“Television does not like a person”: Spectators about the scandal on the “Minute of Glory”
The main public event of the week was the program The Minute of Glory on Channel One is a talent show, whose members show their abilities in short numbers to the jury. There were several reasons for discussion. The program, which aired on February 25, was performed by the eight-year-old YouTube star Vika Starikova: the girl sang Zemfira’s song “To Live in Your Head”. Opinions of the jury members (it includes an actress and director Renata Litvinova, TV presenters Vladimir Pozner and Sergey Svetlakov, actor Sergey Yursky) were divided. Jurassic stood up to applaud the girl, but voted against her further participation in the show, Litvinova and Posner criticized the participant of the contest for an adult song too high, and Litvinova also for opportunistic behavior: the song, as the jury member made it clear, was not chosen by chance. In support of the little singer only Sergey Svetlakov spoke.
A huge scandal broke out in social networks: the jury members were accused of cruelty towards a child crying on the stage, and parents and Channel One were accused of such a scene in a show with the participation of children. However, the story is not over. A week later, Evgeny Smirnov, a dancer who lost his leg in an accident, became a participant in the show. In “A Minute of Glory,” Eugene appeared in a pair with Alena Shcheneva. Vladimir Pozner said that the dancer’s performance was “forbidden reception”, and Renata Litvinova called Evgeny Smirnov “an amputee” (although she apologized almost immediately, noting that too little is done for people with disabilities in Russia) and suggested to the dancer: this, fasten the second, it may not so obviously be absent? In order not to exploit this topic. "
A source in the Channel One guide told our publication that the channel is "somewhat shocked by what happened on the air." Moreover, from the words of our interlocutor, sanctions are imposed on the people responsible for the program’s airing. The position of the channel is as follows: no one can be responsible for the spontaneous speech of the participants, but this does not mean that the broadcast should not be moderated. "There is an analysis of the situation, a lot of shouting," - the employee of the channel shared his impressions. Our other interlocutor, familiar with the situation, said that one of the producers of the channel, who were preparing releases for the airwaves, was dismissed today.
Nevertheless, the discussion about the TV show raised several important questions at once - about the visibility of disability, the ethical participation of children in the adult program, political correctness in speeches on television, about whose ambitions are realized by children acting on their own or their parents. We talked about ethical norms, vulgarity and permissible limits to people whose work is connected with children, charity and the entertainment industry.
I don’t watch such shows and I can’t say anything in defense of adults who talk like this to a child. If a child is seriously released on the field in a match of men's teams, then they will break his neck there. And if he will be inferior, then there will be questions to the players. Vika received comments as an adult participant - this is stupid and dishonest towards her, but these are the rules. I do not understand anything in music and I don’t know if she sang well or not. But if the judges said: "What a sweet, come on!" - it would be dishonest in relation to other adult participants.
If a child does something well — sings, plays football, dances, draws, thinks — then the praise of the parent and the coach is enough for him to confirm his own success. Competitions are necessary for the coach to compare the successes and strengths or weaknesses of the child with others, to develop the ability of the child to act in a situation with limitations (when he is nervous, time is limited, and the like). But most often they are used by parents and trainers to assert themselves: my child is the best.
The child does not care what place he took. Look at the game of children under 5-6 years old: they have no winners and losers, until their parents teach them. This is especially noticeable in team sports: after the games, parents ask not "How did you play?", But "Won?" In fact, it should not matter if the child’s team won. If the child scored five goals, but the team lost - what's the difference? Your child has succeeded. It is important. But parents are interested in winning. Because if victory is the best child. And no matter how specific he did it all. Gradually, the thirst for victories and children are infected.
I do not know what drove this girl's mom, I easily admit that the girl wanted everything and thought up herself. It seems to me that the parent’s task is to protect the child from the hell that adults face in pursuit of victory and glory. Especially where there are no clear rules and regulations.
It is absolutely clear that Russian television in its current form does not like a person at all, does not appreciate and does not notice. The man for this television is a point in the rating, a part of a share, something impersonal and despised because of scanty and uselessness. People who are chained to television, on the contrary, see in television both the power, the opportunity, and even the truth.
