“Have you “BTed” (downloaded) today? Send me a copy of the latest series of Gossip Girl! I’m almost finished with Desperate Housewives.” Joanna, a college girl, blurted out with her eyes glued to the computer screen. Meantime, her dorm mate is relishing every thrilling bit of Prison Break, and an emphatic “Sure” escaped her lips… let’s shift our focus to the clock on the wall. Yes! Your eyes haven’t deceived you. It’s none other than 1 am. Amid the darkness of the room, the 4 girls positioned themselves before the computers as if they are possessed, not by devil but by the drama. If you are about the heap scorn on them and dismiss it as an exceptional case, just wait a second, let’s zoom out and peer into other rooms. No doubt, the entire building is “possessed”.
Scenes like this are no longer a subject of front-page news nowadays. American TV dramas have come here to stay and its tentacles are spreading into every corner of our lives among college students and white collars in particular, who seem to rely on them as remedies for pent-up pressure.
Within expectation, the skeptics are raging: “They’re corrupting our lives. That’s cultural invasion!” It’s all too easy for us to let sentiment take over reason upon hearing such emotional assertion. Nonetheless, putting everything in perspective, I can’t help but question: What’s the point of making such a “drama” out of the U.S. TV drama, in other words, of elevating such a humble form of entertainment in the midst of the numerous others to the formidable level of “cultural invasion”. I just don’t see the point.
A survey reveals that 80% of the fans of American TV dramas are college students and white collars. By implication, it’s the very educated that are, in the words of the critics, “addicted” to it. Whether they are truly “addicted” or just entertained is better left unsaid. But to say their cultural values are invaded and even corrupted is wild exaggeration. On an online survey conducted by Sina recently, the majority of respondents suggested that they watched those series with a critical mind, stressing that it’s impossible to accept every practice and behavior of the characters in the drama, not to mention to follow. Almost all insisted they would respect their culture but not necessarily approve. As a matter of fact, they’re more inclined to regard the whole affair of being obsessed about TV drama as a form of entertainment, an outlet to give full vent to their pent-up pressure and more than anything else, a window to the American way of living, thinking and values on family, friendship, sex, politics and religions. For this highly educated group of people, it’s safe to say they take the message and ideal conveyed in the drama with a pinch of salt and they would think, analyze, pass judgment and come to their own conclusion. What an insult it would be to their intelligence to worry about their inability to make such a sound judgment.
American TV drama, like Korean and Japanese dramas, has its life cycle. It could prevail at the prime of its life but sure won’t ever last. It’s really only the recent 2 years that the popularity of American series has truly spread and Friends deserves the credit of planting such a seed. Extracting from the fate of the Korean and Japanese dramas, which have distinctly been long past its prime time among Chinese audience and taken over by American ones, it’s prudent to predict American TV series is bound to suffer the same fate---going downhill at a foreseeable point.
To my amusement, the diehards are arguing that the 3 or 4 years of prime time suffice to get us all brainwashed. But I’m afraid that such argument does not stand on solid ground. Have we brainwashed by the full impact of the Korean drama at its peak? Have we followed their way of living, thinking or even copied their culture and forsook our own? The answer is an emphatic “No”. Ironically, just at that time, similar concerns were voiced, but such dismal scenario never materialized. Neither will it in the case of American drama. Instead of being brainwashed, we broaden our horizons on another culture and are equipped with useful knowledge to deal with other peoples in real life. We sift out the bad products in their culture and absorb the good. It’s only by constantly injecting news ideas into our own cultures that it can be refreshed and renewed and maintain vitalities. My dear critics why not keep a receptive mind to the U.S TV drama and see the spark it ignites with the Chinese culture?
In conclusion, American TV series is unarguably one of the most popular pastimes among college students and white collars now. Having said that, we can rest assured that this educated class can and will pass sound judgments on what they watch. In addition, the fate of the Japanese and Korean TV drama almost spell predictable decline to the American drama in the Chinese market. And the deeper insight and new ideas we’ve gained is going to add vitality and freshness to our own culture. Based on these arguments, the allegation of the cultural invasion of the American TV dramas should be withdrawn.
（本文为英文网征文比赛一等奖获奖作品）
