All in favor of censorship
Though I am not in favor of censorship as a general rule, I would like to propose that the US ban certain television programming from leaving our borders. Two shows I have seen on German TV recently have led me to this decision.Two weeks ago I saw Jerry Springer dubbed into German. What a sad scene! The title of the show was something like "My nephew could be my father's brother." I don't understand how that would work, so maybe I heard wrong, but you get the general idea. Airing the show in German was made better by the fact that there is no way to translate poor grammar and southern accents. But what made the situation worse was the German moderator who would cut into the melee every 45 seconds or so to add editorial comments.
The other show was America's Funniest Home videos. It is unclear to me whether Americans are the only group of people who accidentally light themselves on fire while on vacation, pass out during weddings, etc... or whether we are just the only ones who video tape such events. The videos of course required less translation than Jerry Springer, but there was still healthy a dose of southern accents that could be heard behind the dubbed comments.
And America wonders why foreigners have misperceptions about the US!
Germany does have ist own version of Judge Judy/The People's Court. The judges are much more polite, but the stories are just as crazy. Maybe we should bring that kind of programming to the States to be "fair and balanced."
posted by Erin @ 8:20 AM
4 Comments:
For the record, those who live in Northern states are just as likely to light themselves on fire/back minivans through garage doors/perform movie-style slides in the driveway (ask Aunt Barb who does that . . . and what she thinks of it)/do gymnastics on a bed and kick out large chunks of drywall, etc.
On the other hand, one of our friends down here, who grew up down here, has vivid memories of: (1) her brother losing control of a dirt bike and slamming into the hosue hard enough to break china in a china cabinet in the next room; and (2) her brother accidentally discharging a shotgun while cleaning it on the family room table. The shot hit the TV and destroyed it - while the family was gathered around watching a show.
CJS
Of course all of your examples of "cute but not appropriate" Northerner activities are just examples, right? Purely hypothetical;-)
I, for one, think Germans should stop dubbing things all together--Jerry Springer or not. It's just awful! Have you tried watching Sex and the City auf Deutsch? Yuck. -Mango d.M.
Sex and the City auf Deutsch is difficult for me, though I have learned some new vocab that is missed in your average German class:-) Now Germany has a knock-off show called "Alles ausser Sex." Basically Sex in the City Munich style.
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