From The Emails 020808

Kid Shows

Hey folks,

It's Friday, time for "From The Emails." I'm not sure how much any of you will care about this, but I thought it interesting. The person that pointed this article out asked me this.

"I know you have a problem with Nickelodeon. I was wondering if you would let your son watch this."

The new kids thing:
Asian characters

Meet Kai-lan. She's Chinese. Learn Chinese words.
By Toni Fitzgerald

Preschoolers have already been introduced to Hispanic culture through Dora, Diego and Manny. Now the burgeoning multicultural kids’ television market is moving on to Asian Americans.

Yesterday Nickelodeon debuted the first major-network children’s show focused on Asian culture, “Ni Hao, Kai-lan.” Aimed at kids 2-5 and airing at 11 a.m. Thursdays, the animated program adopts the same basic format as most interactive shows, like “Dora the Explorer” and “Go, Diego, Go.”

The main character speaks directly to the audience with appeals for help in repeating simple foreign phrases or finding a certain object. The big difference is Kai-lan’s ethnicity.

“Diversity in children's programming thus far has mainly been about introducing bilingual Spanish shows,” says Ashley Fenwick-Naditch, executive editor of ChildrensMediaConsultant.com and a former TV and online content producer. “Nickelodeon started off with ‘Dora the Explorer,’ and later added ‘Go, Diego, Go.’ Both have been enormously successful in terms of ratings and product licensing.”

They also inspired other bilingual shows, like Disney’s “Handy Manny,” during a period of enormous growth for American Hispanics. Now the debut of “Ni Hao,” which means “hello” in Mandarin, coincides with a sharp rise in the number of Asian Americans, and that could lead to a similar boom for Asian-American kids’ TV characters.

There are 13.5 million Asian Americans living in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau, up 72 percent from the previous census and comprising 5 percent of the U.S. population. They are now the fastest-growing minority group, and their appeal to marketers is rising. They spent $253 billion in 2001, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth, and by next year that figure will hit $528 billion.

And Asian Americans are expected to start playing a more influential role in U.S. elections, especially in densely populated areas like California, where their voting bloc has the potential to be just as crucial as Hispanics during the 2000 and 2004 elections.

Yet what’s very different about this group compared to some other minorities is that Asians do not share one overarching cultural identity or even a single language. There is a great diversity between those with Japanese, Korean, Indian or Chinese roots, and thus many potential areas for kids’ programming to explore.

“Ni Hao” launched yesterday in conjunction with the Chinese New Year. The show, which has gotten good reviews from The Boston Globe and San Francisco Chronicle, will help teach children Mandarin phrases, Chinese customs and holidays. It follows a 5-year-old girl named Kai-lan, her multi-generational family and her friends, who all happen to be animals.

There’s certainly room for more Asian characters on TV, and not just for children. Studies have found that Asian Americans are the second-least-represented minority group on television, ahead of only Native Americans.

OK, why would I not? Actually, I'll have to ask my wife, I thought Josh WAS watching a show that taught Chinese sayings. I could be wrong. But No, I have no problem with this. Why would I? I have no problem with Josh learning about other languages and cultures. For those of you that have known me for a while, KNOW I myself love this.

I have spent a lot of time over the years learning about other cultures by those that live and lived them. One on one, group settings, Dinners, ETC. You learn much more by spending time with "Real" people, than you do reading a book, or watching some special.

I do have somewhat of a problem with the all inclusive multiculturalism of TV. Not so much that they are appealing to these "groups," but that they call them groups. If we are all Americans, then lets BE Americans. By all means, keep your culture and identity of your heritage, but you MUST also adopt ours. Let's stop further dividing each other and bring us together more. When ARE they going to make a Native American show?

As far as the show goes, GREAT. I have no problem with it.
Peter

Sources:
Emails
Article link - Media Life

Note: "From The Emails" is a weekly segment in the Friday edition of the OPNtalk Blog. If you care to send in News Articles, Comments, Stories, or anything else you may wish to share, please feel free to send it to opntalk@netscape.net As always, you never know what you are going to see here.