Chinese government bans hip hop and tattoos from TV

[studychinese]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-hip-hop-ban-tattoos-media-tv-newspapers-radio-film-a8174501.html

Quote

 

China has banned references to hip-hop culture and actors with tattoos from appearing in the media as part of a crackdown on “low taste content”.

There were four “don'ts” that the media must now abide by, according to Gao Changli, the publicity department director at the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of the People’s Republic of China (SAPPRFT). 

”Absolutely do not use actors whose heart and morality are not aligned with the party and whose morality is not noble," he said. 

“Absolutely do not use actors who are tasteless, vulgar and obscene. Absolutely do not use actors whose ideological level is low and have no class. Absolutely do not use actors with stains, scandals and problematic moral integrity.”

Chinese news outlet Sina reported that the regulator now "specifically requires that programs should not feature actors with tattoos [or depict] hip hop culture, sub-culture and dispirited culture."

 

 

This looks like a solid move by the state to fight degeneracy. 

[abcdefg]

A rollback of the "reform and opening up" 改革开放。Good to see that the new Great Helmsman is protecting China's youth. 

[889]

There's a similar crackdown on the internet:

 

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2130931/weibo-falls-foul-chinas-internet-watchdog-failing

 

 

[Tomsima]

this all came to light over here about two weeks ago or so. If anyone else here is watching this years 歌手, you will know what happened. In the first episode of the series two weeks ago, a rapper going by the name 蓋 (or 'Gai', i think it was this character), appeared as a z-list filler for the show. He recently got famous on a similar hip-hop rap reality contest type show. Alongside him were Jessie Jay from the UK and the (in)famous 汪峰 amongst others. But 蓋 stole the show with an original rap performed with a 琵琶 player accompaniment. It was pretty incredible if you ask me, and was way different to the style that usually comes out of these kind of shows. Anyway, over the next week his popularity went through the roof and people started listening to his other songs, which contain lyrics not so suitable for prime time family TV. Come week two, 蓋 has disappeared, with no explanation, and no reaction from any of the other contestants. 

 

And theres your weekly dose of mainland gossip and drama for this week

[somethingfunny]

Jessie J is on a Chinese talent show?

 

I'll be honest, I'm finding it difficult to get worked up about government censorship when it's aimed at talent show rappers.  Call me cynical, but maybe they deserve what they get.

[Lu]

2 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

Call me cynical, but maybe they deserve what they get.

Listening to this was an interesting experience. The rapper's complaints are so stupid that I soon got over the feeling of being insulted, and for the rest of the song I was equal parts annoyed by the stupidity of the lyrics and deeply interested in his accent (where is that from??) and his rapping. I'd hope that that kind of content is so stupid that one doesn't need to ban it to keep it from being shown on national television. I have problems with censorship.

[somethingfunny]

He's from 成都 so its a heavy Sichuanese accent.

[studychinese]

I wrote about it on my wechat moments. Go ahead and critique it.

 

这种暴力的说唱不合适这人的体型。他很矮很瘦，而没有筋肉。谁都知道他在外国人前边不敢说 。

这几天前中国政府决定管制这类型的颓风。后来在电视有纹身的人渣不会出现。

[DavyJonesLocker]

Its hard to know where to stand on this. On one hand certain freedoms and artistic expression should be protected but on the other its good to see in today's society a government takes a stance to halt moral degeneracy. Here in  the UK you can't seem to turn on any TV show without seeing smut, nudity and degenerate behavior. Western world seems to heading one way in my view

 

For example, many comedians I see now in the UK rely on jeering of people, making fun of disabled, sex humour etc for their material. Whatever happened to Laurel and Hardy, abbott and Costello, Peter Sellers, Tommy Cooper etc Classic Comedy  

[陳德聰]

I think the idea of moral degeneracy being linked to tattoos or a type of music is ludicrous on its face.

 

By all means, if a person advocates for taking advantage of the elderly, stealing candy from children, abuse etc. then refuse them a platform for being morally degenerate.

 

But “morally degenerate” is not just “things I don’t like.”

[imron]

How many tattoos do you have 陳德聰 and who's your favourite rapper?

 

In seriousness though, while I generally agree with your statement that "the idea of moral degeneracy being linked to tattoos or a type of music is ludicrous on its face", a sampling of lyrics and music videos from modern rap doesn't exactly inspire confidence.  Case in point, take a look at "Humble" which just won the grammy for Best Music Video, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance.  Degenerate is a pretty accurate description if you ask me.

 

There's a spectacular kind of cognitive dissonance going on when many performers at the Grammys are making a big deal protesting #MeToo and #TimesUp, only to then celebrate and award songs that perpetuate the very culture they are protesting about.

[Angelina]

1 hour ago, imron said:

a sampling of lyrics and music videos from modern rap doesn't exactly inspire confidence.  Case in point, take a look at "Humble" which just won the grammy for Best Music Video, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance.  Degenerate is a pretty accurate description if you ask me.

 

There is a lot of rap that could not be described as degenerate. Substance abuse is something that Chinese people are sensitive about, look at the history of opium. I cried my eyes out when reading The Fall of the Pagoda. This was what Chinese people had to go through. 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, imron said:

 

How many tattoos do you have 陳德聰 and who's your favourite rapper?

