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Oct. 7th, 2013
Unexpectedly shameless
Oct. 7th, 2013 01:37 pmSo I'm still playing with my Japanese-TV-streaming gadgets and watching NHK-E, the Japanese equivalent of PBS complete with cheesy puppets, and I'm not ready to make sweeping characterizations here, but something has struck me as odd and welcome.
On the kids' shows, certain scenarios will come up and I find myself bracing for them to end in shame. Apparently I've been conditioned by something, like on American TV there's a tendency for kids to be taught lessons by having the characters screw up and serving up big helpings of vicarious shame (I can't put a finger on many specific examples, but I do recall that even as a child I couldn't stand Davey and Goliath for this reason).
And the thing is, not always but sometimes, when I find myself bracing for this with my Japanese kiddy shows, it doesn't happen. I don't know if it's cultural, or if it has to do with the target age-group or both (and it is possible there's some subtext I'm not picking up on), but here's an example from Okaasan to Issho (aimed at 2-4 year olds and their moms):
During one of the costume-character skits, a character is going to pick tasty fruit, and whenever he runs into someone, he tells them he'll get some for them too. At some point it becomes clear that he's promising too much, and I start bracing myself for this to end with him chastened by failure as an object lesson. Well, he goes to the forest, he does find as much fruit as he planned, but indeed, it's more than he can carry. However, his friends have found out where he was going and followed after him with --- ta-da! --- a basket! They don't pick on his mistake or anything, they all go home together and everyone eats tasty fruit and is happy, and everybody thanks him and he makes sure to share the thanks with his friends who helped.
The lesson about doing things together --- and the usefulness of baskets --- is there, but for some reason the painlessness of the whole thing struck me as novel.
Anyone else? Children's shows and didactical shame?
On the kids' shows, certain scenarios will come up and I find myself bracing for them to end in shame. Apparently I've been conditioned by something, like on American TV there's a tendency for kids to be taught lessons by having the characters screw up and serving up big helpings of vicarious shame (I can't put a finger on many specific examples, but I do recall that even as a child I couldn't stand Davey and Goliath for this reason).
And the thing is, not always but sometimes, when I find myself bracing for this with my Japanese kiddy shows, it doesn't happen. I don't know if it's cultural, or if it has to do with the target age-group or both (and it is possible there's some subtext I'm not picking up on), but here's an example from Okaasan to Issho (aimed at 2-4 year olds and their moms):
During one of the costume-character skits, a character is going to pick tasty fruit, and whenever he runs into someone, he tells them he'll get some for them too. At some point it becomes clear that he's promising too much, and I start bracing myself for this to end with him chastened by failure as an object lesson. Well, he goes to the forest, he does find as much fruit as he planned, but indeed, it's more than he can carry. However, his friends have found out where he was going and followed after him with --- ta-da! --- a basket! They don't pick on his mistake or anything, they all go home together and everyone eats tasty fruit and is happy, and everybody thanks him and he makes sure to share the thanks with his friends who helped.
The lesson about doing things together --- and the usefulness of baskets --- is there, but for some reason the painlessness of the whole thing struck me as novel.
Anyone else? Children's shows and didactical shame?