Discrimination has no place on TV shows

Acomedy show about phone scams, telecast as part of the Spring Festival gala on Beijing TV on Jan 28, has aroused more questions than laughter, because the supposed swindler’s voiceover on the show had an obviousHenan accent.

Central China’s Henan province is home to more than 100 million people. And many Henan natives feel the show was discriminatory and allege the show intentionally tarnished their image by insinuating that Henan is home to swindlers.

So strong has been the reaction that a lawyer fromHenan has sued the show’s director and actors, and the TV station, accusing them of regional discrimination and maligningHenan residents’ reputation. The lawyer has demanded that the defendants apologize for “depictingHenan residents” as “swindlers” and pay a compensation of 1 yuan ($0.16) to every person from Henan.

In response, the director of the show has explained on his micro blog that he himself provided the voice-over for program and used his home province Shandong’s accent, which sounds similar to that ofHenan.

Some media outlets have published commentaries, which say the lawyer is making an unnecessary fuss over a show and adviseHenan residents to be magnanimous and forgiving.

Discrimination, in many cases, is the result of ignorance or prejudice. Therefore, the government should raise public awareness, in order to prevent discriminatory shows from hitting TV screens.