Draxblog III

RIP Gordan Franić Futa

Gordan Franić Futa, television enthusiast best known as the founder of first private TV station in former Yugoslavia, has died in Split after long bout with cancer.

Futa was, according to most testimonies, an extraordinary man, always ready to do things most of Split people couldn't or wouldn't dare to do. He was avid car racer and once took part in rock climbing expedition in Himalayas. However, his best known achievement was TV Marjan, TV station named after famous Marjan Hill over the city where its transmitter was set in 1984.

For the most part of its existence, TV Marjan was nothing more than convenient way for Split people to watch TV programme other than two channels of state-owned Radiotelevizija Zagreb (future Croatian Television). Until that time, some of those lucky enough to have dwellings on proper locations had special antenna amplifiers that allowed them to watch dozens of Italian TV stations, often with atrocious picture quality and sometimes even worse content.

Futa provided alternative by airing satellite programmes. That way, generations of Split citizens were for the first time accustomed to worldviews different to the official ideology of former Yugoslavia. Among satellite channels being aired were Super Channel, Sky Channel and MTV, an in 1980s Futa aired film channels like Swiss Teleclub (with US films dubbed in German) and Dutch FilmNet (with Dutch subtitles).

Futa, however, had to justify its brave experiment and prevent authorities from shutting TV station down (which they, occasionally, did). He did that by interrupting satellite channels with public service announcements, including calls for elections. During holidays there were also basic attempts of original programming made in improvised studios.

TV Marjan began with something resembling regular programming on February 20th 1990, few months before first democratic elections. It was, therefore, the very first TV station to air interview with future president Franjo Tuđman.

Futa's enthiusiasm and technical know-how, like in case in many great pioneers, weren't matched by his business and political skills. Transition between two socio-economic systems also didn't help and by Summer of 1991 Futa was involved in increasingly nasty dispute with his former associates who briefly managed to run new TV station without him. Futa used escalation of war as an opportunity to get back into saddle; with the help of new Croatian government and its emergency powers, he simply took over TV station. Thus he took part in TV Marjan's most glorious moment - providing Croatian Television signal via satellite after the regular transmitters were knocked out by JNA air force in Autumn 1991.

TV Marjan continued to air during the war, later operating as a regular local TV station. In 1993 it got first competition in the form of CATV, cable television that would later become TV Jadran. In 1996 this pushed TV Marjan to ally itself with TV Mreža, first Croatian private TV network. On the surface, this move made sense. However, TV Marjan was run by Miroslav Kutle, infamous and controversial tycoon responsible for ruining dozens of big business during 1990s privatisation. TV Mreža didn't fare any better - it folded, and TV Marjan with it. Futa's life work thus went off the air, and great chapter of Croatian cultural history thus ended.

Futa outlived his TV Marjan for a decade. New generations - with no clips of TV Marjan at YouTube - probably won't understand how his work was so important. But Croatia still needs people like him - those with enthusiasm, courage and ability to bring new and exciting things.

History and Jumping the Shark

One of few television shows that I follow with some sort of regularity is Boston Legal. David E. Kelley's combination of black comedy, bizarre legal plots and even more bizarre characters looked like a good formula for enduring guilty pleasure. Unfortunately, recently I can't brush off impression that Boston Legal jumped the shark.

Reason is probably in too many references to Iraq, War on Terror, Homeland Security and various names associated with Bush administration. The episodes currently aired in Croatia are those made few years ago, when Bush & Co. were still in power. The critical view of America in the obligatory and not-so-subtle political context of the show is, on the other hand, hard to reconcile with present-day reality or, to be more precise, general perception of brave new world of Obama.

Since it takes some time for US shows to get to Croatia, this discrepancy between bleak Past and bright Present is likely to haunt Boston Legal and, most likely, other US shows aired in my country. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that all those shows, or at least their pre-Obama seasons, are likely to become irrelevant, forgotten and brushed aside like some uncle nobody talks about. Despite all the rhetoric about epochal changes, history usually works in more leisurely pace and difference 2007 and 2009 America are likely to be more subtle than Hollywood and other Obama partisans are likely to admit. What will happen under Obama won't - on the most basic level - be that different from what happened under Bush, just as some Bush policies were only continuation of what was started under Clinton.

Boston Legal and similar shows would, therefore, have to discard all the references to current events in order to preserve the illusion.

Interestingly enough, Mad Men - which presents much more distant (and less politically correct) past looks less burdened with daily politics. This is probably due to 1960s and Kennedy mythology looking less relevant to our times than it was only ten or twenty years ago.

