La Movida and the Swedish reforms
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It is very interesting to read about the La Bola de Cristal TV-programme on post-Franco dictatorship Spanish TV. As a representative of La Movida, it seemed to tackle difficult topics with a particular punk rock style.
Of course, it was the aftermath of dictatorship that opened the door to pent up creativity. But there was a similar spirit of the times in Sweden in the 80's too.
Perhaps less distinct, and certainly without the striking moniker, there was a large shift in Swedish culture. Government controlled TV and radio were gradually opened up for competition
Det bästa och värsta ur Diskutabelt. Del 5 - 24One of most controversial programmes were Robert Aschberg's "Diskutabelt" that opened for a frank and sometimes bellicose interview style, previously unseen. The flourishing of TV and radio also gave energy and space to people working in the music industry with a wave of Swedish bands starting to spread their music all over the world. The deregulation of the telecom industry opened up for establishing a Swedish IT industry. The art scene opened up for postmodernism introducing artists like som Dan Wolgers, Annika von Hausswollf and Ernst Billgren.
Carnival- the cardigansThe parallells between La Movida and the spirit of the late 80's in Sweden may be said to be experimentation but also new space won from a stifling cultural climate. Seen in retrospect it may not have been a huge shift, but there certainly are some parts that are not possible to replicate on commercial TV today.