Technical howl

I thought it was merely another one in the series of those slap-dash productions that the ironically-named Family TV often offers. So I winced, shrugged and zapped.

However, it turned out to be a cross between the usual Reality Show and Candid Camera footage of children who thought they had finally made it to television - especially since the name of the programme was Issa ċ-Ċans.

I hope that the Broadcasting Authority will find something, anything, in the book it will then throw at the administration of this channel, over which to slap it with a hefty fine. This would serve as a deterrent to other stations contemplating treating tomorrow's adult generation in a similar manner.

A part of the blame for this cruel charade must be played on assertive parents who grabbed this chance for vicarious fame. None of the children was street-wise enough to walk out of a studio when they saw that something was awry.... "too bad to be true".

No doubt, even if they did, some of them would have been afraid of the repercussions from overbearing parents who feast upon these 'opportunities' (and here I include modelling as well as some other performing arts). I am under the impression that the Data Protection Act precludes certain identifying details of children (anyone under 18 years of age) from being made public.

So unless the producers of this programme can provide written assent forms from each of the parents/legal guardians of the children so that these clips might be aired, I think that's as good a place as any to begin. Someone must be thanking his lucky stars that nobody has thought to sue on account of public humiliation issues.

I usually complain because children, apart from the 'chosen few', are only allowed a passive role in programmes ostensibly aimed at them... as well as when they are encouraged to act precociously, as happens in so-called 'shows'.

This programme, then, took both bad notions, amalgamated them, and descended to the nadir of local television standards with them; not even Paprati was ever as bad. This was a cheap imitation of a cheap imitation of La Corrida, replete with base bullying, being presented as a 'Reality Show'.

It is bad enough that several sections of the mass media - and not only the tabloids and thrash television channels - delight in proffering consumers mockery and gossip as entertainment, or even as news.

• Some people will eat anything. This week, this 'anything' transmuted to bulls' testes, as cooked last Sunday on TVM's noon programme.

I received no less than eight e-mails pointing out that this was a programme that is normally watched by children, and as such, the repetition of the Maltese term for this part of the animal's anatomy did not ring well. I wonder - is there a less earthy term for animelles, or perhaps a euphemism of the likes of Rocky Mountain Oysters or Lamb Fries or Cowboy Caviar, which would have amused the adults and passed over the heads of the children?

It is not allowable to refer to a brand of wine, or even show its label, 'to protect children', before the watershed hour. So, dishes chosen for their novelty value are, upon the same criterion, to be avoided.

On Thursday evening, Alfred Bezzina, of the National Commission of Persons with Disability (KNPD) was talking to Sergio Grech about terminology to be used in connection with people who have different needs (Radju Malta).

At one point, Bezzina said that Maltese who are deaf, or have profound hearing loss, prefer the English word to be used to describe them, instead of the Maltese one, which apparently carries a stigma. The mind boggles; I always describe myself as naqra truxa, simply because that is the truth. Why beat about the bush?

However, I totally agreed with him when he said he finds it distasteful that characters such as Gawdenz Bilocca, or Quincy Magoo, and Professor Calculus are usually the fall guys or light relief of a story.

The same may be said of how inconsiderate it is to people when they are referred to by their disability rather than by the fact that they have it, and also to that certain terminology, perhaps intended to alleviate psychological suffering and elicit 'help', is also damaging to a person's self-esteem.

television@timesofmalta.com