All this is terribly aggravated by the endless gap in prosperity, the standard of living and, finally, the attitude of those who are broadcasting from TV, with those who are being broadcast. In 2007, Sasha Malyutin arrived on the (now widely discussed) TV show "Minute of Glory." He dreamed that he was seen and not considered a lost man by his sons, he wanted not to be thrown out of the kindergarten, where he worked first as a music worker, and then as a watchman, he finally tried to reveal his truly unique abilities to the world. Alexander Malyutin, a graduate of the Altai music school, was seriously worried that life somehow foolishly happened that he, the most talented of his classmates, was practicing the virtuoso playing the accordion in the Altai village, and his fellow students work in orchestras, some even tour.
Malyutin arrived in Moscow and went to the stage of the big studio "Minutes of Glory." He played the piano with his feet, then with his hands, but not for long. The jury, in which there were Alexander Maslyakov, Tatyana Tolstaya and Yury Galtsev, very quickly pressed the button and spoke in the spirit that Malyutin played fakely, and in general, they do not play the piano in a decent society with their feet. Returning home, Alexander Malyutin hanged himself.
I was at his home, I saw the Altai village, a snow-covered cemetery with an indistinguishable grave, I looked at his tools and kilometers of video preparation for the trip to Moscow, to Ostankino. All this time I wanted to stop him, grab him by the shoulders and shout: "But don't go there, no one is waiting for you there, no one needs you there." But there was no one to stop. Malutin was already dead.
And the transfer, I see, is alive. Flourishes. And honing the skill of contempt for people who for some reason are not like successful beauties and beauties from the jury.
I think these are two different stories. In the case of the dancer, everyone immediately pounced on Renata Litvinova. Here, in my opinion, we lack the main (or, in any case, very important) thing, which I call the presumption of benevolence. Renata Litvinova was in favor of this guy, for keeping him on the show, and trying in every way to say something good, but she did it extremely clumsily. The problem with our society is that we do not allow each other to be awkward. We immediately take clumsiness for malice, and these are two different things. Renata Litvinova did not want to say anything bad - she just does not understand how to talk about it.
On the one hand, what Pozner said about the forbidden reception was on the verge of inadmissible, and on the other, he tried to treat this guy like this guy himself wants to be evaluated: not for having his leg amputated, but for what a dancer he is. Whenever we find ourselves in such a difficult situation, we find ourselves on the verge of insulting, incorrect. It seems to me that there is a lack of presumption of goodwill. Let's believe that Posner wanted to take this artist seriously and treat him not as a person with a disability, but as an artist. And Renata Litvinova wanted to speak positively, but can not.
As for the girl, then I have big doubts. I believe that the child, as a rule, is not at all ready to get into the situation of adult competition. I protect my children from this in every possible way. The emotions that a child experiences when falling into adulthood, to which he has not yet grown, may be too strong, too painful. We understand that a child cannot have an adult sex life, we understand that a child cannot lead an adult professional life - no one will let him go to the lathe and to the steering wheel of an airplane. But for some reason, we believe that it is possible to start up a child for adult artistic work. And this is the same job, and the emotional stress and burden of responsibility are no less here than that of a pilot or a policeman. Artistic shows in which children participate seem to me to be too heavy for them: we put them in a situation of emotional tension, which, in my opinion, children are not ready because of their age.
The problem of our society is that we are trying to find a simple answer to a difficult question, a difficult situation. Artistic work is a complex, multi-component thing: how the light stands, what you are wearing, how you are ready, what state of your ligaments, what state of your fingers, nerves, what public, how it reacts. Whenever we say, "She just chose the wrong song," we are trying to simplify. Let's try to respond to the world in all its complexity and diversity and recognize that children are small, fragile and should be protected.
