CCTV's New Year Gala part of collective historical memory
- Source: Global Times
- [22:21 February 10 2010]
- Comments
It is an evening that connects urban with rural areas, links common values and provides shared experiences in China's collective national heritage and oral history.
Yan Lili, 30, and Zhang Chen, 29, say that the CCTV New Year Gala is an important part of the night's celebration.
Li Yanqing, 31, from Tianjin, says that he watches only "some items that interest me," but the show "gives a proper background for the whole evening."
For Wang Liwen, 30, from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China, "The program is like a big dinner table with many kinds of dishes, and everyone has his own taste and favorite dish."
Some critics have called for a cancellation of the CCTV New Year Gala. They say that the program holds no value, that it is outdated and thus will gradually become part of the past.
There is nothing wrong with constructive criticism when it points to ways of improvement.
It is easy to find fault in everything. They should offer rejuvenating ideas instead.
Li Yanqing suggests that every valuable event may have its enemies. "As for chunwan, the audience may have a love-hate relation with it precisely because it is important. But for me, it conveys family reunion, prosperity and pride." The program, he says, "provides a common background for all."
For the CCTV New Year Gala to be in a win-win column, it should not be seen as entertainment only, but as a cultural icon that mirrors the nation.
To be a past and future winner it should restore its youth, pay attention to the content and the faces, implement new methods and concepts, and thus stimulate the old and the young alike.
The author is an Israeli professor and director of the Sino-Israel Research Center at Heilongjiang University. bencanaan@ gmail.com
