In a basket of apples, there has to be one or two bad apples. With a bunch of good things, come a few bad things too. That's life and either we've learnt to accept it or we grumble about it. Still, for every "rule", there is at least one exception.
Perhaps Indonesian television is one of those counterexamples. For so many TV craps, you'll only get a few, if any, quality programming. If you have time to waste, try Indonesian-channel flipping, especially at night. Chances are that you'll catch one or two or a lot of sinetrons (Indonesian soaps).
I don't really get how the sinetrons could've survived this long. They've dived to a level of their own, which no one wants to enter. Main ingredient: characters with extreme attitudes and out-of-this-world storylines. Where else can you see schoolchildren plotting a revenge like a mafia cell or a mother-in-law/murderer? Maybe you can ask the "magical talking sock". While looking for that, you might want to help a ridiculously-innocent-to-the-point-of-being-stupid young lady who attracts disaster wherever she goes: earthquakes, being blind, you name it. And never talk to strangers, they might turn into a dragon, or a giant serpent if you're lucky enough.
Despite their poor quality, sinetrons have gained a massive and loyal following. This fan base then attracts advertisers, who pour money into TV stations. Consequently, TV stations will the order more of those sinetrons, which will almost certainly get a huge audience. Thus, the vicious cycle of sinetron, or maybe sinetrash, is born. Waves and waves of sinetrashes keep eroding the shore of people's taste and common sense. (For a disaster, that sounds really poetic, doesn't it?)
About a year ago, there was a trend of pseudoreligious-mystic programs which proudly showcased ridiculous deaths of the "unbeliever". Who could resist the excitement a flying corpse could offer? What I didn't expect was that some, as in a lot of, people actually believed in those fake stories made popular by a magazine titled Hidayah (Guidance). Well, that really puts a huge question mark on our nation's "religiosity". Fortunately, those shows suddenly disappeared. Maybe we're all good people now or the Devil is demanding higher wage. Anyway, I thought things were going to change.
And yes, things changed, just not in the right direction. As the infidels were drowning in their graves, mean mamas came out of hell to invade our television. Stories as real as a SmackDown! match are created. Thus, the new but not improved sinetrons dominated the magic box once again.
All and all, those soaps are getting very slippery, plunging people into its catastrophic and ridiculous world. There were improvements on TV too, let's not forget that; but those junks are still the main part of Indonesian TV. We deserve better stuffs. Otherwise, the people will be poisoned by the tasteless and pointless sinetrashes. The Bold and The Beautiful, anyone?
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