 

 

 

Wu-Tang Clan 

A Better Tomorrow (English for 英雄本色）

 

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/wutangclan/abettertomorrow.html

 

Quote

You can't party your life away
Drink your life away
Smoke your life away
Fuck your life away
Dream your life away
Scheme your life away
Cause your seeds grow up the same way

 

 

 

Mos Def

Mathematics 

 

https://genius.com/Yasiin-bey-mathematics-lyrics

 

 

 

Gang Starr 

Moment of Truth 

 

https://genius.com/Gang-starr-moment-of-truth-lyrics

 

and this classic 

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzE1OTI1ODk2.html?spm=a2h0k.8191407.0.0&from=s1.8-1-1.2#paction

[陳德聰]

I don’t have tattoos or particularly like rap music, but I like to think I have enough sense to distinguish between medium and content

[DavyJonesLocker]

 

3 hours ago, 陳德聰 said:

But “morally degenerate” is not just “things I don’t like.”

 

I disagree, it is exactly that. It is dependant of each person's viewpoint and as such everyone is entitled to one. Of course what society decides as a whole would be a broad definition of "morally degenerate society".  Look how divisive America has become. Maybe that's why we see Trump being elected into power. 

 

To clarity I broadly agree that  tattoos are not an example of moral degeneracy, however (in my view) it is dependent on the tattoo, location etc.  However, I do think western society as a whole is becoming more and more degenerate and needs to addressed. Many of use older members will have seen the difference in our lifetimes. smut, sex, violence, drugs seems to have become a daily norm in western society and in my view I believe society has become worse. I respect  that a country like China take a stance, albeit somewhat blunt at times! I like that they don't tolerant some views like many western countries seem to welcome.

 

Let's take an example of someone being gender fluid. This status is welcomed by most western countries, now I daresay it's not even a consideration by the CPC. Is this an example of a progressive society or an example of a moral degerency? Again a debatable point which needs to be discussed sensibility and views canvassed

[Lu]

1 hour ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

 

4 hours ago, 陳德聰 said:

But “morally degenerate” is not just “things I don’t like.”

I disagree, it is exactly that.

Classical music is morally degenerate. As is jazz. A Chengdu accent, however, is not. Wei Hui was morally degenerate last month, but now I read another one of her books and gave her some more thought and I am happy to declare she is now no longer morally degenerate.

 

I don't personally know anyone who is genderfluid, but a genderfluid person is at worst confusing people. I don't see how that is morally degenerate. Unless, I suppose, 'morally degenerate' is indeed just 'things I don't like', in which case being black is also often morally degenerate. But surely, for 'morally degenerate' to mean anything at all, it should be based on morals, good and bad, ethics, principles and such. Not just taste.

[Zbigniew]

43 minutes ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

I respect  that a country like China take a stance

If the CCP are serious about tackling moral degeneracy, perhaps they should start by allowing rule of law to operate in China. It would usefully sweep away arguably the gravest moral degeneracy there is in the country, namely that within the CCP hierarchy, who in their arbitrary and draconian conduct towards members of the legal profession, towards people who hold certain religious beliefs or merely belong to a particular ethnic group, and towards countless individual citizens who have peaceably tried to exercise rights that are actually enshrined in China's written constitution, have amply demonstrated that they place themselves firmly above the laws they pretend to uphold. 

 

[Angelina]

1 hour ago, Zbigniew said:

If the CCP are serious about tackling moral degeneracy

 

 

Let's not forget fentanyl. 

[studychinese]

6 hours ago, 陳德聰 said:

I think the idea of moral degeneracy being linked to tattoos or a type of music is ludicrous on its face.

 

By all means, if a person advocates for taking advantage of the elderly, stealing candy from children, abuse etc. then refuse them a platform for being morally degenerate.

 

But “morally degenerate” is not just “things I don’t like

 

The funny thing is that this is objectively incorrect. Tattoos and smoking for example are a sign of low impulse control. Low impulse control also leads to crime and other degeneracy. 

 

If you had a way to separate the people with tattoos and smokers from the rest of society, the remainder would be highly law abiding. A crude heuristic perhaps, but effective. 

[Zbigniew]

19 minutes ago, studychinese said:

Tattoos and smoking for example are a sign of low impulse control. Low impulse control also leads to crime and other degeneracy. 

A late uncle of mine who had tattoos and smoked lost body parts fighting the Nazis in North Africa during WWII. He did not have low impulse control, nor was he a criminal or a degenerate. Similarly a present-day friend of mine, much younger than me, has many tattoos, is a dedicated charity worker for meagre pay, and is as honest as the day is long. 

19 minutes ago, studychinese said:

If you had a way to separate the people with tattoos and smokers from the rest of society, the remainder would be highly law abiding. A crude heuristic perhaps, but effective. 

That certainly does seem a crude heuristic. Anyone who doesn't smoke or have tattoos is highly law abiding? I can think of numerous exceptions already.

[studychinese]

Zbigniew, way to go with the NAXALT, context denial, and refusal to look at aggregates to focus on individuals.