On the Tube
It stands to reason that you can learn a lot about a country by watching its television, and in that regard, Katie and I are missing out on a bit of our education. We priced out TVs when we got here, but decided not to buy one. So, except for a few days in Durban, we've managed not to watch any television since March. (Though we do watch a lot of DVDs on our computer.)
But the most interesting thing about South African television is its history. Or, rather, it's lack of a history. Television wasn't introduced here until 25 years ago. It was the last industrialized nation in the world to have T.V. The National Party--the crazy folks who invented and implemented apartheid--thought it was immoral. Imagine that: they were denying a massive majority of the population even the most basic of human rights, and they still had time to reflect on what was "moral," and on how television might rot your brain. They were busy folks.
For years after it was introduced (in January 1976, I think), it only broadcast for a few hours a night. Several people my age say they remember sitting in front of the T.V. and staring at the test pattern--first, because that was entertainment enough, and later, because they were waiting for their favorite shows to come on.
During the first fifteen years of its history, the state-run South African Broadcasting Corporation was an instrument of apartheid. This was by design, of course. Its news department was so in favor of the apartheid regime that, when the National Party finally came to the table in 1992 to negotiate an end to apartheid and the first ever democratic election, the African National Congress insisted that no elections could be considered free and fair if they were being covered by the SABC as it was then structured. So they had to appoint a whole new board, remake the news department and revamp the entire company. It's all covered in a fascinating chapter in this book by Allister Sparks, who served on the reconstituted SABC board and also ran the news division for a short time.
Now, they try to broadcast a little bit every day in all eleven of this country's official languages, over three SABC channels. These days, some people complain that they're still biased... but in favor of the ANC. I wouldn't know if that's true, since I've barely watched it. There are also two other options for channels, bringing the grand total to five.
In any case, a couple that lives down the hall from us asked us to watch their place this week while they're on vacation in Jo-berg. So last night, our curiosity got the better of us, and we made the thirty-yard trek to see what we could learn about this fantastic and diverse country from their broadcast T.V.
That's what we told ourselves anyway. Then we watched Will and Grace.
We also watched the season premier of Footballers' Wives. It's a British show, and I'm glad I saw it, if for only one reason: I am armed with the perfect counter-argument if anyone ever insists that British television is better than its American counterpart. The show was awful.
So, in the absence of learning anything about South Africa from the television, perhaps we can all learn something from looking at the South African Broadcasting Corporation website together. You'll notice there's a lot of American soap operas and sit-coms, a bunch of bad American movies, and a South African version of the Apprentice. In place of Donald Trump, the host is a businessman and former politician with the fantastic name of Tokyo Sexwale.
Sexwale, a stalwart of the African National Congress through the decades of struggle against apartheid, was forced to resign his premiership post a few years ago after allegations surfaced that he had been plotting to overthrow President Thabo Mbeki. It turned out the allegation wasn't true, but by the time the fact had been established, Sexwale had given up politics and entered the business world, in which he's apparently already made a kajillion dollars.
This country is small enough that I only know about 10 people here... and one of them is the sister of one of the contestants. He's still in.
The Apprentice SA airs on Thursdays at 8:30. Don't try calling us on our land line then. We'll be down the hall, learning about South Africa.
But the most interesting thing about South African television is its history. Or, rather, it's lack of a history. Television wasn't introduced here until 25 years ago. It was the last industrialized nation in the world to have T.V. The National Party--the crazy folks who invented and implemented apartheid--thought it was immoral. Imagine that: they were denying a massive majority of the population even the most basic of human rights, and they still had time to reflect on what was "moral," and on how television might rot your brain. They were busy folks.
For years after it was introduced (in January 1976, I think), it only broadcast for a few hours a night. Several people my age say they remember sitting in front of the T.V. and staring at the test pattern--first, because that was entertainment enough, and later, because they were waiting for their favorite shows to come on.
During the first fifteen years of its history, the state-run South African Broadcasting Corporation was an instrument of apartheid. This was by design, of course. Its news department was so in favor of the apartheid regime that, when the National Party finally came to the table in 1992 to negotiate an end to apartheid and the first ever democratic election, the African National Congress insisted that no elections could be considered free and fair if they were being covered by the SABC as it was then structured. So they had to appoint a whole new board, remake the news department and revamp the entire company. It's all covered in a fascinating chapter in this book by Allister Sparks, who served on the reconstituted SABC board and also ran the news division for a short time.
Now, they try to broadcast a little bit every day in all eleven of this country's official languages, over three SABC channels. These days, some people complain that they're still biased... but in favor of the ANC. I wouldn't know if that's true, since I've barely watched it. There are also two other options for channels, bringing the grand total to five.
In any case, a couple that lives down the hall from us asked us to watch their place this week while they're on vacation in Jo-berg. So last night, our curiosity got the better of us, and we made the thirty-yard trek to see what we could learn about this fantastic and diverse country from their broadcast T.V.
That's what we told ourselves anyway. Then we watched Will and Grace.
We also watched the season premier of Footballers' Wives. It's a British show, and I'm glad I saw it, if for only one reason: I am armed with the perfect counter-argument if anyone ever insists that British television is better than its American counterpart. The show was awful.
So, in the absence of learning anything about South Africa from the television, perhaps we can all learn something from looking at the South African Broadcasting Corporation website together. You'll notice there's a lot of American soap operas and sit-coms, a bunch of bad American movies, and a South African version of the Apprentice. In place of Donald Trump, the host is a businessman and former politician with the fantastic name of Tokyo Sexwale.
Sexwale, a stalwart of the African National Congress through the decades of struggle against apartheid, was forced to resign his premiership post a few years ago after allegations surfaced that he had been plotting to overthrow President Thabo Mbeki. It turned out the allegation wasn't true, but by the time the fact had been established, Sexwale had given up politics and entered the business world, in which he's apparently already made a kajillion dollars.
This country is small enough that I only know about 10 people here... and one of them is the sister of one of the contestants. He's still in.
The Apprentice SA airs on Thursdays at 8:30. Don't try calling us on our land line then. We'll be down the hall, learning about South Africa.
posted by Erik at 5:34 pm
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