Man, fuck the History Channel.
Shit’s racist.
Disregarding the shows that aren’t actually about history (you go to hell, Ice Road Truckers,) most programming on the history channel fits into one of the following categories:
-World War II shows, most of which focus on the European front
-“Occult” things that involve some historical analysis
-Egypt (rare)
-American history stuff
-Things that haven’t happened yet
-Modern Marvels (very little history is involved)
So why does this make it racist? Because most of those shows have nothing to do with South/ Southeast/ East Asia. I was motivated to make this post after watching only a couple minutes of tonight’s special “Gates of Hell.” (Which falls into the second category above.) It was supposed to cover a variety of locations from around the world that have long been regarded as entrances to the underworld. I was very excited to see if there was a such a place in Japan, since there would probably be some exciting Youkai stories about it.
Apparently, the History Channel considers “The world” to be Europe, America (North and South,) and Africa, because every “gate” covered was in Europe, America, or Africa. (Only one in Africa, though.) This oversight would be forgivable if it wasn’t constantly happening in all of their other shows. I’d have to say the Asian country (And when I say Asia, I am excluding the Middle East because it gets more coverage than the rest of the continent. However, it sure could use some more, since most of it involves the Crusades which means more Europe shit too.) that gets the most airtime is Japan. This is not really a good thing though, since every Japan related program I have seen on the channel has either been about Samurai or World War II; you know, stereotypically Japanese things. What the fuck man? America is not nearly as old of a country, but it gets hours and hours of programming a day, despite having significantly less to work with. Sure, the channel is based in America, but it is the “History Channel,” not the “American History Channel.” Also, a ton of the programming is not about America. Japan has thousands of years of history to make shows about, but only 305 or so of those are ever discussed. China gets a mention every now and then, and India maybe once a year, but the rest of Asia apparently doesn’t exist. Regarding this, the Travel Channel actually has better coverage of Asian history (side note- Rick Steves probably does a better job on European history,) specifically Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations.” He doesn’t just go to places and eat the food, he actually makes an attempt to tell you why the food is the way it is or why the culture he is experiencing functions the way it does. He can never spend too much time on one subject, but it’s a hell of alot more time than the History Channel gives Asia in general.
So in summary, fuck you History Channel. In the future, I would like to see shows about the following places, since they are part of the world the rest of us live in.
-Japan
-China
-Mongolia
-Okinawa
-Korea
-Indonesia
-Singapore
-Malaysia
-The Philippines
-Laos
-Vietnam
-India
-Sri Lanka
-Thailand
-Cambodia
-Bangladesh
-Tibet
-Nepal
-Pakistan
-Bhutan
-Hong Kong
-Taiwan
-And the rest. Get a map.
Interestingly enough, there is a History Channel in Southeast Asia, which means they have some connections in those countries, which means there is really no excuse for their biased current programming.
Fun fact, people agree with me:
http://www.salon.com/may97/media/media970508.html
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/guide03/explore1.html (See the bottom)
There’s more, but I’m too lazy to find them right now. Also, it’s hot in here and I want to leave the room.
