|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Real Reality
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
|
 Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 4:03 pm Post subject: Asian Values Sinfully Americanized |
 |
|
Asian Values Sinfully Americanized?
| Quote: |
I am not at all a prude (more about that later). And I am certainly no saint but I am a journalist (which some might consider a sin in itself) and I am getting a little worried about Asia's rate of moral development.
Take the news from Indonesia. For the first time in the history of this secular state, that has a deeply Muslim culture, a version of Playboy Magazine is now going on sale there, though greatly modified from the sinful original available here in the U.S. The lovely ladies are mostly clothed....
Then there's the Rolling Stones,...
... Even so, Mao must have been rolling over in his grave over the very idea of the Rolling Stones rocking Shanghai. This was not exactly the Cultural Revolution the late Maximum Leader had in mind.... And so, one has to wonder whether the rest of Asia isn't more or less rolling downhill like an amoral rolling stone. Take a look at Singapore, heretofore the most superficially prurient place in the region.
Even so, we Americans have over the years been so over-exposed to lectures and serious essays about the reality of Asian values and exposed to the possibility that they may be superior to Western values.... |
by Tom Plate, Korea Times (April 14, 2006)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200604/kt2006041419534754240.htm |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
out of context
Joined: 08 Jan 2006
Location: Daejeon
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 7:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Have I ever seen an article abusing rhetorical questions so violently without ever actually going out on a limb and making an opinion?
Seriously, I can't figure out what he's trying to convey. Even the title is a rhetorical question, and the closing line as well. Rather that outlining what he thinks are the implications, he just floats the question and invites the reader to figure it out, again and again. Seriously wishy-washy stuff.
If I have to guess, it seems like he feels that he's an American, who reads Playboy and does sinful things in Vegas, who can "handle" these vices, but he feels that places like Singapore and China can't handle it, yet he doesn't explain why. He doesn't address the demand for "amoral" forms of entertainment, instead preferring to make snarky comments about the Rolling Stones being too old to sing about sex and the Coyote Ugly being forgettable. He references Mao, but doesn't address the social and economic changes that have taken place in China since Mao died 30 years ago. Even in a case where he could make a valid point, as in the Indonesia example, he avoids it. And at the end of it, he throws in the question about whether it's a "relief", which is not a can but a whole truckload of worms, and then...Fin.
It's quite muddled, but I do have to wonder about the extent to which the editors may have influenced some of the points he might otherwise have made. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 8:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| He references Mao, but doesn't address the social and economic changes that have taken place in China since Mao died 30 years ago. |
Yeah, and it's kinda funny that he holds Mao up as some sort of Eternal Guardian Of Chinese Culture.
Tom Plate wrote:
| Quote: |
Even so, Mao must have been rolling over in his grave over the very idea of the Rolling Stones rocking Shanghai. This was not exactly the Cultural Revolution the late Maximum Leader had in mind.
|
No, the Cultural Revolution that Mao had in mind involved ransacking Buddhist temples, burning Confucian literature, and encouraging children to beat the crap out of their teachers. Hardly an exercise in the preservation of tradtional Chinese culture.
| Quote: |
| It's quite muddled |
I agree. It's hard to tell is the guy is lamenting the loss of traditional Asian culture or rubbing the Asians' nose in it.
Overall, not a very scholarly piece of writing. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