We have fallen into such a society, where there are a lot of complaints about the world around us. For example, I somehow stumbled upon a blog of a woman who is engaged in fitness and demands that fat noses, which get on her nerves, be removed from the cafe. Or, for example, once in a dentist's office I found people who were discussing Karachentsov, who was shown on TV: how can I get out onto the screen in such a form, it is unpleasant, unaesthetic, shame. Or, for example, some Orthodox citizens who do not like everything from performances to gay parade.
We have become too sparing our feelings. Posner has a delicate taste, and he did not like that such a straightforward artistic technique was applied to him. Mrs. Litvinova in this case, I was less upset; This is a stupid thought - to hook a man's leg. We are all very determined to “attach prosthetic” to the whole world, so that we like it better. You need to be able to put your feelings in your pocket and generally treat yourself a little more modest. What you do not like, it is not necessary to trim themselves.
The guy who performed in the program, of course, well done. I hope to live up to the time when such things will be normal, and comments like "Tie your leg, so that I like more" - abnormal.
The trouble with the reaction to the two participants "Minutes of Glory" is that they are reduced to one sign: Vika Starikova is small (and therefore it is not worth her adult songs to sing!), Evgeny Smirnov is a person with a disability (and therefore should dance with a prosthesis, otherwise some kind of manipulation of the feelings of the audience!), they seem to have no additional qualities, these are the main ones. People are different, we all have different sides and properties, but a person needs to be assessed not by the fact that you are the first to be noticed. On TNT there is a show "Dancing", which I personally love very much; it is not without problems, it’s still Russian television, but there all participants are perceived very correctly. The jury understands that people are different, and it’s stupid to close your eyes on the floor, physique or even age - but first of all they see dancers in front of them. Evgeny Smirnov also came there a year and a half ago, and he was welcomed positively, and, in my opinion, absolutely correct.
Victoria Starikova has her own YouTube channel. Kids and YouTube is actually a huge topic. First, children in Russia watch a lot of it and many of them are left to themselves and are looking for videos themselves: therefore, the official channel of the cartoon “Masha and the Bear” has 9 million subscribers, and self-made cartoons in which people simply move toys with characters and say for them, still gaining hundreds of thousands of views. Secondly, adults are happy to use children to create popular channels: for example, there are channels Miss Katy and Mister Max - a sister and brother, whose father, along with them, makes reviews of children's toys. This is very, very much, kids YouTube - this is just a whole segment of the Russian YouTube.
Many people view YouTube as a new American (well, Russian) dream, a way to get into people - because if you don’t go into details, it seems that it’s very easy to become popular and start making money. In fact, it is already difficult to become popular, and the more money to earn, but people go there anyway. The children themselves sometimes give birth to channels, but they rarely gain views, so something at least somewhat noticeable is always the parent project. Why should they then go to the TV, like Victoria Starikova? Well, everything is simple - because you can't make money on YouTube. In order to earn at least some normal advertising, you need to have at least a million subscribers; dozens get to this. On the page Starikova only one hundred thousand subscribers. In the description, it is clear that this is the work of some production center "Ecole" - that is, it is possible that this is a channel made for advertising.
I am not a child psychologist, and I don’t want to spread panic around technologies: if your child is watching YouTube, then there’s nothing wrong with it, it interacts with the world, but in my opinion children’s stars on YouTube are not very cool, in my opinion. We all know the image of the "star parent" from pop culture - a person who has not realized himself, so he tries to do it through his child: leads him to auditions, shoots in advertising, trains in acting, and so on. For some reason, it seems that with children on YouTube a similar situation, and, in my opinion, a person should still have a childhood. Without adult ambitions, popularity and requirements for creativity.
Without such situations there is no show. This phrase could have been completed if it were not about an eight-year-old child. An example from the parental experience. My daughters go to the vocal studio to a young, modern teacher. A few years ago, I tried to influence the choice of repertoire for the eldest daughter and offered a complicated love song. It seemed to me that it fits perfectly in range. With this, in fact, the teacher did not argue, but my proposal did not approve. He said that with the choice of children's repertoire you need to be extremely careful. There is nothing more ridiculous and vulgar than the performance of an adult song by a child who is very poorly aware of what he sings and, moreover, cannot “live” this song on the stage. This causes embarrassment in all (except for parents). I agreed. This does not mean that children are available only children's or patriotic songs. But you need to choose the right, organic. I understand that parents find it difficult to treat everything that concerns their own children objectively, including age. A child seems to be mature and feeling like an adult to someone, and someone sees a 5-year-old child in a teenager and offers a song about Cheburashka. Probably, one cannot do without a side view. Actually, this is all that I would say to Vika's parents.
