I want my 'MTV', and want, and want...
JAKARTA (JP): I've been watching MTV for ten years now. There, I've admitted it. When MTV first aired around 1985 I was finishing high school in America and getting ready for the big time. I was psyched, partially with videos around the clock, but more so with what lay ahead.
I was on my way to college. After graduating, I became part of the newly-educated elite -- and the growing ranks of the unemployed. I was armed with a diploma and empty pockets. I returned to MTV. Everyone looked hip, wearing the latest gear, dancing the latest craze. I wasn't too envious, just determined. I was determined to find my way, and some semblance of the future I wanted. Things were going to work out.
For millions in Indonesia I wonder if that's the case. The middle class is emerging, they say. They need their MTV. They've got an Indonesian VJ, at least in name. But what does she represent? Is this a sign of things to come, or simply a cruel joke? Shows like SCTV's politically-charged Perspektif talk show, and other media forms with substance are given the axe, usually with little or no warning.
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. What do they say about none? MTV is visual junk food that fills momentarily and leaves you wanting more. This is America's contribution to world culture. And, like a number of glossy publications in Jakarta published under the thinly-veiled guise of "lifestyle magazines", MTV is an advertising vehicle. For the musicians (though few legitimately fall into that category) and those who buy MTV air time, the objective is the same: product promotion.
Television's potential as a commercial vehicle has been recognized from day one, and disposable incomes are no longer the privilege of developed nations. Yet, despite the country's impressive progress, Indonesia's per capita income still hovers around US$900, with the figure being considerably lower outside the capital.
Of the 10 million crowded into the Greater Jakarta area, what percentage can really afford a MTV lifestyle? But they all have it beamed into their homes for six hours every day.
Questions surrounding the rising incidence of social envy and crime are routinely asked in these very pages. Is it the fault of MTV? No. Is it the fault of TV? Not entirely. So who's fault is it?
A definitive answer may never be found. But one can begin investigating by turning on the idiot box. There you are told what you need, how to wear it, when to use it and where to be seen with it. TV has all the answers, you needn't look further.
MTV has its place; I would be a hypocrite if I said I didn't watch it. But give me an alternative. Is it too much for programmers to take my brain into consideration? Consumer demand grows with the middle class, but so do education levels. People learn to make choices and hopefully they learn to think for themselves. Whether or not certain parties consider this desirable is another question.
Regardless, those same parties talk a lot about values and morality. Are television programmers listening? They took off the Simpsons and replaced it with the Power Rangers. One of the best shows to be created in years has lost out to a commodity. Cartoon action figures evidently sell much better than animated dysfunctional families.
TV is not to be taken lightly and programmers have a responsibility. Hopefully they will realize this and the fact that they are ultimately responsible for everything they sell -- including their souls.
-- Caveat Emptor