This entry was posted on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 1:49 PM and is filed under Rant. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
AppleGeeks - copyright © 2009 Mohammad F. Haque and Ananth Panagariya. All rights reserved.
all images, graphics, artwork © 2009 Mohammad F. Haque and Ananth Panagariya
unless otherwise noted and may not be used without their permission.
all images, graphics, artwork © 2009 Mohammad F. Haque and Ananth Panagariya
unless otherwise noted and may not be used without their permission.
The part which mentions that China thought King’s approach was a sell-out against reactionary communism made me giggle.
Huh. Culture just comitted suicide.
First they want to make a statue of King here in the USA which basically makes MLK look like a chinese man made out of chinese stone.
Now they are making movies of african american icons but instead making them chinese. Who here things China is slowly trying to usurp us?
Trust me man. They’ve been trying to that in every country they go to for centuries.
I think King’s message is reproducible in every society. It’s not culture suicide it’s globalization.
and much less “usurping” -.-
There is one truth that is universal. Freedom.
I’m still trying wrap my brain around the idea that the Chinese government is allowing this. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come and not a momentary oversight. I can’t help but feel a little wary, though.
It’s not particularly surprising. Minus the religion, the whole message of King can be used as a propaganda piece by the government as much as it can be a cry to universal freedom. The ideal of Maoist communism is that all individuals, regardless of race, creed, etc. are subsumed into the greater good of the State. So, here is a way to say “here is how dangerous Americanism is to the universal rights to which we are entitled”–and then turn around and offer a solution: you all have equal rights in the State, which is to say, almost no rights, but at least we are all Equal. It is the revolution of the proletariat taken beyond economics to ontological freedom.
No rich, no poor, all communist. No white, no black, all the People.
The thought that I just read the word “ontological” on AG makes me giggle.
I thought of that. Actually, the Party has from the start called the Blacks “brothers,” (no pun intended, it actually just translates that way) treating them as comrades to the Communist cause. I’m just shocked because the play communicates the message that citizens have a right to challenge the laws established by the State, implying the existence of rights that the State has a duty to uphold and preserved. While one could easily enough interpret Marx’s ontological freedom as desirable because of this sort of “natural” right, such a message is damaging to the totality of the Party’s power. Since Chinese Communism has never really been about very much beyond maintaining State power, I’m thoroughly surprised that the government would allow such a play to be performed.
That’s very interesting. Maybe thing are getting better over there sooner.
I think the reason this is being allowed, despite its political overtones, is the focus on nonviolence. Yes the chinese believed King to be a sellout, but they weren’t dealing with widespread disaffection with their rule then. Right now China has separatists in the west, Hong Kong showing what freedom brings in the south, and widespread corruption in the countryside (the son of a province’s governor just got charged with keeping children and adults in slavery in a factory). There is a history, as recent as the current government, of violent revolution in China, they fear that more than anything else. So a play about nonviolent, loyal opposition is now a very welcome thing.
As a side note China also promised increased freedoms for their Olympic Games. This may be something largely innocuous that they can point at to prove they upheld that promise.
It’ll be interesting to watch the changes in their government over the next 10 years or so. I believe they are ever slowly shifting towards democracy.
Wow. Amazing. It will be interesting to see what happens next…
While reading the article, I couldn’t help but think of the “Little House of Uncle Thomas” scene from The King and I and the unintentional humor that comes from things getting lost in translation.
Down with the girls, up with the skirts!
(No underwear? No problem! hehehe…)