Statist SCUM: Reality TV proves too real for China's censors

Wang Peijie's idea for what would become the most talked about show in China was simple: throw a spotlight on the country's bright young things as they court each other on stage to pop music and audience applause.

Statist SCUM: Reality TV proves too real for China's censors Ipad-art-wide-a8-20dating-20show-420x0

Statist SCUM: Reality TV proves too real for China's censors Ipad-art-wide-a8-20dating-20show-420x0

The men boasted of their bank accounts, houses and fancy cars. The women were svelte and sassy, dousing suitors with acid putdowns. But mixed into the banter were trenchant social issues that urban Chinese from their 20s to 40s grapple with, if not always so publicly: living together before marriage, the unabashed pursuit of wealth or the government's one-child policy.

''Through this show, you can tell what China is thinking about and chasing after,'' said Wang, a veteran television producer.

The show, If You Are the One, broke ratings records in the first half of 2010. More than 50 million people tuned in. The sauciest contestants became sensations - one aspiring actress famously rejected a man offering a bicycle ride by saying, ''I'd rather cry in a BMW.'' The show attracted huge interest from Chinese overseas; some students on American campuses even filmed their own versions. It increased the nation's cultural influence, which China's leaders crave.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/reality-tv-proves-too-real-for-chinas-censors-20120101-1ph7y.html#ixzz1iFbmuaGn

Statist SCUM: Reality TV proves too real for China's censors

Statist SCUM: Reality TV proves too real for China's censors

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