Media: The Clean, the Commercialized and the Controlled

Lately I’ve been thinking about media, why I like the music and shows that I do, and the censorship (or lack thereof) that governments impose on it.

There are countries like China, where censorship is so strict that creativity is stifled and/or stamped out. No one outside of China really watches Chinese media (that I know of), despite the country being large and developed enough to potentially produce some good stuff. (I mean, Korea’s Man From the Stars took over China for a reason. China didn’t have a show that could compete with it.) I consider consuming Chinese media for linguistic benefits, because I need to learn Mandarin in order to live here – not because it’s anything new or interesting.

Then there are countries like the U.S. with no censorship, where the media is always selling you something, always feeding some primal need, creatively finding new ways to dumb down content to a single common denominator that will reach the biggest audience and generate the most profit. Here, quality media can flourish, though often I have to search for it.

Finally, there are countries like South Korea, whose censorship laws limit the amount of foul language, sex and violence portrayed in media. I think this is a factor in why I enjoy Korean media so much and why its popularity is spreading around the world. Instead of a stream of four letter words, actors and singers produce sentences. Instead of sex scenes, TV shows depict relationships. Instead of gore, movies show conflict. These kinds of distractions are removed or limited in hampering the story/message of the media.

I don’t listen to music or watch videos or shows for the sex appeal or a cheap thrill to escape real life (though those reasons can be tempting). I consume media because it has something to say. It is a mode of communication. It has a message.

When media is free to creatively express a true message, it can be beautiful, poignant, hilarious, sobering, powerful.

When I say free, I don’t mean simply free from all censorship to be ruled by cold profit. When I say creatively, I do mean a brave and exploratory imaginative spirit.  Ultimately, I love media that is free to deliver its message with excellence – and that excellence comes when media has guidance, whether from the artist’s personal morality and integrity or the standards imposed by a government. I think the worldwide success of Korean media and the growing success of certain artists in America attests to this. The power of their clear, quality stories attests to this.

It’s not that every song and episode needs to be explicitly educational or support a cause to have a meaningful message (though it’s great when they are and do). Beauty has meaning. Joy has meaning. Honesty has meaning. Comedy can have a worthwhile message just as Politics or Romance can. Excellent media is not limited by genre.

I appreciate the little-known artists in America who produce media not for personal profit, but because they have something worth saying. I appreciate the media coming out of Korea, censored and all, which is speaking to legions of people from all different cultures.

I hope artists continue to produce media as a form of meaningful communication. I hope consumers will choose media that has something worthwhile to say. And I… I will keep listening to, watching and buying clean media, whether from America or Korea or wherever I find it. Because clean media has a point other than taking my money.

(Disclaimer: Not 100% of all media from China is of poor quality, not 100% of all media from the U.S. is commercialized, and not 100% of all approved media from South Korea is clean. These are generalizations based on main trends that I have observed.)