奧運開鑼了。萬料不到，最大的爭論，竟然是兩位可愛的小妹妹。
個人的感覺，可說是「理解但不接受」。這些鑽灰色地帶的小動作，某程度上，也是反映了中國人的民族性。是無心之失，還是有辱國體，便得由閣下定奪了。我只是想，「咁大隻鑊」，給我全權負責的話，也不能擔保自己不會同樣出此下策。不過，別人說得沸沸騰騰，這裡不再說了。
跟朋友同事們談到奧運開幕式，都是譽多於毁，認為只有中國才做得出那樣的氣勢。更重要的，是大家都不約而同到地感到一點點威脅性（intimidating），相信這也是張導演計算之內的效果。Newsweek 說開幕禮是中國版的 Shock and Awe，希望它不會淪為中國版的 Mission Accomplished 吧。
對奧運沒興趣，也沒啥愛國情懷，仍覺得北京奧運是一件好事。起碼美國的媒介，便多了很多對中國的報導。奧運前，Discovery Channel 和 PBS 分別播了兩個很全面的中國持輯（PBS 昨晚也播了一個中國學生應付高考的專題，十分好看）。NBC 在賽事以外對中國的介紹，雖是旅遊雜誌性質，也聊勝於無。Slate.com 前天難得地刊了一篇論「媒體是不是對中國太疴刻」的比較持平的文章。就是下面那兩個可愛（有點兒過份可愛）的「中國風」GE 廣告，都很清新可喜。當然，這些都是小事，但大眾的印象，往往就是從小處建立起來的。能讓目光淺窄的美國人多看一點中國的面貌，即使只得那麼一點點，也是好的。
搞奧運是沒自信，是打腫臉充胖子；中國是個高壓，沒言論自由的極權國家；中國社會人治貪污橫行……這些都是事實，十七天後，一連串問題仍然存在。但另一方面，一百年後，人們也會記得這個2008年。
少年人從同伴眼中看到自己的價值，國家要搞一個派對去肯定自己的地位，是幼稚也好，是自瀆也好，總是個成長的過程。京奧，就如登陸月球，得到的都是 intangible 的東西。數千億花得值不值，很難衡量，卻怎也比強佔別國，濫殺無辜強得多吧。
中國實在太大了，你一言我一語，都是瞎子摸象，摸來摸去也是自己的偏見。而且，生活在外國，很自然地便接受了一套好像很合情合理的世界觀。有時候，對國內的種種事情，也會看不過眼。
但遙遠的土地上，是我認識的親人，朋友，同事。他們的喜樂和夢想，我不能親身體驗，也想懷著謙卑的心情，盡量試著理解。亦常常提醒自己，那是實實在在的十三億人，要避免 talk in abstraction 地指指點點，也不要只看見別人眼中的刺。
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Fair and just comments.
ReplyDeleteVery humbling. :)
ReplyDeleteRegarding the reporting about China. Since the beginning of the year, NPR had quite a handful. (I listened to "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition".) Very fair and interesting reporting. Usually not the typical things we heard.
GE commercial. I had never seen this before! Quite cute! I like the scene where the guy pulled out a bunch of flowers! Hehe.
> PBS 昨晚也播了一個中國學生應付高考的專題，十分好看
I didn't know... :(
mum: perhaps it’s because I don’t have a strong opinion on this subject matter. It’s almost sad to see so much pre-existing prejudice masqueraded as righteous indignation.
ReplyDeleteyun: yes, being humble is my only forte. :)
I know NPR has some excellent programs, but I don't usually listen to radio. BTW, you can check out the PBS "Wide-angle" episode online.
about the commercial...對唔住，我冇留意個男主角喎。
Over this side of the Atlantic we also have a lot of "Chinese interest" programming in the run-up to the Olympics. The Irish national broadcaster RTE had a series of China's socioeconomic development.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about the American mainstream coverage. But I do think the mainstream media coverage over here of the Beijing Games (BBC, Guardian, RTE) have thus far been fair and balanced. All have unreservedly applauded the Chinese authorities for the dazzling Opening Ceremony, and the authorities' efforts into clearing up the city didn't go unnoticed but were celebrated. In terms of the sports commentary, there was never any snide remarks about Chinese athletes as one perhaps might find elsewhere in American media (am thinking of the furore over the age of the Chinese gynmasts reported in the NYT). In fact, when it comes to gymnastics, the BBC commentators' high-pitched excitement over the Chinese gymnasts' performance was highly infectious.
