The House the Media Built

Television is the first truly democratic culture - the first culture available to everybody and entirely governed by what the people want. The most terrifying thing is what people want (Clive Barnes). This statement reflects a fundamental question that is plaguing us Pakistanis at the moment.

Many people believe that what we see on our television represents the state of our society. Up until the mid 1990s television in Pakistan was mainly script-heavy dramas, low on unnecessary paraphernalia, simple sets and simpler actors with real abilities, a handful of music videos and classic English films shown way past a young child’s bedtime. The revolution came when a private channel began primetime broadcasts of children’s cartoons like Thundercats followed by a comedy program such as Fawlty Towers which ended with a thriller, mystery or action program such as Manimal. This was family entertainment for the entire household and when we look back we can correctly assume that the average household was quite satisfied.

Many would argue that this was because we did not know any better and that the true life-altering moment came when MTV Asia and several Indian channels broke on to the scene. Fast forward to almost 15 years later and we are looking at a completely changed society and a brand new generation with its own demons and desires. Television in Pakistan is no longer just a means of filling in a few hours of the day, it has become a necessity. One could go so far as to say it serves multiple roles in a household – a babysitter, a means of entertainment, a stylist, a chef, a gossip mill and not to mention a means of satisfying everyone’s voyeuristic urges. Most people are unaware but the reason that Indian-style soaps, reality TV and talk shows are so popular amongst society are that people cannot get enough of looking at other’s lives, listening to people talk about their personal stories or watch people’s lives unravel before them, even if they are at times over-dramatised or based in fantasy. The tragedy is people don’t realise that TV and society are two sides of the same coin where one reflects the other and so raising the bar for one automatically motivates the other to rise to the challenge. But with the kind of programmes we air today, there’s nothing worth emulating, nothing worth learning from or even anything truly representative of our culture and traditions.

Aneesa, an ex Foreign Service employee who currently runs a school and lives in Nigeria is raising a young teenage son in a foreign country. “Its an uphill battle living here and trying to keep my son’s roots tied to Pakistan and our heritage, but its much easier to allow him to watch popular American and British shows as he is fully aware that theirs is a foreign culture, it isn’t ours. It’s easier to explain why we are different to them and why their rules and lifestyle choices don’t apply to us. But sadly when I watched a few Pakistani soaps and music videos at a friend’s house here I felt I couldn’t subscribe to these channels with an open heart. How can I explain to my son that what is being portrayed as our culture and our social norms through these programmes is also not applicable to us? I wish there were constructive and entertaining desi programmes that he could watch or we could watch as a family and enjoy, but they too few and far between”.

Now as an avid TV watcher this writer felt that reality TV shows such as American Idol, Survivor and MTV Roadies could easily be re-enacted in a Pakistani setup and would kill two birds with one stone – be somewhat productive while entertaining those who were watching. But instead what our producers and script-writers have preferred to do is to emulate the ‘air your dirty laundry on stage’ Jerry Springer-esque talk shows. How low the quality of our programming has sunk is all too obvious when one begins to channel surf during the afternoon or evening only to find that selecting one programme worth watching on local channels is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. The truth is when you have too wide and vast a space you have to fill it with something and when quality supply is limited, one can’t help but compromise and settle for space-fillers. That’s what most of these soaps and dramas, not to mention ‘anyone who can afford to make a music video can afford to have it aired’ trend is doing, it’s filling space on the countless TV channels that are mushrooming out of the woodworks.

Amna, a law graduate who recently moved back to Pakistan to work for a multi-national feels that the Pakistani media has taken giant steps since she was a young child growing up in the days of Music Challenge and teleplays. “See every generation is going to feel that what they had was better and that today’s tastes and choices have degenerated, but the truth is these are changing times. Sure our programming has its share of poor quality shows and serials and music videos but this is the teething stage. Look at our music industry, it may have been around for decades, but it is just taking off the ground. The same goes for our fashion industry. So right now is the experimental stage and with the trial and error method you are going to have a few misses for every hit. So down the line this will pay off, people will slowly begin to expect and demand not just more but better work and the channels will have to deliver”.

This perspective is surely a positive one and possibly the prevalence of private channels clearly means the entertainment industry is finally realising its potential and will help to make people across the country more aware about social issues, news and views. But what we actually have is a grave irresponsibility on the part of the people behind the screens who are creating questionable content as well as those who are endorsing it. Most of the channels, in the spirit of competition are doing their utmost to outdo each other when it comes to themes and types of programmes aired, from foreign serials to international fashion shows, from cookery programmes with a twist to voyeuristic talk shows. But whatever happened to determining the content you choose to put on the screen with integrity as opposed to calculating what will bring in the most profits? Of course our television industry, like anywhere else in the world, is a business and has to be run like one. But there need to be checks and balances and accountability.

