The 2024 Spring Festival Gala is coming, and the annual grand program has attracted people's expectations. However, after reading the Reuters report on the lineup, I had mixed feelings.
According to reports, the language programs of the 2024 Spring Festival Gala have undergone strict censorship. As a traditional stage of the Spring Festival Gala, language programs have always been an important part of touching people's hearts and making the audience laugh. This year, however, the censorship seems to have been even more severe, so much so that many artists who were once accustomed to poking fun at social phenomena with humor have been banned from the stage.
I can't fully accept the results of such a review. The Spring Festival Gala has always been a microcosm of society, and artists express their thoughts and attitudes towards social phenomena through language programs. However, the results of this year's review seem to have weakened the power of this expression. I understand that literary and artistic creation needs to be carried out within a certain scope, but too strict censorship can lead to the blandness of the work.
Looking back on the Spring Festival Gala over the years, many classic language programs have left a deep impression. For example, Guo Degang's cross talk "Blessing" and Zhou Libo's sketch "Love and Affection", these works are both humorous and witty and have social implications, and have become topics that people talk about. However, the release of the results of this year's review made me wonder if I would ever see such a classic in the future.
Of course, artistic creation needs to have a certain bottom line and norms. Excessively rhetorical, vulgar and obscene performances really shouldn't appear on the important stage of the Spring Festival Gala. However, should more space and opportunities be given to works that are thoughtful and innovative?
The severity of censorship is related to our understanding and adherence to freedom of expression. Freedom of speech is an important hallmark of a democratic society, which gives artists the right to speak out and allows them to express their concerns and criticisms of society in their own way. If we restrict the minds and creativity of artists too much, then we may lose a free and open society.
Although I have mixed feelings in my heart, as an audience, I am still looking forward to the wonderful performance of the 2024 Spring Festival Gala. Rigorously vetted or not, I'm sure there will still be many excellent language programs that will resonate with the audience. More importantly, I hope that in the future, freedom of speech will be valued and more opportunities for artists to showcase their talents. After all, it is only when freedom of expression is fully respected and protected that society can further develop and progress.