TestaRossa

I think the genuine point is confusing popular culture with the old cultures of a country. I really don't see how not wanting to watch Italian tv is not wanting to live here. Does that mean someone living in the UK who doesn't own a tv doesn't want to live there? Surely to watch or not watch tv or a particular programme is all about choice?

Personally, I DON'T go to great lengths to watch UK tv even if I have given that impression! I have SKY Italia, I don't have a proxy server, I sometimes buy shows on DVD but I can count the box sets I own like this on one hand. I subscribe to Corny.org but as it is mainly US shows this probably doesn't count. I do equate UK tv with buying books in English off websites, should I stop doing this too??

Patty

OMG - even my son thinks Victoria is the funniest thing on TV

SunnyMeadow

You don't have to watch TV - if all the TV options are questionable or poor quality, why put up with any of them?

I am in the USA and there are all kinds of nonsense and trash programmes on TV here and some that are even worse than the UK and that overrated country, Italy - but I choose not to watch them and when nothing on TV appeals, I have the power to turn off the TV, like everyone else.

My point is that many people who have gone overseas hanker after the life they left behind in the UK (with the UK TV programmes being a part of that) and this is what I was detecting in the previous postings.
Why, I asked, leave the UK if such people like it or miss it so much?

Perhaps this is a question for another thread?

Lorna at Vicenza

I have browsed through many posts on this forum and was surprised at the number of unhappy Brits in America, Australia and Canada, especially considering the time, effort and money it took them to get there - and they don't even have to learn a new language.

You'll find that most of us in Italy have been here a long time and are happily settled and do not hanker after the UK enough to go back.

You can understand though that a person still struggling to learn the language will have a brain crammed with new words, verbs and grammar rules. It's nice to be able to give your brain a rest and if that means reading an English book or watching an English programme then so be it. It doesn't mean that all of us are unhappy and longing for all things British.

And yes - we know how to turn the televison off - we're not babies.

37100

Well said.

TestaRossa

How would you know? Is this personal experience??

karenitaly

I agree with Lorna because I am one of those. I love it here in Italy but I live with a very big Italian family that talk non stop dialect and not one of them speaks a word of English. My OH is the only one I speak English to but he leaves for work at 7am and gets home at 8pm. I go to Italian classes 3 times a week and also speak 3 other languages that are completely different to Italian which makes it even more difficult. Probably the best part of my day is getting into bed and reading a good english book or watching a movie in English... Do I miss England? No.

MacLover

I have to ask why would anyone watch TV online or on a PC for that matter? I mean the quality would be dreadful (if streaming). I some times download (not stream) the odd show (if available and in HD if there is the option) from iTunes if I missed an episode but vs watching on a TV there is comparision TV wins over internet (although iTunes quality has gone up + there are quite a few HD shows availble on the US store).

Stopping my rambling now so yh so how could you watch TV online?

P.S I prefer books over TV

Edited spelling ~ MacLover

TestaRossa

I have the 20mg broadband from Alice plus Alice TV - you can't tell the difference when streaming. The only thing that makes any difference is if a programme has been uploaded of poor quality. But when they do it right, it is absolutely fine!

I prefer books too and go through a few a week, doesn't stop me watching tv when I want to though. I like all forms of media and always have done, I don't really differentiate. As long as it entertains me, I'm happy! Reading "Gomorrah" in an English translation at the moment. Perplexing.....

MacLover

Not doing it the legal way well IDK if it looks good (not in flash) then I can see why people would watch online

There was a film called Gommora, was it based on the book? as it was a great film.

If it was based on the book I might buy the book

TestaRossa

Yes, it was based on the book by Robert Saviano - think I've spelt it right - it's downstairs I'm upstairs! Pan Macmillan are the publishers anyway in English. It was a huge seller over here, one of those "talking point" books. Even the supermarkets stocked it!

Lorna at Vicenza

It was or still is a huge talking point ..........

MacLover

Cool, I'll look it up as the film rocked (although some parts were hard to understand as they were slured speechwise).

SunnyMeadow

Yes and from rarely substantiated hooey from Italians, who brag about their poxy country as if it was the best in so many ways.

We are all told that Italy is the height of fashion, cuisine and style, yet even these things are mostly unsubstantiated flash & fluff and are mostly better elsewhere.
For example, I have yet to have a decent meal in Italy regardless of where I have been and I have met a few people in my life who have also been to Italy and surprisingly for me came to the same conclusion.
This was the most surprising thing about Italy for me.

I also know a couple of friends who are living there (about 18 months so far) because of their jobs and they tell me the same thing, including such hair-raising discoveries as defects in buildings design which resulted in being able to see straight through to the outside through the "bricks" in my friends rented home!

In addition, have you ever tried to do business with Italians if you are not an Italian? They make you pull your hair out!
Have you tried doing to get anything done with them in August? No, coz they're all on the beach.

Some people will know that the Italian "psyche" is hugely arrogant (even more so than the French) but what few non-Italian people are told about Italians is that they have a nasty side to them that you cannot know about however long you know them - and that is that many of them are plain & simple thieves & essentially corrupt, always on the make in whatever way they can, even in the street in plain daylight.

The truth is that the whole nation is run by a festering mix of a feudal system/casino, changing so-called governments every 3 months etc., and that these governments are bought and sold like Rome was, by iffy & slimy characters. History is there for all to read and we know what the TV is like.

I know that the Low Trust way of life is much worse in some underdeveloped countries, but Italy has been a part of and had the benefit of European evolution and development for a very long time, yet it remains one of the most tricky countries in all sorts of ways and in my view, one to stay clear off if at all possible.

All the Ferraris, the Durum wheat & tomatoes-dominated cuisine, the somewhat vulgar fashions and interior design and even a bit of Pavarotti etc., doesn't make up for all the serious & structural deficiencies that plague this whole flipping country. I seriously don't know how they get even the basics done, even partially right.

While I can believe that not 100% of the population is a thief or benefiting from theft/fraud/corruption etc., I don't know who isn't from who is and given the widespread propensity, its safer to stay away from the lot of 'em, in my view.

MacLover

I have had some of my best meals in Italy (and Sardinia best steak meal I ever had was at a beach front restaurant about 5 minutes walk from Alghero).

I can't answer anything else though as I haven't really lived over in Italy that long although the part about Italians being more arrogant than the French I have to say I think that is wrong as whenever I go to France I get looked down on like I am a piece of s***, I have not had that experience with Italians.