Many are celebrating the rapid growth of the local fashion and music scene but is all this exposure bearing any real fruit when it comes to impacting individuals in the society? Young women in Pakistan who belong to the middle and the upper-lower class are being bombarded with images from local and Indian soaps, not to mention music videos, talk show hosts and anchors about how they should dress, act and shape their lifestyle. The truth is we are all unconsciously inspired by what we are exposed to, whether it is in real life or through the ‘idiot box’. There is no harm in preaching liberalism and open-mindedness by exposing a patriarchal and smothered society such as ours that has undergone fundamentalism, corrupt politicians and martial law to a freer outlook and inculcate a healthier attitude amongst men and women across different strata of society. But is it necessary to equate emancipation and modernity for women, for example, with sleeveless clothes, excessive makeup, tight jeans and western tops.

The truth is, no matter what we would like to believe, majority of our population still belongs to a section of society that does not have the basic rights that it deserves such as clean water, education, employment, transportation et cetera. Also in a country where orthodox forms of religion still shape the attitudes and regulations of millions of families, how does showing a girl parading in a sleeveless shalwar kameez help improve the situation for women living in a conservative family? Albeit our society has evolved, more and more young women are getting an education and stepping out for office work and our television is partly reflecting the change that has come about, but we are rapidly greying the line that separates us from other cultures. In a bid to catch up with their industry, we are not only taking leaps and bounds, but we are aping others beyond logical boundaries.

There is a great deal of wisdom in learning from those who are ahead of us in the game, as countless professionals, entrepreneurs and educators talk about learning from India and adopting its successful models to improve our status. But is it necessary to dissolve our unique culture and traditions to do that? Our younger generation is most certainly far more exposed and evidently more westernised than its predecessor, which is by no means a negative. It is inevitable that the younger generation will move with the times and to keep pace with the rest of the world it has to imbibe what all it is exposed to through the digital world online or through television and other media. But what is most surprising is how easy it is for some members of the younger generation to feel that their national identity is so easily discardable in the face of being a secular citizen of the world. Have our governments and our institutions failed us so miserably, that the youth of today doesn’t even know what it means to be Pakistani and can only identify with either being westernised or Indianised? And in a bid to pull them back to their roots do we have to resort to poorly scripted soap operas, sub-standard music videos and shameless talk shows?

Television programme suppliers would play the economics card and justify their actions by saying that they have to provide the people with the kind of programmes they want to watch otherwise they will click the button and watch something else. But the truth is producers, directors, script-writers and channel owners often have the capacity to dictate trends and develop the audiences’ taste for quality programming. If one wanted to run a high quality restaurant the menu would not feature ordinary uninspiring dishes with everyday ingredients just because this is what would suit the average palate. A good restaraunter would is cater the cuisine to the taste of the people but give them something to look forward to, something to be excited and surprised by, something they might not know they could enjoy. Do we really want to tell our nation that watching people accuse each other, deception and manipulation, festering jealousies, yelling at each other, disrespecting their elders, talking about petty trivial family matters on national television is a reflection of who they are? Because that is exactly what the storylines and characters on local soaps do. If the Indian channels that appeared around 15 years ago created an addiction amongst our audience for programming of that nature then could we not throw a better punch than entering the playing field and copying exactly what they do? So we would have the minds and morals of our women and young children dulled and compromised by watching our poor quality soaps rather than any other countries?

If we were to conduct a long-term sociological study of how the quality of television, print media as well as advertising is going to impact our society then we would be looking at a section of people that would be blatantly confused about its heritage, its traditions and cultural norms, its religious roots and its unique flavour, all of which will be lost in a haystack full of foreign influences.

But what is worse is that we have developed a habit of accepting things as they are and this is what sends out the message that “sub kuch chaley ga”, which is why we don’t see advertisers, radio show producers, television directors and performers aspiring to do better. Whatever happened to training radio jockeys with the art of hosting a radio show, teaching anchors to conduct proper interviews, video jockeys to learn the art of introducing songs and playlists and not allowing them to wing it? Whatever happened to discarding the tired old formula of advertisements featuring the use of “masalas” or “shampoos” to entice the husband or boyfriend or sending your daughter off with a fridge or mattress at her wedding? Why do we have to reinforce the very ideals that we are attempting to break by the so-called “emancipation movement” that our actresses, models, anchors and talk show hosts are leading.

When are we as a society going to wake-up and demand that we deserve to see more quality programming, that we need to capitalise on our own unique formulae such as story-based drama serials and develop our own blend of music and reality television as well as advertisements.

We need to re-evaluate the standards we set for ourselves, it is only then that the media will have to shape up. After all if television is a democratic culture, then its time we take a close look at what we voted into power.