“Mom, how was the first time you watched TV?”
For a moment, my mom’s eyes, full of nostalgia, gazed attentively into the distance. I guessed memories were coming back in her head like waves.
“It was special.” – Mom replied
Back then, the war had just ended in Vietnam. The country was in its subsidy period, with numerous political, economic and social challenges. At that time, my mom was in her 10s, growing up in a small village in Northern Vietnam.
“Before the television, we only listened to the radio. Sometimes we got the newspapers, but they were rare.”
When the black-and white television finally came, it would cost a fortune to buy one. In her village, only two richest families could afford a television. Every night, these families would carry their televisions out to their courtyards, and sell tickets to other people in the village. Their backyards became something like the cinema today, something like “television theaters”, where people would gather to watch TV. They would have their dinner earlier than usual to be on time. Some might bring their own chairs. Some simply came and sat on the ground.
It was the first time that mom had been to the “television theater” in her village.
“I asked your great-grandmother for some money to get a ticket. I came there 30 minutes early, just to make sure I would not miss anything. I was so excited. Around me were about 30 people – elder people, adults and kids.“
Finally, it was show time.
“The TV, which at first appeared to me as nothing more than a rectangular box, suddenly showed moving black-and-white images and produced sound. To a kid who had never seen a television, it was magical and enlightening. I still remember clearly how the movie shown on that day looked like. It was called ‘The rich also cry’.”
Mom suddenly chuckled.
“You would never know how serious people were while watching the television. We were sitting in complete silence. And if anyone talked or made any sound, especially kids, they would be admonished right away. We paid full attention to every moment of the movie, and really enjoyed it.”
The “television theater” became a popular kind of entertainment in her village – something for people, in the middle of poverty and social struggles, to look forward to and seek delight. The movie “The Rich Also Cry” left such a great impression that, after 30 years, the characters of this movie are still sometimes mentioned in the conversations of people in my mom’s generation. I wonder if it is solely because these characters were special, or because the experience of watching those characters at “television theaters” was special to them.
Time flew. More and more families could afford to purchase televisions. A television was a precious, luxurious property that would be placed in the best spot in a family’s living room, as a symbol of wealth, scarcity and modernity. It would be covered with a white lace runner to avoid dust, which would be carefully folded up when the family wanted to watch TV.
“ When I finished university, owning a television was a dream to me. It was so valuable. Your dad and I bought a TV together as our first mutual property. A few moths later, he proposed to me.”
This conversation that I had with my mom was emotional. While memory may be viewed as necessarily personal and individual, it may also be connected to social institutions and cultural forms (Cubbitt 2000, p.4). It seems that to my mom, her television memories are not just simply about a technology device, but about her life stages and the society she was living in. Mom’s television memories reminded her of the time when people were living in poverty yet remained positive and cheerful, the time when social norms in television-watching were different, the time when my parents set a new milestone in their relationship.
Memories of television could also be firmly located in a particular time and place, and bound up with the surrounding people (Turnbull & Hanson 2015, p. 5). I could feel the nostalgia my mom had when she was talking about her first experience at the “television theater” – such a special space for watching TV that could never come back. I found the whole conversation strange to me, as I have never experienced any of my mom’s memories. It is obvious that things have changed dramatically, as we now have several televisions in our home, and sadly, we do not appreciate them that much anymore. If I could co-develop a project with my mom, I would film a documentary having people in her generation talking about their memories of television, as I think they would have so many interesting stories to tell.
To my mom, and I think also to many other people, the television is a keepsake of the past, and these memories would stay with them forever.
References:
Cubitt, G. 2000, History and Memory, Manchester University Press, Manchester.
Turnbull, S & Hanson, S 2015, ‘Affect, upset and the self: Memories of television in Australia’, Media International Australia, Incorporating Culture and Policy, No. 157, pp. 144-152.
The Thorny Rose 