dyke shymke
i finally got an astro subscription on tuesday. and one of the first few things i happened to watch was one tree hill. oh yes. i even have the box set on dvd. session 2 & 3. i'm not claiming to be an avid fan (i prefer OC actually), but i take what i can get. and semi-dramatic tv series about poor rich kids in the usa does wonders to massage away the stresses of actual life.
anyway, i am deviating. two things really struck me. first is advertisements. there are so many of them! including a particularly heart-wrenching one of a small malaysian girl talking about her penpal in africa, all so you can be assured what what you already bought (i.e. astro) is truly, a good buy. pat pat. i do like them. they pull you out of the make-believe one tree hill world into the now. and what better way than by hailing the viewer as "hey you! you're a consumer! you have options! you can go out right now and buy things! don't forget!" and so carefully crafted too. i love being subliminally brain-washed.
the next thing that struck me was the censorship. i mean, i know it happens. i have written several reports tracking different incidences of censorship. but since i've been deprived of regular tv for years, i havent 'lived through' the censorship as it were. so there i was, watching completely uncensored one tree hill episodes, never getting confused as to what the crisis was, could hear what everyone was saying and see everything that was shown, and suddenly, watching it over astro was a totally different experience.
this episode is where peyton gets harassed by some unknown person at school. her locker is sprayed with huge red letters a word that is obviously causing her a lot of distress. exactly what was sprayed is a mystery to the viewers, because it has been smudged to a blur. later on, as a demonstration of taking a stance, she sprays the same word on her t-shirt and braves the judging looks from her peers. the fact that the word is censored is very frustrating. viewers do get a glimpse of part of it at some point. presumably because it's too hard to blur out in the editing process. or maybe it's not the full word that is shown, so it's okay. only "K-E". as part of "D-Y-K-E". the weird thing is, she discusses about this harassment with other characters. she actually says out loud that she is not a lesbian, and that she is not gay. we know what the issue is. she is being accused of being a dyke, and is getting social censure from other kids in school. in fact, anna had to move out of town because she was facing the same kind of prejudices in her old school. they have a whole moment of quoting a song that says it's about standing up for marginalised sections of society. it doesn't mean that we have to embody the identity to stand up against it, because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter which identity it is since it is defined by who is currently the more powerful section. it can be the sick, the mad, the aged, the infirm, the disabled, the queers, the raced etc. and it shifts, and it can become larger and larger. so if no one stands up against the principle, then silence in this case means agreement. okay, very good point. all well and good. which makes it all the more ironic that the tv station feels compelled to blot out the word "dyke". no need to guess who is sitting fatly on their comfort zone. to add insult to injury, when peyton gets told off by a teacher for wearing a t-shirt with "inflammatory" words, she pulls it off and walks away in her red bra. this the broadcast station finds okay. no need to censor. only regular sexuality on display. woman, bra, breasts, okay. especially since she admitted earlier that she wasn't queer.
wow. my head was reeling slightly after that. what's the big deal about the word "dyke"? what is the difference between "dyke" and "lesbian" or "gay" or "queer"? who sits there and decides that one is more palatable over the other? i actually need to write an article about this. and time is running out. so i'm going to have to cut short that thought.
brb.
anyway, i am deviating. two things really struck me. first is advertisements. there are so many of them! including a particularly heart-wrenching one of a small malaysian girl talking about her penpal in africa, all so you can be assured what what you already bought (i.e. astro) is truly, a good buy. pat pat. i do like them. they pull you out of the make-believe one tree hill world into the now. and what better way than by hailing the viewer as "hey you! you're a consumer! you have options! you can go out right now and buy things! don't forget!" and so carefully crafted too. i love being subliminally brain-washed.
the next thing that struck me was the censorship. i mean, i know it happens. i have written several reports tracking different incidences of censorship. but since i've been deprived of regular tv for years, i havent 'lived through' the censorship as it were. so there i was, watching completely uncensored one tree hill episodes, never getting confused as to what the crisis was, could hear what everyone was saying and see everything that was shown, and suddenly, watching it over astro was a totally different experience.
this episode is where peyton gets harassed by some unknown person at school. her locker is sprayed with huge red letters a word that is obviously causing her a lot of distress. exactly what was sprayed is a mystery to the viewers, because it has been smudged to a blur. later on, as a demonstration of taking a stance, she sprays the same word on her t-shirt and braves the judging looks from her peers. the fact that the word is censored is very frustrating. viewers do get a glimpse of part of it at some point. presumably because it's too hard to blur out in the editing process. or maybe it's not the full word that is shown, so it's okay. only "K-E". as part of "D-Y-K-E". the weird thing is, she discusses about this harassment with other characters. she actually says out loud that she is not a lesbian, and that she is not gay. we know what the issue is. she is being accused of being a dyke, and is getting social censure from other kids in school. in fact, anna had to move out of town because she was facing the same kind of prejudices in her old school. they have a whole moment of quoting a song that says it's about standing up for marginalised sections of society. it doesn't mean that we have to embody the identity to stand up against it, because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter which identity it is since it is defined by who is currently the more powerful section. it can be the sick, the mad, the aged, the infirm, the disabled, the queers, the raced etc. and it shifts, and it can become larger and larger. so if no one stands up against the principle, then silence in this case means agreement. okay, very good point. all well and good. which makes it all the more ironic that the tv station feels compelled to blot out the word "dyke". no need to guess who is sitting fatly on their comfort zone. to add insult to injury, when peyton gets told off by a teacher for wearing a t-shirt with "inflammatory" words, she pulls it off and walks away in her red bra. this the broadcast station finds okay. no need to censor. only regular sexuality on display. woman, bra, breasts, okay. especially since she admitted earlier that she wasn't queer.
wow. my head was reeling slightly after that. what's the big deal about the word "dyke"? what is the difference between "dyke" and "lesbian" or "gay" or "queer"? who sits there and decides that one is more palatable over the other? i actually need to write an article about this. and time is running out. so i'm going to have to cut short that thought.
brb.