Miscellaneous News

K

kentchang

Junior Member
Registered Member
zhangjim said:
This involves a very complex problem. Someone on Weibo provided an interesting and simple summary, but I forgot the specific content and could only rely on memory to retell it.

The gap between China and the United States in the 1980s was much larger than it is now. It is inevitable for many people to lose confidence in their country.

However, it is disappointing that the majority of elite intellectuals have become "traitors".They should have been the ones who should not have lost confidence the most, and shouldered the responsibility of guiding the entire country and nation forward. But the self-interest and worship of the strong of these elite elements have made them a group that runs counter to mainstream interests.

This group is in control of the cultural and media fields, which is the worst thing.
Click to expand...
These movies make me cringe too as I was raised in Manhattan HOWEVER I don't why there is a need to 'improve'. The movies fundamentally reflect the difference in values and priorities between collectivist and individualistic societies. Just like economically, China has shown over the past 40 years perhaps there is a viable alternative to the Western style capitalism, who is to say a few generations from now, Americans won't cringe at the actions of a Rambo or Jason Bourne? We do cringe now at watching the Lone Ranger and John Wayne movies. Perhaps there is a convergence somewhere in the middle. People bringing ideas are never traitors. All societies and cultures must learn to evolve/adapt or it will perish like what China found out in the 19th Century. Do you really want to eat Chinese food all your life? Fusion is good.
 
X

xypher

Senior Member
Registered Member
Sardaukar20 said:
Actually I don't think the scene where the elderly sacrifice themselves is cringy. It is actually quite meaningful. The problem is the odd decisions by certain protagonists, sabotaging the mission because they got too emotional. The biggest problem I have with Wandering Earth is the concept of moving the entire planet itself to escape the Sun. If this was a Star Wars fictional universe, then fine, do it. But this was supposed to be a universe in our near future, with an actual PRC in it. The Chinese writers wanted to do a hard sci-fi movie, but using Star Wars fictional science. This for me, is difficult to take seriously. It does not respect hard science and the laws of the universe. Hence this movie for me, becomes another CGI spectacle like Guardians of the Galaxy. There is so much potential in Chinese sci-fi films, but the current crop of writers and directors are just not there yet.
Click to expand...
I don't know about the movie but the book was good. There are many Western sci-fi movies that are set in "real" universe, I don't see the issue there. Plus a lot of things do make sense from a physical point of view in the book, the main contention I have is that building such drives would most likely require almost fully exhausting Earth's reserves and is incredibly complex from the engineering standpoint if we use the current engines as a reference point but it is a science FICTION work after all. The main conflict between Takers and Leavers is written very well in the book imo, plus it is explored from both the ideological (both sides make sense and tbh IRL I would also probably side with the "antagonist" Leavers) AND individual levels (protagonist and his Japanese wife who end up on the opposing sides).

Most issues I have with some Chinese movies is the tendency of actors to overact in some emotion-heavy moments which makes it look cringe. Other than that, special effects in recent Chinese movies are a notable step up from the previous gen and many praise TWE for being visually pleasing.
 
siegecrossbow

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1658098300203958272

o5eL1df.gif
 
FairAndUnbiased

FairAndUnbiased

Brigadier
Registered Member
Eventine said:
Again... It's a propaganda weakness inherent to authoritarianism.

Young people rebelling against the establishment and embracing the idea of democracy is an age old story. It is the perfect demographic for Western influence campaigns to target because it fits the psychological profile so well. Young people every where resent the fact that they lack political power, believe they know more than everybody else, and yearn to be free of all authority. These facts make them very susceptible to the promises of liberal democracy, because liberalism is all about empowering the individual, rebelling against authority, and pursuing freedom above all else.

It's not until people get into their thirties and forties that they realize the world doesn't work that way; and that the "freedom" offered by the West is nothing more than a different form of enslavement. When the thrill of protesting on the streets and throwing rocks at the police wears off, they will realize no, you can't survive off of pride parades and smoking weed and "revolution in our time." That there are objective power dynamics at play, which Western media actively attempts to hide in an effort to fool people into acting against their own interests.

Unfortunately, young people must be taught the hard way about these lessons; and the failure of their societies is the price they must pay. Look at the Arab Spring - that was an attempt by the West to rally the Muslim youth to the cause of liberal democracy. It brought little more than chaos across the Arab world, didn't move them up in the world what so ever, and failed in pretty much all of its goals.

The same will repeat, else where. Liberal democracy doesn't bring freedom to countries - it makes them vassals to the West. Look at the Koreans and their president's shameful display in Washington; or the Japanese and their commercial interests getting wrecked by US sanctions. Look at the pathetic birth rates across East Asia, and the South American countries run by drug lords. But democracy is a hell of a drug - by the time their young people wake up to the state of their societies, it'll be too late. The worst is yet to come.
Click to expand...
I disagree and there's historical proof: can US get something like 5-4 movement, Cultural Revolution or Vietnam War going? All those were driven by youth who are quite different than the LGBT BBQ crowd.

Chinese and Vietnamese youth were willing and able to kill for their ideals of socialism and the words of Mao/Ho. Liberalism doesn't even come close, it is just "vote harder".
 
kwaigonegin

kwaigonegin

Colonel
ACuriousPLAFan said:
Funny how I still recall some months ago - That a few here in this forum claimed that "soft power is of absolutely no use in the geopolitical fight between superpowers".

The thing is - Not a lot of people outside of the military circle talk about military stuff everyday. But there are fvck tons of people everywhere who talking movies, dramas, songs and games. Every. Single. Day.


I believe I need to knock this sentence onto this forum wall for everyone here to actually make sense and understand.

While China is now equipped with the capability to militarily go toe-to-toe with the US in her own front yard (i.e. WestPac), yet China is nowhere near the US when it comes to soft power influence and control projection.

Besides, soft power isn't just about building bridges, schools, airports and hospitals. It is about connecting, managing, and even controlling the minds & hearts of the targeted audience & population.

Just this one simple question is enough: "How often do Chinese people talk about American movies? Meanwhile, how often do American people talk about Chinese movies?"

TL;DR - China needs to do A WHOLE LOT MORE if she intends to stand toe-to-toe with the US (and her allies with far-reaching soft power prowess, i.e. South Korea and Japan) in the soft power battlefield.
Click to expand...
Of course. Soft power is akin to PR/Marketing. I've already made a post about this. I can walk down most major streets in Bangkok, HCM, Kuala Lumpur Seoul, Manila etc and see countless Starbucks, McDs, KFCs, Apple etc.
While these are not political machines, they do in fact sell the 'America' brand abroad even on the subconcious level. Most folks in this world use Google, Safari, Edge, Windows, Android on a daily basis etc.
How many people use Baidu outside of PRC? And I, like billions others I'm sure wouldn't know of the name of any OS from PRC.
Perception is everything.
 
E

Eventine

Junior Member
Registered Member
FairAndUnbiased said:
I disagree and there's historical proof: can US get something like 5-4 movement, Cultural Revolution or Vietnam War going? All those were driven by youth who are quite different than the LGBT BBQ crowd.

Chinese and Vietnamese youth were willing and able to kill for their ideals of socialism and the words of Mao/Ho. Liberalism doesn't even come close, it is just "vote harder".
Click to expand...
The US wasn’t liberal 60 years ago. Liberalism is a more recent development due to the US losing the initial ideological Cold War to the USSR. Liberalism was basically born during the Civil Rights movement, before then it was a rather blatant form of white supremacism and that was not attractive to anyone outside the West, hence the popularity of Communism through most of the fifties and sixties.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top