|
Free films keep migrant workers off porn
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-08-10 09:26
Wang Qingjun, a migrant construction worker in Beijing, always goes to an
open-air cinema on weekends instead of playing cards and shooting the breeze
like he used to do.
The cultural center in Beijing's Chaoyang District launched the program of
screening free films for migrant workers in November 2004.
About 500 migrant workers have watched free films at an open-air cinema every
weekend since the program was initiated, said Zhang Jiajie, organizer of the
"migrant workers' cinema."
Wang has watched about 60 of 100-plus popular films screened this way. The
migrant workers are fond of watching the films, according to He, a clerk with
the cultural center. "Most of the films are features, comedies and films
depicting revolutionary traditions and the life of migrant workers."
The center has also launched a mobile cinema so as to give more migrants
access to free films.
Open-air cinema was fairly popular in China from the 1950s to 1980s, playing
a role in enriching the life of the Chinese people at the time.
Since the policy of reform and opening up was initiated in the late 1970s, an
increasing number of farmers have left their homes to make a living in urban
areas.
China has 140 million rural migrant workers, who generate one-fifth of the
country's GDP.
However, as a comparatively poor group in urban areas, migrant workers cannot
afford the luxury of going to the cinema with their meager incomes, Liu
Hongpeng, deputy director of the Beijing Film Distribution and Screening
Association, said.
Thirty yuan (US$3.6), the average cost of one ticket for a film, equals two
days' pay for an ordinary migrant worker.
Instead, they enjoy themselves in places which offer low and vulgar
entertainment such as pornographic videos.
Statistics show that three-fourths of China's male rural workers have watched
pornographic videos since renting a pornographic VCD costs one-tenth of a cinema
ticket.
The "migrant workers' cinema" is now playing a significant role in keeping
them away from pornography and offering healthy entertainment for them, Zhang
added.
Xu Wei, director of Chaoyang's cultural center, said in addition to other
benefits, projecting free films for migrant workers can also help them learn
about the world.
|
 | | | Tony Leung to appear in Hollywood film | | |  | | | Carina Lau to be short-lived CEO | | |  | | | Oscar winner Theron to wed | | |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top Life
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
