"A Date With the Censors"

In a New York Times video post entitled "A Date With the Censors", the subject of weather reality television has a bad influence on its viewers in China, specifically. As an example, they use China's hottest reality TV show "If you were the one". The show has a simple concept where millions of people tune in to watch one guy try and get a date with a girl. According to the executive producer of this show it offers a window into China's evolving society. These kinds of shows have gained popularity among families, and according to some viewers the conversations that the contestants have on the show reflect on the "new" lifestyle adopted of twenty to forty year old people, and consequently represent the current state of things in China.

However, the sometimes racy and materialistic content of the show has attracted the attention of censors. The reason why censors are so controlling over the content of television is because in the past television's main purpose was to spread propaganda and shows such as "if you were the one" are relatively new. One former contestant stated that when she was little and would watch television, most shows were political and strong featuring political leaders. Last year, that same contestant made a provocative comment on the show. When the man asked her his question, "In the future would you like to ride bicycle ride with me?" she then jokingly answered "I would rather cry in a BMW!" This reply caught the attention of the public as well the censors, who criticized todays population for being too materialistic, and accused reality television of not controlling the contestants actions well enough. The contestant was then made into an archetype of a materialistic girl despite her efforts to prove she was joking and didn't mean it. According to her the media doesn't care what the truth is they only write what they want to write in order to create a bigger scandal. People enjoy seeing people make a fool of themselves, she says. One viewer said that what the contestant said brought out the contrast between to sets of values in China's society. Those who agreed with her thought that society had become practical.

Materialistic comments like that attracted the attention of the communist party which started applying strict guidelines for the shows. For example, censors added a new host, a professor from a local party run school. If a sentence could understood in a negative way or impact society the show exercises stronger control over it. The government is even going further by enforcing limits on the number of entertainment programs allowed on television, in the past year they have cut down the number by almost half. The producer of the show seems to believe that there should not be any conflict over the matter. He says that when a program me is produced good moral values should come out of it, but at the same time the show needs good ratings for it to make a revenue. He also says that if a program is aired and is supposed to educate people and the public doesn't want to see it then the education will be ineffective.

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