I think it's important to separate fair commentary and criticism versus gratuitous nitpicking. To me, the Western media's outrage over "fake audience" (bussing in volunteers to fill seats to improve the atmosphere of the Games) is a nitpick over nothing. But the criticism against the handling of the lip-synch on the basis of so-called "national interest" to me is fair commentary.
Government-bashing is perhaps a cultural trait of the liberal West, but this applies as much to their own governments as it is applied to the Chinese authorities. In fact, over here it's been developed into a fine art form by the celebrated TV current affairs presenter Jeremy Paxman, who never let up the pressures on British politicians he interviewed.
We saw the same kind of dynamics being played out when the Channel 4 reporters pressured the BOCOG spokesman through intense questioning. The difference is that, instead of having to grin and bear the media harrassing, Beijing authorities are taken aback by the audacity of the journalists for daring to question the official line.
Personally, I subscribe to the belief that it is better to have those in power being held to account through intense scrutiny by the fourth estate. You may call this a cultural conditioning by virtue of the fact that I have only spent my life living in countries that allowed a high degree of press freedom. If the progressive segments of the American and British media haven't been bashing their own governments, then I would have called them hypocrites (thus I thank God everyday that we don't yet have something like the propagandic FOX news here, but Sky news is starting to turn omnimously into that direction).
Anyway, I'm tired of having the Beijing Games portrayed as a "coming out party" for China. To quote another blogger, the Games is not gay, so stop with the phraseology already.
Oops, "had a series ON" rather than "of".
ReplyDelete> being humble is my only forte.
ReplyDeletehaha! is that humble?
I meant, your post was humbling; I was humbled by it. :P
> 對唔住，我冇留意個男主角喎。
!!! he is cute. But kind of unrealistic... how can you find a cute guy like that in a rural village with mostly old people... aiii...
PS: is "mum" real mum?!! :O
snowdrops:
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt that coverage from British and Irish media is more fair and balanced than their US counterparts.
Journalistic integrity is a fundamental pillar of democracy. I believe governments should be subjected to the relentless scrutiny by journalists (look what happened when the media danced with the administration prior to Iraq war). My complaint is that US media always picks the easy fights. As a result, the general public only recognizes China as (a) oppressor of Tibetan people, (b) factory of Walmart, (c) source of lead paint, (d) where Yao Ming is from. I honestly believe that both countries can succeed together in this century, but Americans are just too ignorant of what’s happening in China right now. This Olympic may be the beginning of a bridge-building process, or it may be tilting the windmills. The jury is still out.
The lip-synch fiasco is a mishandling of the situation and misjudgment of public reaction. It should and must be criticized, but please don’t elevate it to become a scandal. Doping is a violation of Olympic spirit. A little girl lip-syncing another little girl’s voice in a live performance? It’s up to every individual’s interpretation. What irks me is how it provokes so much holier-than-thou bickering.
I have no issue with “coming out party”. I always think the phrase originates from the debutante ball tradition (or Quinceanera in Latin Ameraica), where young ladies are introduced to society. Not for one second have I ever associated it with “coming out of closet”!
yun:
Haha, “I am the humblest person in the world!” it’s an interesting paradox, similar to “this sentence has two error”, or Magritte’s “this is not a pipe”.
Unrealistic it is! I’ve never met a young, cute, slender doctor in mini-skirt all my life.
What? Mom is here? Don’t freak me out. That would be the end of this blog!
okay,i was in hongkong now,but,still,the whole event beijing olympic is still kind of werid for me,i don't know how to describe the feeling,one hand it was sensational dream fulfilling momemt,one hand it was a bit too far away and a bit surreal,it just feel weird,it was feeling like the event was exsist in a cukoo land of utopia world,not in the world of every daily life surround me
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ReplyDeletei was in a state between not too fatasied and not too indiffrent about the event,it just not that hot headed as i thought before the days come,not for not being patriotic,it was feeling the whole event was like a veil of glamour,you can see it at first glimpse,gone next momemt,and then re emerge again then gone......seems to never end
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ReplyDeletetake2: very often, events in china (not just these Olympic games) seem unreal and disconnected from our value, which prompts many of us (myself included) to perceive the country as an abstract concept (land of fakery! autocratic dystopia!)，not the homeland of 1.3 billion people, people like you and me.
ReplyDeletetake2: not meaning to be rude, I must say, regrettably, that I wish I could but I’m afraid I cannot fully understand your message in English, a language requiring strict rules and regulations for accurate presentation. Better if you could rewrite it (take 2?) with simpler English in a more straightforward way, or in Chinese, the mother tongue of a people who is always lenient to aliens including those being hostile and arrogant. On the face of this blog, it appears that you and I are the only visitors who need to have their English improved badly. Let’s jia you!
ReplyDelete