automaticable

I just watched about 5 minutes of the TV show “MXC,” which, if you’re not familiar, is pretty funny. The premise is that they take footage of a Japanese game-show where they compete in ridiculous stunts. Then, we add American commentary spoofing whatever is really going on, reminiscent of Mystery Science Theater 2000.

What brings me to post, though, is the underlying irony of it all. If you look at the Japanese economy, industry, and entertainment, you’ll notice that they are in fact emulating the American market. Because of their growing free market, the Japanese are in an era where the middle-class have more money, and so their lifestyles are influenced by that of America. You can see it in their clothing, their technology, and even the vacations they take. Most specifically, you can see it in their television programming.

So what strikes me as funny here, is that the Japanese make television programming that mirrors Hollywood, but we dub it over and it becomes a comedy in the States. I think if we put the same cheesy dubbing on some of our own shows, they might be equally popular. Moral of the story: the reality TV content put out today is garbage.

Related Rant: How there exists an Americanized version of the “Planet Earth” series, because the United States as a whole just wouldn’t understand a British narrator.