September 15, 2002

10:51 AM

Television as a weapon of mass subversion? Netanyahu is suggesting that the US broadcasts such subversive programs as Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210 in Iran...
posted by titboy (15 comments total)

Why not? Levis, Coke and McDonald's took down the Berlin Wall. Generica for everyone!
posted by machaus at 10:55 AM on September 15, 2002

yep. if you can't beat 'em, make them become like us!
posted by titboy at 10:57 AM on September 15, 2002

ohhh, why didnt i think of that.

"baby i love you but give me baghdad avenue"
posted by clavdivs at 11:00 AM on September 15, 2002

Now showing in Tehran: The Playboy Channel.
posted by RobbieFal at 11:07 AM on September 15, 2002

I thought folks in the Middle East and Southwest Asia were already surreptitiously hoisting and striking TV aerials and sat dishes to pull down Baywatch, despite what the mullahs were telling 'em. Am I wrong, is is Bennie behind the curve on this one?
posted by alumshubby at 11:14 AM on September 15, 2002

radio sawa's trying to to the same thing: "IN RESTAURANTS, clothing stores and Internet cafes, there is a blend of young American voices like Eminem, trying to reach a new generation of Arabs." i think it'd be more funny if they started blasting creed, keke :) WAY MORE SUBVERSIVE!

iranian radio (and television) is subverting LA tho, so take that! (also could you make it so that non-members can view more that 40 entries back? otherwise i'll have to join... oh wait :) sensible erection rocks, btw! the perfect complement to metafilter w/ a sysadmin named matt :)
posted by kliuless at 11:38 AM on September 15, 2002

Hey now... There's no need to get these folk even more ticked off at us...

Wouldn't this be tantamount to hiding the remote control?
posted by jpburns at 11:39 AM on September 15, 2002

So...BiBi is saying that Iran gets new episodes of Invader ZiM and we don't??

Or does this have something to do with George Gray hosting The Missing Link instead of Anne Robinson?
posted by Smart Dalek at 11:40 AM on September 15, 2002

web-tv comes to iraq
posted by quonsar at 11:52 AM on September 15, 2002

I wonder - what would the Iranian youth, a base that has been exploding - would REALLY imagine about 90210.

Perhaps mass distribution of mug shots of Nick Nolte may bring subversion, or Hugh Grant and the Street Whore a proposed reality show - placing the "star" and Divine Brown back together once ag'in to live under the light of the camera 24-7!
posted by RubberHen at 11:59 AM on September 15, 2002

Puh-leease. If we have to beam airheaded fare to reform Iran, let it not be produced by a famous Jewish producer.
posted by ParisParamus at 12:36 PM on September 15, 2002

I would vote for the Jerry Springer show in order to show the best that America has to offer in Western values.
posted by Postroad at 12:45 PM on September 15, 2002

seriously, couldn't we at least send them GOOD subversive shows? spelling does not represent. one look at tori ... oy.
posted by donkeyschlong at 2:17 PM on September 15, 2002

Anyone else remember hearing about the introduction of American TV to Fiji? In a 3 year time span, during which (coincidentally) American TV was introduced, cultural values of the youth came to reflect the idea that "slimness was ... equated with both attractiveness and success." (PDF file!)

Over the same time span, girls also began reported purging their food, which was unheard of the first time the psychiatrist visited Fiji as part of this study.

Coinicidence? Correlation? Causation? Since media has this unnerving way of seeping into cultural belief systems, we should hope they do some serious thinking of what new values might be reflected in the exported series, and who benefits from sharing them...
posted by whatzit at 6:03 PM on September 15, 2002

For a more indepth look at the topic, Becker wrote a medium-size tome on the subject: Body, self, and society: A view from Fiji. The interview above is quite short.
posted by whatzit at 6:10 PM on September 15, 2002