Effete, corrupt America: not?

A lot of American TV and movies here on our Asian cable system shows beautiful, rich, spoiled and promiscuous folks doing various things, or criminals of various types.

And the music videos are worse. I wonder how many realize that they promote racism with their anger and animal like gyrations? Especially in Asian countries that encourage self control and politeness? That doesn't stop them from being popular, although as my granddaughter pointed out (after her Christian school let their kids dance to one popular ditty): even though they are fluent in proper English, they obviously didn't understand the words or what they meant.

All of this reminds me when I lived in Africa, and when I went there, both our black and our white neighbors warned us that they were worried about me because of what they read in the newspapers: summary: You might be killed.

And in Africa, those I worked with worried about visiting the US (for medical conferences) because of what they too saw in the movies etc.

If the Philippines is less anti american than most countries, it is because half of us have relatives in the US or had contact with the American military at one time or another.

One thing that goes against the "desperate housewives" "CSI Crime" dramas are the redneck reality shows: Dirty jobs, Swamp people, and now: (tada!) Duck Dynasty, which is now on History Channel Asia.

Entrepeneur has an article on them here.

Hmmm...wouldn't want to meet them on a dark street either...which is why awhile ago, while in NYCity for an interview, one of them was thrown out of his hotel by someone who thought he was a vagrant.

Yet the show is on here and is one of the few shows that makes me laugh out loud.
The humor is dry, and the comments are often droll, said with a blank face and a twinkle in the eye.

The article points out that they actually were known to duck hunters via video before the big networks found them.

In the 1980's, looking for an outlet to hawk his duck products, Phil Robertson produced videos for avid duck hunters. The shows managed to attract quiet the following, making the family popular among the hunter community.

"We were pre-reality TV, early 1980s," Phil told ABC. "We had a reality show, but it was just a bunch of rednecks shooting ducks."

so is it a hit in Asia? I have no idea: again, I wonder how much of the humor can be translated and understood if your first language is not English.

But makes me happy that at least one program that shows a different side of America.