Romanian Popular Culture
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successful than the failed communist regime. Everything coming from the East
(by which most Romanians mean Russia) is bad and has been proved so by the
failed experiment that was forcefully imposed on us. This belief runs so deeply in
the people’s mind that it has led to the rejection of almost anything that comes
from the so-called East. This also illustrates another popular myth, namely the
WEST is FREE and DEMOCRATIC, while the EAST is CENSORED and TO
TALITARIAN. Needless to say that the experience of the “west”, which a lot of
Romanians feel compelled to have, often turns out to be more sour than expected.
The fact that America represents a strong cultural model for the Romanian TV
audience is also revealed in the import of some of the most famous American live
talk shows and quizzes. The most successful talk show in Romania today, for ex
ample, is the replica of Jay Leno’s The Tonight Show, while one of the most suc
cessful quizzes in Romania (as it seems to be in other European countries as well)
is the local version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The shows obviously have
copyright, but the success of The Calinescu Show (the Romanian version of Leno’s),
compared to other live programs, is probably due to the major features on The
Tonight Show, which the Romanian producers have appropriated: freedom of speech,
an equally distant attitude towards political parties and politicians, the guts of chal
lenging the most controversial public figures, and a certain cult of celebrity ad
dressed on an ironical, biting tone. Although, at times, the show may fall into
desuetude and the grotesque, like its American model actually, The Calinescu Show
is still ranked very high in Romania and seen as representative of ‘western demo
cratic values’.
Yet, an interesting phenomenon has taken place in Romania among soap-view
ers: the number of those watching American television serials has been decreasing
in favor of those watching Latin-American soaps, whic