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The Big [Censored] Theory

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Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#271

Post by Bakary »

jedberg wrote: post #227
nindalf wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s extraordinary that people are taken in by such videos. Those videos are selectively edited to make the creators point. Tell me, when Jimmy Kimmels producers go out on Hollywood Boulevard and find that not even one person can point to a country other than America on map ( https://youtu.be/kRh1zXFKC_o ) - do you think that’s real too? Or is that selectively edited for laughs?

I know the video was edited, it's by PragerU. That's not the point though, it was just a story to point out that not all things about other cultures are offensive. And it's funny you ask about Kimmel, because I actually know the person who did those bits (she was the offscreen voice for the first few years and is actually the interviewer in this video). She said that while it was edited, they didn't have to edit it m…

There is a bias in that we see such videos, find them shareable, notice their existence but really there's absolutely no reason to use either the Kimmel or PragerU vid as anything other than light entertainment.

That doesn't mean the underlying argument they propose can't be defended, just that the videos have no explanatory power whatsoever.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#272

Post by notsapiensatall »

politician wrote: post #135
paxys wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Communist Party is the reason China is in this mess in the first place, and further control and oppression by them isn't going to magically fix it.

That's a fair observation. I'm curious though, do you have any ideas to improve the situation? What would you do if you were responsible for 1.5B people and were facing a situation where the labor force participation drops by half over the next ten years and continues to drop every year since? Will you be able to arrange for the population to be able to be fed, clothed, housed, and given medical care? It's not possib…

Well for starters, you don't limit each family to a single child.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#273

Post by MichaelCollins »

ascar wrote: post #110

Side note: the article mentions canned laughter in TBBT rather early. TBBT actually doesn't use canned laughter but uses laughter from the live audience for its laugh track. I pity that I didn't have the chance to visit the studios and be part of that laugh track :(

I think they must actually use bottled laughter, bottles of nitrous oxide positioned strategically around their studio audience.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#274

Post by ryanobjc »

the_optimist wrote: post #200
ryanobjc wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So here's the thing, is that joke making fun of a Chinese restaurant, or is it making fun of racist americans who make comments like that? The reality is most Americans have someone like that in their family. Read the rest of the scene: Leonard is distinctly uncomfortable, tries to politely correct the wordage, the comment is lost and the originator moves on. In any case, are you saying that... words that offend you…

The joke is the latter. The woke college grads who write the shows think it's funny to have/lampoon racist characters. However, it is a staple of the fare that these characters must exist in the shows to add foils and character depth.

Well the shows were written before wokeness was invented, so we're gonna need a new theory.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#275

Post by tuatoru »

wizofaus wrote: post #137

Is aversion to discussion of sex a part of traditional Chinese culture? Seems odd given I'm not aware of any puritanical religions taking hold there.

Non-heterosexual images (and masturbation) are anathema to China's leadership because China is facing a population decline, due to very low fertility.[1] [2]

Internally produced TV in China has been censored for portraying "effeminate men".[3] The CCP has also, er, "encouraged", women to spend less time on social media and shopping. Internally the CCP says members must have three children.[4]

1. Here is military age population: https://population.un.org/wpp/Graphs/Probabilistic/POP/15-49...

2. Here is fertility rate. The green line is "replacement", i.e. enough for a stable population: https://population.un.org/wpp/Graphs/Probabilistic/FERT/TOT/...

3. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/02/1033687586/china-ban-effemina...

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-child_policy

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#276

Post by dirtyid »

ALittleLight wrote: post #10

I can see how this might backfire. You notice a censored jump and start to feel the itch of curiosity as to what it concealed. I had to watch several of the censored scenes whereas I would have never just randomly watched clips of the show. Also, love the presentation on this page.

90s kids in the west grew up on censored looney Tunes and "localized" anime like sailor moon, I remember some barely viral discussions of comparisons with OG version and sentiment was basically meh.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#277

Post by coryfklein »

wrs wrote: post #241
sudhirj wrote: post #58

We have this kind of censorship in India as well, even the in weirdly innocous places. In James Bond movies, and I think Gone Girl as well, scenes were by zooming into character's faces or just straight cuts. This is probably the only reason I maintain a US iTunes accounts (used to have to buy gift cards from sketchy sites online to keep this going, but I recently discovered that my Indian Amex card works fine with a…

There is a home version of this called ClearPlay that auto-redacts movies and TV. It actually started with DVD players (!) but now does streaming. Ref: https://amazon.clearplay.com/

My Mormon neighbors tend to use VidAngel, which got in huge trouble with an absolutely hilarious payment model.

