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July 31, 2007
"24" comes to Afghanistan
You knew it was going to happen . . . inane TV programming comes to Afghanistan.
. . . .only 43 percent of all households have nonleaking windows and roofs, 31 percent have safe drinking water and 7 percent have sanitary toilets.But television is off to a phenomenal start, with Afghans now engrossed, for better or worse, in much of the same escapist fare that seduces the rest of the world: soap operas that pit the unbearably conniving against the implausibly virtuous, chefs preparing meals that most people would never eat in kitchens they could never afford, talk show hosts wheedling secrets from those too shameless to keep their troubles to themselves.
. . . . 19 percent of Afghan households own a television, a remarkable total considering not only that owning a TV was a crime under the Taliban but that a mere 14 percent of the population has access to public electricity.
There's an Afghani version of "American Idol," and Van, who has posted a lot about "24," will be pleased to know that soon Afghanis will be able to enjoy his favorite thriller, this news providing the best quote in the entire article:
“We’ve just bought the rights to ‘24,’ the American show . . . We had some concerns. Most of the bad guys are Muslims, but we did focus groups and it turns out most people didn’t care about that so long as the villains weren’t Afghans.”
Second best quote (about the predictable attempts at government censorship):
“With democracy comes television. It’s hard for some people to get used to.”
(Or as one Iraqi put it, "Democracy, whiskey, sexy!")
Judith | 07/31/07 at 11:34 PM | Categories: - Nation-building
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