Propaganda

Press, 22 July 1980, Page 15

Propaganda

f On “World Watch” last ■; week-end and on “Close- ' up” this week-end viewers had their biggest drench- ‘ j n g of hate, based on the Afghanistan business, than ' they might have remem- ; bered since the heaviest excesses of the British Ministry of Information during World War Two. If the Olympic Games have really led to this kind of barrage on our own sweet television then jt is. time that sports everywhere were abolished once and for all. They-sounded as though they were programmed. The way things are going .on Sunday nights New Zealanders are soon going to finish up being programmed, too — and the subject will be anti-Rus-sian propaganda. Propaganda imbues a person of. good will with , feelings alternating between fury and hilarity. • There is no middle posi-

tion. Russian dissident (voice over): “First the dead were brought back from Afghanistan in tin, coffins; then only the officers; then only some of them. The common soldiers are just buried in common graves.” Really? Hunting of the English as opposed to the American kind — that is, with pink coats and hounds, and not guns — appeared on “Country Calendar” this Sunday, and sat there moderately ill at ease. To the extent that it is a rural activity, hunting has every right to be featured in a programme with “country” in the title. By the same token so have hang-gliding, mountaineering, and even fishing. The common denominator is sport, especially of the gentlemanly, or non-contact, variety. But if “Country Calendar” is to go into country sports, who is to do the farming topics so beloved of the townies as well. as the fanners on this programme? Hunting in New Zealand, even as a sport, has an uneasiness about it. There is one reason why it doesn’t translate too well from its traditional environment, and that is the quarry. To the outsider it seems that it can’t be very satisfying with all that ex-

pensive gear to be chasing anything as downright humdrum as a hare. . There is one advantage, though. In New Zealand the sport can be called “the speakable in pursuit of the eatable.” What can possibly be said about the “Miss Universe” contest that hasn’t already been said? Well, there is one new thing that can be said about the performance screened on Saturday night: it was the 1980 show. ' After such a burst. of originality it is very hard to keep up the standard except to say that the contestants this year had an unshakeable view of their reason for taking part; and this reason waste meet people and learn about the world. Ordinary young women would declare that they were in “Miss Universe” for the unholy joy of winning — the fame, and the chance to get their hands on all those prizes. This is where the actual rontestants are seen to be no ordinary young women indeed. To a national beauty they admitted that their reason for. competing was to meet people and. learn about the world. Oh, well, they could do as much, with far less fuss, by joining a travel agency. Operation Candour. Compere, to one of the sem-eye finalists: “What is your reason for entering the ‘Mis Universe’ contest?” “To meet all these wonderful people, and learn about the world. Korea is north-west of Japan; in India, yoghurt consumption per capita is. . » “Thank you. Are you glad you entered the ‘Miss Universe’ contest?” “Oh yes; definitely. I have been able to meet all these wonderful people and learn about the world. Korea. is north-west of Japan; in India, yoghurt. “Thank you.” .

Review Doug McKenzie