1. VidAngel purchases a bunch of Blu-ray discs and stores them in a warehouse

2. Tag all the content of a film and create filters so the user can, for example, filter out all sex and violence but leave in vulgarity

3. User "purchases" a Blu-ray for $20 (!!) and VidAngel says, "since we now know you're the owner of this copy sitting in the warehouse, we'll stream it to you right now instead of going to the bother of mailing it out" (This part legally qualified as a "performance", which was their big mistake.)

4. When user is done watching the film, VidAngel automatically buys back the Blu-ray – still sitting in their warehouse – for $19.

So users could essentially stream any film they want (with optional self-selected censorship) for only $1 per viewing. Of course they get a flood of users since they're the cheapest shop in town, and of course since what they were doing was illegal they got taken to court and had to shut down 90% of their business.

And then, they wrote an endless tream of publicity saying, "Big media doesn't want to give you the right to skip nudity and violence in your own home! Think of the children! They want to force their values on you!" Yeah, I don't think the film-makers loved the censorship platform, but it was the $1 performances that really got them riled up.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#278

Post by xdennis »

ascar wrote: post #110

Side note: the article mentions canned laughter in TBBT rather early. TBBT actually doesn't use canned laughter but uses laughter from the live audience for its laugh track. I pity that I didn't have the chance to visit the studios and be part of that laugh track :(

> TBBT actually doesn't use canned laughter

I don't believe that one bit. Just because they have an audience, doesn't mean they don't edit the laugh track. And just because the laugh happened in real time, it doesn't mean it's authentic.

Even for live TV shows, they prod the audience into laughing. This is made clear when they laugh at awkward times, when nothing funny is being said.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#279

Post by elldoubleyew »

lwansbrough wrote: post #78

Interesting to see what passes for a joke on The Big Bang Theory. I knew the show was bad but wow. Perhaps just as surprising is the author's suggestion that a xenophobic remark about a Chinese restaurant is "harmless". I'm not even particularly sensitive when it comes to race relations, but that's just such a negative stereotype it's hard to ignore. I despise Chinese censorship, but I would support the Chinese gover…

The joke about the chicken is interesting to me.

I see to your point, the joke leans to imply that Chinese people will lie about the ingredients served in their restaurants to save some money.

This stereotype, however, is predominant amongst Chinese people in China. This joke would fit right in on any Chinese TV show, questioning the legitimacy of the meat at a cheap restaurant is a joke older than the country. This may be why the author calls it "harmless".

It would be the equivalent of a Chinese sitcom where a character might suggest that visit a Texas Barbecue you might get shot by some revolver-wielding cowboy. I don't think many Americans would take offense.

But as the author mentions, strict self censorship amongst broadcasters has effectively cut all scenes that mention "China" or "Chinese" just to be safe.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#280

Post by some-human »

function_seven wrote: post #266
some-human wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only would they "decline to air it" they are prohibited from airing it. > Broadcasting obscene content is prohibited by law at all times of the day. Indecent and profane content are prohibited on broadcast TV and radio between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when there is a reasonable risk that children may be in the audience. > Obscene content does not have protection by the First Amendment. For content to be ruled obscene,…

My argument is against the statement that the US is “honestly no better” You’re raising a point about RF broadcast of obscene content. That’s a tiny slice of available media. What China is censoring is being done as completely as they can muster. What the FCC censors is narrowed down to airwave broadcasts. Surely you can see that there’s a difference here, right? Tank Man is prohibited completely. Not just over a cer…

Yes, I see that. My retort was to "The United States government does not employ censors to remove portions of shows before allowing them to air (or stream, whatever)." which it effectively does.

The scale isn't black and white with China being terrible and USA being great here, it's a sliding scale of shitness, with one being a 4/10 and the other 9/10, but the 4/10 pretends to be a 0/10 and proports "free speech for all. Home of the Free world. The government can't tell you what you can say and do." and the other doesn't pretend it is.

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