Cloudy in Beijing Blogging about my time in China

Chinese TV trash

Whether you respect them or not, gold diggers can make good TV.

This happened with Ma Nuo, a 22-year-old model who gained fame by appearing on the Chinese dating TV show, If You Are The One (非城勿扰).

When it came to the kind of man she wants, Ma notoriously said she would “rather cry in a BMW than laugh on a bicycle.” To sum up her view: luxury car trumps love.

This and her other sharp comments have catapulted Ma into stardom. Now she’s laid claim to the title of being Beijing’s  拜金女, the Chinese word for “material girl.”

Ma's career reminds me of how reality TV stars in America are sometimes born: do something controversial and you can get your own 15-minutes of fame.

But in China, it's not quite as easy to get away with such radical comments; apparently the honeymoon may be over for Ma.

News outlets across China are now reporting that the country’s broadcasting bureau has blacklisted Ma from appearing on TV programs. The reasoning seems to be because her “moral outlook did not accord with the public,” as the media has been putting it.

A large number of Chinese people seem to be welcoming the news. Ma’s most controversial comments have drawn disgust from many viewers. Others are worried that her attitudes will affect how other younger women will view marriage.

“She should have been blacklisted early on. This type of program should have restrictions,” wrote one Internet user on a Chinese blog site.

In America, reality TV stars come and go on their own. But as evidenced by Ma's plight, reality stars in China sometimes need the approval of the government.

This highlights a big difference between the two countries and their TV programming. In America, I sometimes hear about there being too much trash on TV, and it being a bad influence on people. Well, in China, the Chinese government will actually do something about it.

The Chinese justify it by saying it's moral and ensures healthy programming. But obviously the counter-arguments are that it's squelches different points of view. Furthermore, it makes for boring TV.