Television

Twenty years ago, no violence whatsoever was allowed on Norwegian television.  Any scene with even so much as a slap to the face was edited out, as America edits out sex scenes and cursing. Nudity and sex have always been OK on Norwegian TV, though, because Norwegians consider that just a natural part of life. And swear words have never been bleeped out because Norwegians pride themselves on true “freedom of speech.”  Back then, however, even violent movies were completely banned from the country because the government didn’t want violence to influence their culture.  Yet, they studied in great detail the history of the Vikings, so go figure.

Norway was a much different place in the 1990s than it is today.  It’s shocking how much has changed in just two decades.  Many of those changes, I believe, have been from the influence of American television on that otherwise isolated and pristine culture.

In the 1990s there were only a few public television stations that broadcast minimal hours a day.  Think PBS – a children’s program in the morning and news in the evening. A movie might be shown once a week, but it was more likely from the BBC than Hollywood. 

Nowadays, every house in Norway has cable television with many disgusting programs not at all suitable for children, but they watch them anyway.  Many televisions are on non-stop with hundreds of channels from around the world available at the touch of a button.  American TV is the most popular, with The Simpsons and South Park (a raunchy adult cartoon), the biggest hits with the kids.  Most programs have Norwegian subtitles and only the littlest children’s programs are dubbed.  It’s easy to spot the grade school kids who watch a lot of TV because their English is much better than their peers.

In 1990, one of our relatives had foster children.  I was curious why someone would lose custody of their kids, since the whole Norwegian culture revolves around family life.  I inquired - was it drugs? Abuse? Alcoholism?  No, came the answer, the parents had bought a satellite dish and allowed the children to sit in front of the TV day and night.  The children weren’t getting their homework done or going outside to play with other children.  The government thought that was no way to raise a child, so they put them in foster care until the parents realized the error of their ways and received counseling. My how things have changed.