wfn.org | Taiwanese Soap Opera Cuts Into Mid-week Church Attendance

[Taiwan Church News <pctpress@ms1.hinet.net>]

Taiwan Church News 2680, July 7-13, 2003
Reported by Li Hsin ren.  Translated and rewritten by David
Alexander

   Even before SARS hit Taiwan in April and May, cutting
attendance at Sunday and mid-week church meetings, there was a
noticed drop in attendance for weeknight gatherings. Pastors
making phone calls to "the missing" were told, "We're watching
'Taiwan Pill Fire'."  The program, a dramatic serial centering on
a gangster, Liu Wen-tsung and his associates, has taken popular
culture by storm.
   During interviews at Chang Jung Christian University in Tainan
County several students told of their inability to do anything
else during the program's broadcast. "Addiction" was mentioned
from time to time.
   The Campus Ministries Center of the Presbyterian Church in
Taiwan has long run an internet bulletin board service (bbs).
The following comments were culled from recent postings related
to Taiwan Pill Fire.
   (Respondent is male, 29 years old, a graduate student of
theology.) I began watching the program in episode 90.	I was
soon captivated! The penetrating description of the human
condition is the strongest point of Taiwan Pill Fire. All
characters, whether good or evil, are genuine.	Kind of like the
church where there are all sorts of people, good and bad.  But
what is most important is self-reflection, not the criticism of
other people.
   (Respondent is a 53 year old foot masseur.)	 Many people come
to my shop for massages, and they ask me to turn the TV to Taiwan
Pill Fire. For myself, I don't like to watch any dramatic
serials. It troubles me to hear children imitating the coarse
language and attitudes of characters from Taiwan Pill Fire.
   (Respondent is a woman, the secretary of the Taiwan Children's
Rights and Welfare Alliance. She is a member of a Presbyterian
Church in Keelung) "I have learned that many high school students
watch Taiwan Pill Fire after school while eating supper in
cafes.	It could be said that Taiwan Pill Fire is being inhaled
by the youth.  I think it is the mixture of Hollywood style and
local vulgarity presented in Taiwanese patterns that has grabbed
popular attention.   Nonetheless, the character of Liu Wen-tsung
is very successful.
   (Respondent is a 23 year old woman graduate student at
Tsing-Hwa University)
Every evening at 8PM everyone in the dormitory gathers in the TV
room to watch Taiwan Pill Fire. Internet conversations use
language and phrases from Liu Wen-tsung.  Members of the
Christian fellowship group are fascinated. This thing is like a
popular movement! I've sometimes watched, but feel the program is
too violent.  It has nothing tender, and is full of cursing.
Really, it's very boring.
   (Respondent is a male college sophomore in Chia-yi.) Taiwan
Pill Fire is like a miniature society. All my classmates watch
it. I've only followed along.
   (Respondent is a young woman who assists in youth work at a
campus ministries center.)  I dislike Taiwan Pill Fire for what
it has done to the Taiwanese language.	It has taken something
beautiful and literary and used it for vulgar cursing.
   (Respondent is a male in his 40's; a seasoned journalist.) I
recommend that clergy and divinity students all watch Taiwan Pill
Fire because it reflects current society.  Spreading of the
gospel must be linked with modern life.  You can't attract
people's attention to the gospel with only a sweet voice. Even
though Liu Wen-tsung, the anti-hero in Taiwan Pill Fire, is a
violent man, yet he loves his wife and children.  Even evil
people can have a good side.
   (Respondent is a homemaker in her 60's.) At 8PM there's really
nothing good on TV.  The news reports have finished, so I tune in
Taiwan Pill Fire. Though some of the characters are not righteous
people, and the legal professionals in the program talk nonsense,
nonetheless I like to watch it, though I don't take it to heart.
It's just a story!

   Lin Yung-song is an elder at Chi-nan Presbyterian Church in
Taipei. He also serves on the board of directors of the Taiwan
Legal Reform Association.  When he watches Taiwan Pill Fire, he
does so both as a Christian and as a lawyer.  He says that the
program has many unrealistic aspects relating to the legal
profession.  Defense lawyers and prosecutors, for example, do not
discuss cases where they are on opposing sides.  The ease with
which judges in the program accept bribes is also scandalous.
The judges depicted in Taiwan Pill Fire are lawbreakers.  Judges,
defendants, defense lawyers and prosecutors see each other in the
courtroom and occasionally in offices, but Taiwan Pill Fire
depicts meetings in homes and other private places for the
dispensing of "private justice" where much business is conducted
under the table.
   In addition, judges give orders to prosecutors in Taiwan Pill
Fire. This does not reflect legal practice in Taiwan, where the
judiciary is separate from the prosecutor and has no right to
give orders.  In real life, prosecutors are not subordinate to
judges.  This aspect of the program is completely at odds with
legal practice.
   If viewers of Taiwan Pill Fire ever attend a criminal court in
Taiwan, they will find things operating quite differently from
what they see on TV.  Even the arrangement of the furniture in
the program is incorrect.
   Even for all that, the Legal Reform Foundation sees some
benefit reaped by viewers of the program. An understanding of
human rights, and some criteria for seeking a defense lawyer if
one should ever be charged with a crime are conveyed in a way
that official education has not.

   In sum, what is the effect of Taiwan Pill Fire on Taiwan's
contemporary Christians?
Dr. Chen Nan-chou, who teaches ethics at Yu-shan Theological
College, says, "Popular culture and media reflect the lives of
modern people.	Theologians must be aware of and understand these
cultural currents. This enables reflection on society from a
theological angle.  We must not ignore Taiwan Pill Fire."
   According to Dr. Chen, Taiwan Pill Fire is full of enmity and
reconciliation, reflecting human weakness.  He is reminded how
Jesus Christ emphasized treating enemies with kindness.  He
emphasizes the need for Christians to be shaped by the example
and life attitudes of Jesus and challenges contemporary
Christians to identify the current forms of life by which the
gospel can be communicated. He asks, "Can you see anything of
Jesus in Liu Wen-tsung?"
   He warns Christians not to take the program lightly, but to
watch it and reflect on it from their faith.

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