Controversy Over Breast Painting: Do People Even Care That They Are Being Lied To?

[webfact]

EDITORIAL

Do people even care that they are being lied to?

The Nation

Controversy over breast painting on a TV talent show reveals deeper truths about how standards mean little in an age of cutthroat commercialism

BANGKOK: -- A half-naked young woman triggering a controversy for being "un-Thai" is nothing new. That she was allowed to show off her breasts on a TV show that was still allowed to be broadcast - albeit with lacklustre blurring - is rarer. But it's not the end of the world for Thai culture. That the whole thing was allegedly set up to boost the ratings of a franchised TV programme whose popularity seemed in decline is what Thais should really be shocked about, even if it sounds "normal" these days.

If the allegations are true that the woman was a nude model hired to go on "Thailand's Got Talent", the controversy takes on a new aspect entirely. An emboldened woman performing what many perceived to be an unacceptable act on a TV stage is one thing. That she might have been paid to do it by people who should have known better is another.

The latter scenario isn't about a "naughty girl". It's about the mindset of TV executives and producers who consider cheating viewers an acceptable way to push up ratings.

Workpoint Entertainment boss Panya Nirandkul surreptitiously denied knowledge of any "payment". He said the show's staff approached the woman was in the same way other contestants are recruited. Panya suggested that if she received money, it was just routine recruiting. On the one hand he's saying that ambitious wannabe performers have been scrambling to get a slot on "Thailand's Got Talent". On the other hand he's implying that everyone who's selected to perform in front of the three judges is paid to be there.

The real issue, therefore, is whether the woman was hired or not. If she was, Workpoint was betraying its own viewers. If its staff knew in fact that she wasn't an artist and still put her there onstage - where she was presented as a daring, new-age painter - there's only one word to describe it: cheating.

This line in media ethics has been crossed before. Talk-show guests have told amazing stories that are hard to verify and have "lies for ratings" written all over them. A Thai thief who stole jewellery from a Saudi palace - wrecking diplomatic relations between our countries to this day - was offered money for exclusive TV interviews. Media outlets have even been accused of commercialising material derived from leaders of the genocidal Khmer Rouge.

Just because bad things have happened before, it doesn't mean they should now be acceptable. And if paying a thief for a purportedly true story is bad, what does that say about paying someone to effectively "lie" to the whole country? Yet the current investigations and inquiries have revolved around why the "obscene" performance was allowed to go on air, not the apparent contrivance behind it.

The mixing of "drama" and reality show has become increasingly common, and viewers have always been lied to, more or less, one way or another. "Professional wrestling" is one sport that's always scripted to amplify excitement or create controversy. The difference between it and "Thailand's Got Talent" is that people who watch wrestling are prepared to be fooled, and even willing. Those who viewed "Thailand's Got Talent" last weekend were made to believe the female "painter" was a real artist, however unorthodox.

This is a slippery slope. When a line is crossed often enough it will disappear, sooner rather than later. If the woman really was "hired" but this incident is allowed to pass because "TV always works this way", then TV will keep cheating us. Its producers will use the same argument invoked to justify the abundance of ridiculous soap operas: That's what the viewing public wants.

-- The Nation 2012-06-23

[submaniac]

First!!

I like boobies.

[Thai at Heart]

A large thai tv company tells a porkie pie to make money out of the little people.

Interchange tv company with rice mill, paper mill, or politician and see that it is amazing no one worked this out before.

[endure]

"This is a slippery slope. When a line is crossed often enough it will disappear, sooner rather than later. If the woman really was "hired" but this incident is allowed to pass because "TV always works this way", then TV will keep cheating us. Its producers will use the same argument invoked to justify the abundance of ridiculous soap operas: That's what the viewing public wants."

What is a slippery slope is when the talent of the majority of the population of the country is hidden by a desperate education system that inculcates serfdom.

Edited June 23, 2012 by endure

[ianf]

Lied to? How unusual in Thailand! My experience is that very few people tell the truth.

[NanLaew]

Well.... Thailand's Got Talent is a local franchise of a.... FARANG show so in the end it's all about the perniciously evil western influences on the deeply conservative and culturally rich Thai people.

Hey! You want fries with that khaotom?

Edited June 23, 2012 by NanLaew

[Thai at Heart]

Well.... Thailand's Got Talent is a localised franchise of a.... FARANG show so in the end it's all about the perniciously evil western influences on the deeply conservative and culturally rich Thai people.

Hey! You want fries with that khaotom?

I trust you are bring sarcastic.

[chooka]

"Just because bad things have happened before, it doesn't mean they should now be acceptable. And if paying a thief for a purportedly true story is bad, what does that say about paying someone to effectively "lie" to the whole country?"

Wow does this mean that they are going to clean up the whole act, no politicians lying to the masses, and those bad things that have been going on like scams, murders, drugs (add what you like) are going to be cleaned up or is it just about a single pair of breasts?

[mca]

Lied to? How unusual in Thailand! My experience is that very few people tell the truth.

Depends on the circles you move in I suppose...

[jaltsc]

I've always been confused about this in the western world and now in Thailand...It is illegal to murder someone in reality, but perfectly acceptable to portray this act on television. Yet, it is perfectly legal to be naked, yet illegal to portray this in television. At last something illogical upon which east and west can agree.

[Lifer]

Is anybody really surprised by any thing in the above article?

[Ianatlarge]

The media is owned by capitalists. They will lie, cheat, and steal for money. Trust nothing.

