use the same tone of anger and vitriol that you used in your post or this thread? If so, I am surprised that you still have a job -- certainly I couldnt get away with talking to my students that way. If not, then I think you missed my point. > One of my students, a girl from China, said they did the same thing > when they were in her country a while ago. Someone on the list asked > me to point out the lies in the hour that I saw. It will take less > time to point out the truths: > > - There is a place called Almaty, Kazakhstan > - It has an airport > - Some people drink milk > Are you saying that CBS fabricated the market they did show us? Did they design the chicken factory from scratch? Did they build that mountain? Was it an animatronic bird? Are you really sure that carts selling milk simply dont exist? I get that they didn't show us YOUR Almaty or even the Almaty that is the most typical part of the city, but I have a hard time believing that those locales were "lies". Honestly, Kevin, your ranting sounds to me exactly like people who rant anytime a gay character on a show turns out to be a murderer or a minority character has less than 100% pure motives. And my response to you is the same as to them: I empathize with your frustration that maybe the biggest picture isnt being shown and I understand your worries that some people might walk away with wrong impressons, but expecting that full portrait from a show like this one is just silly. People buy milk in the Ramstore (the Turkish run grocery store similar > to a Target) or "magazines" (the equivalent of convenience stores), > because Almaty is a modern city and not a stereotypical third world > locale. If you think they portrayed it as a third world locale, you are just betraying how little you have seen of the show and your sensitivity to this issue. As someone else has pointed out, Almaty came across looking far cleaner and more modern than many cities they go to on the race. > For those of you who don't know, no part of that show reflected > the people of Kazakhstan. They are not a bunch of descendants of > Mongol savages who sit on the floor eating sheep's ass while belly > dancers gyrate around them (again, if only). > And whhile there are probably some people who would walk away from the show with that impression, I honestly think the number is small and probably filled with people who you would dismiss for other reasons. I think most viewers of the show understand this fact, and its not because we're all racists. - dg --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
