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i'm a media slop guy and have been working my way through an american show called ER, a fast-paced hospital procedural airing from 1994-2009 that arguably paved the way for that entire genre and the other shows that followed. because the costuming/uniforms of hospitals has not changed much over 30 years, the show operates in a strangly timeless frame. also, much of the backdrop (a publicly-funded hospital in southside Chicago facing constant austerity) is all too familiar.

however, over time the shifting perspectives of the "outside" periodically insert themselves into the show and betray very dated positioning that, in the context of the otherwise ageless stories and setting, is wildly jarring.

recently, i watched a few episodes that took the most insane swipes at "China" as understood by american network television writers and wherever "notes from above" (NBC/WB TV) come from. one plainly stated that, in 2005 (present day for the show), China had no trauma hospitals in the entire country. this was stated and played as a fact by a levelheaded and worldly character. another episode airing around the same time stated that China had no neonatal care, at all, in the entire country. to be clear, it did not imply that such care existed and was below standard... it stated frankly that it did not exist at all, in any form. i don't know that either statement would be true in 1949, let alone 50+ years after the revolution.

neither of these swipes had any necessary relation to any story/plot arc and, besides their absurdity, felt very much inserted to appease some force external to the show im sitting here in 2024, all too aware of how thoroughly the PRC has eclipsed the US in so many ways through a deliberate path to cultivating knowledge, listening to some actor seriously pretend like china in 2004 was stuck in 1944.