[NanLaew]

Well.... Thailand's Got Talent is a localised franchise of a.... FARANG show so in the end it's all about the perniciously evil western influences on the deeply conservative and culturally rich Thai people.

Hey! You want fries with that khaotom?

I trust you are bring sarcastic.

No need to ask is there?

Never used an emoticon in my life btw. If people can't suss out sarcasm, satire, humour without hand-holding, then it isn't really working is it?

I only discovered last week that McDonald's here actually DOES do khaotom. I guess that was a sop to the older generation when forced to hang out with the young 'uns after mall trawling or the weekend family outing gets the munchies with 'Yai' in tow.

[Moruya]

The Thai Nation is on the verge of being morally bankrupt anyway. Money is the new God. That's why government handouts buy the proletariat. Money buys forgiveness when your family is killed in a demonstration. Money buys forgiveness when your family is killed by an unlicenced under age driver. Money buys forgiveness when your home is destroyed by water mismanagement.

Showing your boobies makes money? Never seen that in Thailand

[thrawn60]

Stopped watching Thai TV a few years ago, heck stopped watching most TV channels, and stuck with Discovery and History Channel, at least there you don't have soap's, "Talent" shows, and news reports about all the destruction in the world, wars, global warming and all that depressing news. Oh, and most on the those two channels I do watch are mostly reruns, so no surprises there.

But on the topic of demoralizing TV programs and questionable ethics of TV channels, that is nothing new, just try and go back 15-20 years and remember what was on the TV, and what was shown in the news casts or as entertainment... no naked ladies, no up close killings of middle eastern fanatics, no shows about what you will do to get 15 mins of fame, in various tropical settings with alcoholic youths trying to survive 2 weeks without cheating on their partners while doing mindless tasks.

Ok rant over

[Xangsamhua]

There are better things to do than watch TV anyway.

TV shows - whether for "information" or entertainment - are highly edited and audiences manipulated to the hilt.

As a medium it's only good for visual content - sports, ceremonies, scenery, etc., and nearly always better with the sound turned off.

[kerryk]

The Thai Nation is on the verge of being morally bankrupt anyway. Money is the new God. That's why government handouts buy the proletariat. Money buys forgiveness when your family is killed in a demonstration. Money buys forgiveness when your family is killed by an unlicenced under age driver. Money buys forgiveness when your home is destroyed by water mismanagement.

Showing your boobies makes money? Never seen that in Thailand

70 years ago it was the norm in Thailand to show boobs. In the 1930's Thailand wanting to be like the West made it illegal along with many other things. I see this boobies thing as getting back to Thai roots and a good thing in general.

[Misterwhisper]

My, my, who would've thought that 2 small boobies would have such an impact, having obviously shaken Thailand's morals in its foundations, triggering finger-pointing debates about lying and cheating and unbecoming behaviour.

Thank goodness we can still comfort ourselves with local soap operas, which are of course oh so honest in their depiction of society and which a large proportion of the audience apparently regard as truthful to the bone.

Meanwhile, we continue waving the impressive banner of 'Thainess' as all around us cheating and lying is practised by all elements of society on a daily basis, and we shut our eyes and fail to realise that much-touted 'Thainess' itself is rapidly turning into nothing but a cynical, hollow lie.

But as long as we can hang ourselves up and voice our outrage over 2 small (and allegedly paid!) boobies, everything's just fine.

[chotthee]

nobody what those stuff anyway.

[rotary]

It "breast" the shit out of me that we are still talking about this..............

[NanLaew]

nobody what those stuff anyway.

I agree!

... I think?

[jayjayjayjay]

nobody what those stuff anyway.

I agree!

... I think?

Absolutely, unquestionable fact!

[chooka]

It "breast" the shit out of me that we are still talking about this..............

Men will always talk about breasts there is nothing better that a Man would prefer. Well unless you swing the other way of course.

[theblether]

In this case it's only entertainment TV, rational people suspend belief, no harm done.

There are plenty of other lies being told which are far more malicious and dangerous in Thailand, Panorama and 60 Minutes would have a field day in the country.

[davejonesbkk]

Funny how this story has become bigger then the college student bus shooting incident where several people died including a women who was traveling with her husband, sister and children.

Actually wait a minute it's not funny at all....

[sprq]

Well.... Thailand's Got Talent is a localised franchise of a.... FARANG show so in the end it's all about the perniciously evil western influences on the deeply conservative and culturally rich Thai people.

Hey! You want fries with that khaotom?

I trust you are bring sarcastic.

Hey, you're a genius.

[swillowbee]

... another example that the Thai's greed is now more powerful than the Thai's Buddha ... most everything we see here can be explained in terms of cultural values ... "un-Thai" behavior? ... oh? ... not really so exceptional ... I'm a little surprised this attracted so much public outcry ... any of these insensed people ever take a stroll about town? ... this very commonly accepted "Thai behavior" is all pretty much in your face.

[luckyman]

Lied to? How unusual in Thailand! My experience is that very few people tell the truth.

Depends on the circles you move in I suppose...

Or to what extent you have opened your eyes and mind...!

I have to agree that Thais/Asians do lie much more often than Europeans.

[ianf]

Lied to? How unusual in Thailand! My experience is that very few people tell the truth.

Depends on the circles you move in I suppose...

Police, shopkeepers, lawyers, bar girls, non bar girls, ex wife, neighbour, politicians, moo baan manager, waiting staff .... to name just a few categories..............

Edited June 23, 2012 by ianf

[redroo]

true lies !