Is it possible to be ready for criticism (even the most fair and constructive) at such a tender age? Of course not. Therefore, I would not send my children to where the best of the best are chosen according to subjective criteria and, even worse, they determine talent and mediocrity in the course of lengthy reasoning. Fortunately, the girl did not understand and half of what she was told, but she understood the main thing: she is not accepted. A minute of glory turned into a moment of pain and frustration. And this memory will remain with her. How it turns out depends on a number of personality factors and the behavior of relatives.
However, the program is not over yet. The jury are sitting people in whom you want to believe, as before. I just wonder why none of them paid attention or turned their attention to the fact that the child not only sang, but also accompanied himself. And it is difficult to sing and play at the same time. For this it was possible to praise? But experts preferred to scold the parents and ask inciting questions to the child.
I think that you can call a person an “amputee” and offer him to fasten a prosthesis only if there is a conscious intention to make the show scandalous. This is a complete sur, which can not be explained to anybody else. We say that people with disabilities in our country are not needed by anyone, and when a person tries to live life to the fullest without an accent on his disability, we immediately blame him for speculation on this. In other countries for such things are sued. One gets the feeling that some characters, in their desire to be special, become a parody of themselves.
To be honest, I don’t like children at all. Что-то во мне протестует, когда рейтинг программы зависит от того, насколько ребёнок потешен, сообразителен, талантлив или бездарен. Всё это не проходит для него бесследно. Хотя есть масса примеров, когда артисты, актёры, поэты с детских лет себе не принадлежат и прекрасно себя чувствуют при этом. У каждого свой болевой порог, и толщина кожи у всех разная. В конце концов, и путь у каждого свой. Надеюсь, Вике эта ситуация не навредит слишком сильно. Верю в здравомыслие всех причастных. Шоу продолжается.
Is there a difference between sports competitions and similar creative contests? In sports there are generally accepted formal rules by which competitions are evaluated. I didn’t like it / I didn’t like it, but the clear, measurable, detailed criteria. They have a place for subjective evaluation, but, as a rule, it has a small weight. Formalized assessment systems should protect the rights of athletes and prevent the jury from being partisan.
In this competition, in my opinion, the creative self-will of the jury members is the main principle of refereeing. Such an organization of the competition entails great risks for the psychological safety of participants. The athlete prepares for the competition, well-oriented in the rules of refereeing. And here it suddenly turned out that the participant did not fulfill one of the contest criteria: she chose the wrong song to perform.
The feeling of insecurity and lack of justice is the general effect of the lack of clear criteria for both participants and viewers of the competition. At last he acts like a red rag. People seek to restore justice, to reason the deluded person, to punish the aggressor. It causes a lot of emotions, involves in action. Effects? I sincerely hope that all the shows on the TV are thoroughly and completely staged. There is a script, director and actors. If everything is real, then the main consequence is psychological trauma. The absence of criteria gives rise to the feeling that they do not appreciate what you did, not your work, but whether you liked it or not. Great shame. The child is in an extreme situation for a long time, almost deprived of support.
Regardless of the outcome of the vote, the child is experiencing the deepest stress. Congestion with stimuli: spotlights, viewers, filming, adults say something and are waiting for an answer. You stand in front of everyone, and you are accepted or rejected - the shame in a situation is much stronger than we can imagine, than participants can imagine when they decide to do this experiment. The decision of the jury is smeared in time, and you need to stick. While overloading with impressions “de-energizes” those parts of the brain that are responsible for self-control, emotions are rapidly turning into affect. Need to hold on. Without training, this is a very big mental stress for an adult, not just for a child.
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