Re: <nettime> Why Greeks should not be offended by British TV

[A <clonemeagain@gmail.com>]

On Nov 16, 2011 3:47 AM, "S. Kritikos" <foomedia@gmail.com> wrote:

> Folks, I found out a few days ago that there is a new reality show on
> Channel 4 called  "Go Greek for a Week" apparently mocking the way
> Greek society operates [1], [2].

I saw the first episode, didn't realise it was a series though. They
really emphasized the 'corrupt' nature of the Greek system, from the
culture of bribing (ostensibly to avoid tax) to the vast array of
professions allowed to retire early and still receive a state pension
(apparently a form of bribery whereby the evil politicians appeal to
the masses for votes).

To me, it really express the lack of patriotism in the Englishmen, as
soon as they were offered a few Bob, they were quitting jobs, bribing
others and espousing the virtues of Greece to their friends.

Eventually they were shown the Nasty side of a system of bribes and
left to comment on how much better they had it to begin with, as has
been mentioned.

Might have been a different show if they had selected a banker, a
politician and a policeman. The one I saw was a hair dresser, a
surgeon and a tradesman. Didn't see the end (couldn't stomach it)
but I wouldn't be surprised if they did Italy next, the most common
phrase uttered was 'no wonder their economy is failing' as if a bunch
of randoms just happen to be economists. TV does the same trick with
environmental information, somehow contrast the 'negative' scientist
with a random, as though their opinion is just as valid. I find this
spurious.

I feel that we may be giving the show too much free publicity by
talking about it.

Aaron.

Sent from my email client.




#  distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
#  <nettime>  is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
#  collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
#  more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l
#  archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@kein.org