Tardis making money from Islamic Oppression

[TheMasterOfOrion]

The Doctor in Dubai: dubious indeed

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/garethmcleanblog/2009/jan/16/1

Surely this most progressive of programmes should not be filming one of this year's specials in such an unsavoury place?

 

[Jim Steele]

Surely this most progressive of programmes should not be filming one of this year's specials in such an unsavoury place?

Well, they've already filmed in Swansea. Can't get much more unsavoury than that.

In all seriousness though? Your thread title is absolutely absurd, as is the premise for the article. It's obviously a cost efficient move to get the shots they need, and that's the only issue that should be on the minds of the production staff.

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

I dig the sarcastic humor but I think a few Welsh might say you would never so this kind of human rights slavery taking place on their turf or any part of the UK or Europe or the Western world.
So if the wheel of your car comes from NorthKorea or not this is a totally non-issue to you, what matters most is the cheaper cost of a very profitable product?

 

[captcalhoun]

how are they making money from Islamic oppression? it's not like they're being contracted to make burkas or something...

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

Dubai etc is cheap because a bunch of loonys decided to give the Western banks and Western construction companies a tax break and use a bunch of serfs to build their kingdom
take away the tax breaks and you'll find a very antiqued system with a list of human rights abuses a mile long.

I happen to be a firm believer we shouldn't really be doing much business with any nation that doesn't believe in our similar values or make efforts to improve their human rights. That goes not just for most of the Arab world but also nations like Israel who think it's ok to drop phosphorous bombs on UN schools.

Just because its cheap does not mean we have to outsource there

 

[Jim Steele]

I dig the sarcastic humor but I think a few Welsh might say you would never so this kind of human rights slavery taking place on their turf or any part of the UK or Europe or the Western world.

Sorry, I don't understand what you're trying to say here.

So if the wheel of your car comes from NorthKorea or not this is a totally non-issue to you, what matters most is the cheaper cost of a very profitable product?

Unfortunately, that's the world we live in. If I was going to worry about that, I wouldn't drink coffee, eat half the food I do, etc etc.

Filming in Dubai, just like buying North Korean inner tubes, is not advocating the policies of those respective governments. Doctor Who is not going to make any significant boost to Dubai's already burgeoning tourism or film industries, and I have no problem with the BBC filming there.

They need the shots, they get the shots. And frankly I don't think RTD's credentials as a tolerant, enlightened individual need defending.

I happen to be a firm believer we shouldn't really be doing much business with any nation that doesn't believe in our similar values or make efforts to improve their human rights.

So vote with your wallet. Don't watch the show and don't buy the DVDs. Don't watch any BBC show ever again. While you're at it, there's a whole bunch of shit you might as well stop indulging in because somewhere along the line, someone with values you find abhorrent is going to be involved.

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

It's a funny joke about Swansea but I've also heard from unfortunate people who had to go through Dubai style experiences - for the people living in serfdom there it is no joke

 

[Jim Steele]

It's a funny joke about Swansea but I've also heard from unfortunate people who had to go through Dubai style experiences - for the people living in serfdom there it is no joke

So I'm not allowed to make a joke because the thread happens to be about a serious subject?

I'm not making light of human rights issues. I'm making a stupid joke about my hometown. Happy now?

 

[Starkers]

Screw Dubai I'm annoyed at all those episodes they filmed on Skaro; we all know what their human rights record is!

Seriously though, this is a minor bit of publicity for Dubai, and its hardly going to drum up more business/tourism than the host of celebs (Beckhams etc) planning to, or actually already have, buy property out there. Meanwhile I’m sure Tunisia is a beacon of democracy and don’t hear you complaining to George Lucas!

 

[Deckerd]

Also I wonder if the OP has ever bought anything made in China?

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

Of course I've bought stuff Made-in-China and doing so is just unavoidable thanks to all the outsourcing the West has been doing. The West is not only has been outsourcing cheap goods but selling its science and technology to China just so the corporations can make a cheaper buck in production. Everything from cds, to car components, to clothes, to pet food, to players are Made in China so its impossible to avoid. However made in the oppresive DPRK or impossible to avoid something made in some oppressive Islamic state.

If it was landscapes of 'sand' the makers of DrWho were looking for I can't see why they couldn't make this filming in Nevada or Argentina's Patagonia, if it was some place with Islamic heritage they were after I can't see why they couldn't film it in Turkey a country that at least makes an effort with human rights, secularism and its trying to move forward as it goes towards the euro area. BBC are like a guy pimping prostitues for sending their DrWho crew off to the Islamic world to make something so cheaply.

 

[Jim Steele]

Write to the BBC with your moral outrage then. They at least pretend to take license payer's concerns seriously.

Wait, you are a license payer, aren't you?

 

[JoeZhang]

It's obviously a cost efficient move to get the shots they need, and that's the only issue that should be on the minds of the production staff.

No, no it shouldn't. It's not ITV, there is a different level of responsibility that goes along with being the BBC.

Meanwhile I’m sure Tunisia is a beacon of democracy

Well it's a democracy, that's one better than Dubia.

 

[Jim Steele]

It's obviously a cost efficient move to get the shots they need, and that's the only issue that should be on the minds of the production staff.

No, no it shouldn't. It's not ITV, there is a different level of responsibility that goes along with being the BBC.

Why, because they're publically funded?

 

[Starkers]

So alternate suggestions are the US (the country who gave us Guantanamo, Abu Graib, extraordinary rendition and torture of suspects?) Argentina (never our greatest fans) or Turkey (try acknowledging the Armenian genocide and see how long you stay out of prison)

Fact is you can find human rights abuses anywhere, even in Europe and the UK.

Perhaps for safety’s sake the BBC should film it at Skegness (but what about the abuse of donkeys?)...or maybe in a quarry?

(Please note no offence to Americans, Argentineans, Turks, or owners of seaside donkey rides was intended)

 

[Jim Steele]

They should film in Aberdeen, on the beach. It's got sand. Somewhere.

Apparently.

Well, I say sand...

 

[Deckerd]

Fit, like?

 

[Jim Steele]

Fit, like?

The crystalized remains of a war-like North Sea civilisation, smashed against the rocks and trodden upon by stiff-nippled Dundonian holiday makers.

 

[Deckerd]

The Dundonians would never get out of the cordoned zone, shurely?

 

[TemporalFlux]

The Doctor in Dubai: dubious indeed

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/garethmcleanblog/2009/jan/16/1

Surely this most progressive of programmes should not be filming one of this year's specials in such an unsavoury place?

Anyone who disagrees with this statement is a Communist.