Thirty Minutes Over Slavonski Brod

Ana Tenžera finally decided to try telling her side of a sad story. So far, the only media willing to assist her in such endeavour happens to be mojtv.hr, news portal dedicated to television-related themes. They quote Tenžera's letter in which she tells that she indeed did "something stupid", but she also tries to explain circumstances under which such fiasco came to be.

In short, it was all due to her having to prepare news in less than 30 minutes. She claims that her editor told her to make report about "pollution in (Slavonski) Brod". In reality it was air pollution, not water pollution. Tenžera claims that she "did other stories" and hadn't got a clue about Slavonski Brod situation. She made quick search over Internet and found the fatal months-old story.

Tenžera says that she is ready to take her part of responsibility, yet she can't understand how news editors and anchors couldn't have found anything wrong with the story nor how could they - and especially her superiors - evade any consequences.

Well, it is actually easy to understand such aftermath of Slavonski Brod fiasco. In such scandalous affaires low-profile, invisible operators are less convenient scapegoats than ultra-visible media stars whose replacement sometimes can be better PR than their hiring.

When Reality TV Gets Hit by Reality

Lately I don't have much time for reality television. However, I occasionally indulge in watching American Casino on Discovery World. Because of that, today I was struck by one extraordinary episode - one of those rare moments when reality shows are more reality and less of a show.

My Impressions of New Battlestar Galactica Series

Times have changed and audience in this part of the world doesn't have to wait 3, 5 or 10 years before being able to watch first episode of popular TV show that have premiered in USA.

2003 version of Battlestar Galactica is a notable exception, because Croatian state television (HRT) aired it only recently, three years after its premiere.

I managed to watch only first part of the original-miniseries, but I must say that I am generally pleased with the show. The creators made useful compromises between being faithful to the original show and exploring new directions.

The series also benefited from the plot opening being very much like certain traumatic events from recent history.

On the other hand, I wasn't that thrilled with Michael Rymer's direction and steadycams, which looked more suitable for nitty-gritty cop shows like Homicide: Life on the Street than space operas.

Decision to introduce femme fatale ginecoid was justified in new Battlestar Galactica. Tricia Helfer not only looks great, but also gives a breath of originality to the old science fiction cliché.

 

Big Brother Croatia 3 Update… Sort of

I was politely asked to use this blog for English languages updates of third season of Croatian Big Brother reality show – similar to those I was making for previous two seasons.

I feel obligated to give a polite answer.

I won't make Big Brother Croatia updates this season, at least not nearly as regular and comprehensive as I have done previously.

In case you haven't noticed, mere maintenance of this blog or any kind of regular posting has recently became a challenge. Due to my professional obligations, I simply don't have enough time or creative energy for blogging endeavours I could have afforded two years ago.

My ability to properly cover this reality show was also limited due to objective circumstances – e.g. technical difficulties experienced by official and unofficial websites dedicated to the show.

Finally, the slate of this season's candidates so far didn't provide me with any sort of a character interesting enough to be the source of inspiration compared with those in previous seasons.

If something truly spectacular or extraordinary happens, I might try to give write a paragraph or two. At this stage, I don't see it happening, though.

Connecting People

This little gem ("Radenska connects us") shows that Nokia wasn't the first company to connect people. In light of recent events we might conclude that "Radenska" failed, but you can't fail to appreciate the effort.

 

My 2006 Eurovision Song Contest Favourites

While I wait for the results of 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, I can't resist the temptation to rate the best talents (and "talents").

12 points – Lithuania

10 points – Bosnia-Herzegovina

8 points – Germany

7 points – Denmark

6 points – Norway

5 points – Finland

4 points – Ukraine

3 points – Turkey

2 points – Moldova

1 point – Macedonia

And I still can't fathom the semi-final exit of Silvia Night.

Sad Loss

In past years I rarely encountered situations in which my views correspond with those in Guardian articles. This is one of them.

Two days after Silvia Night's semi-final exit, it appears that "Eurovision Song Contest" is really not mature or honest enough to face the truth about itself.

Big Brother Croatia 2 Update: Minority Candidate Wins

It is still too early to tell who won this year's Big Brother, but it is certain that the winner will belong to Croatian minorities.

Two finalists - Ivan Grgec and Matko Okmažić (Matko Okmazic) - were eliminated first, thus leaving Daca Bosančić (Daca Bosancic) and Hamdija Seferović (Hamdija Seferovic) to fight for the grand prize.

Hamdija Seferović belongs to Roma ethnic minority, while Daca managed to beat ultra-nationalistic macho man Matko despite her gender and despite rumours about her ethnic Serb background.