20/20 Eurovision
As someone who's spent their life living and traveling in a variety of different countries, I'm probably the last person who'd ever stand up and preach to anyone on the superiority of American culture, so I tend to get annoyed when people from other countries lecture me on the supposed inferiority of my country's popular pastimes. Europeans, perhaps not surprisingly given their often patronizing attitude towards the US, tend to be the biggest offenders, and with craptacular shows like the Eurovision Song Contest, I don't think they've got anything to feel particularly high-falutin' about. Check out these dancers from the Ukraine dressed like extras from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, and these Estonians wearing Indian Maiden outfits that went out of style in the 1950s. Yup, sure shows us backwards and primitive colonials how mature cultures entertain themselves...[rolls eyes].
And if that weren't proof enough that Europeans have their own version of trailer-park cabaret and couture, then I call Thomas Gottschalk, Heino, and Tutti Frutti to the witness stand!
The defense rests.
(Okay, those last 3 were all from Germany, but they were the most egregious examples I could think of on short notice)
Thanks to the fwak!sters for the heads-up on Eurovision.
Comments
I still remember the visceral shock I had the first time I watched TV in the UK in 1976. I assumed it'd be all Monty Python and Masterpiece Theatre, but instead it was sub-Wheel of Fortune game shows. Yeesh.
Posted by: jim | May 25, 2004 6:36 PM
The television in Germany was even worse, Jim. Imagine watching nothing but pie-in-the-face slapstick comedies and unbelievably lame variety shows for two years and you'll have some idea of my pain.
Btw, you probably know about Manfred Deix already, but on the off-chance that you haven't seen his work, click on the posted image. There are some pretty humorous Austrian colloquialisms in his work that you'd no doubt enjoy.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | May 25, 2004 7:19 PM
Thanks, MrBaliHai. I remember, pre-cable, German TV of the midpoint of the Reagan years as thankfully only being on for a couple of hours at a time. Though I fondly remember such fare as a dubbed Who Shot Liberty Valence or a subtitled French Can-Can, there did seem to be a lot of sub-Benny Hill slapstick and endless Hit Parade.
Thanks for pointing me at Manfred Deix. I was not aware of his work. Hilarious.
Posted by: jim | May 26, 2004 11:06 AM