[quote=“Mucha Man”]What a fucking sell-out and a creative cypher. No wonder all his recent films have been unwatchable porn to state power. Listen to a few nice quotes from a recent interview regarding the opening and closing ceremonies. God help the Chinese, though no doubt ABC and AC will be perfectly in sync with this.
[/quote]
Do you think maybe he was joking? How could anyone consider ranking second to North Korea to be praise?
Big John:
Hey, China has vilified itself. I didn’t bring on the cultural revolution, i didn’t develop the “Han is Best” ideology, i didn’t provoke the antionalist socialist tendencies to attack foreign embassies and trumpet racist threatening slogans at foreign nationals.
The Chinese did, the CCP did, and it happened both within their own country and in other countries where the Chinese immigrant communties still put China first.
so why is it wrong to stand up and say: “Hey Mr Bully Boy, you great Chinese Emperor: Unlike others who blindly kow tow to receive the little scraps of ‘benevolence’ that fall from your table, i can see that you are in fact a fascist with no clothes… and i call you out on it.”
the chickens will come home to roost, and hopefully they will shit on their perch.
Definition of fascism at Wiki:
Fascism is an authoritarian nationalist political ideology and mass movement that is concerned with notions of cultural decline or decadence, and which seeks to achieve a millenarian national rebirth by exalting the nation or race, as well as promoting cults of unity, strength and purity.
I wouldn’t go so far as calling him a fascist, but he obviously is leaning in that direction when it comes to his work. So what is the purpose of having large numbers of people moving in synchronized formations? Showing the superiority of the race or nation? Or is it just trying to aim for artistic perfection? People all over the world seem to love it. Weren’t the performers soldiers of the PLA? Where they forced to obey orders or was their participation voluntary?
urodacus,
So all Chinese are agents of the CCP and the PRC? Even Zhang Yimou whose earlier work was regularly banned in the PRC.
If that isn’t racist, I don’t know what is.
To get back on the actual content of what this Zhang Yimou said:
At the risk of being publicly executed here, I’m going to say that I find there is some truth to this part? Of course it is a blatant generalization and simplification, but it is troublesome to get people to work hard for a common cause in the west, especially one that is not directly of individual benefit to them since they get paid no matter what. This is a product of western individualism vs. Chinese collectivism. This is an issue that will need to be addressed sooner rather than later, in the face of global power shifting.
Aside from this point, the man seems to be full of shit. Especially his remarks on how “foreigners cannot achieve this”.
[quote=“Ah Q”]To get back on the actual content of what this Zhang Yimou said:
At the risk of being publicly executed here, I’m going to say that I find there is some truth to this part? Of course it is a blatant generalization and simplification, but it is troublesome to get people to work hard for a common cause in the west, especially one that is not directly of individual benefit to them since they get paid no matter what. This is a product of western individualism vs. Chinese collectivism. This is an issue that will need to be addressed sooner rather than later, in the face of global power shifting.
Aside from this point, the man seems to be full of shit. Especially his remarks on how “foreigners cannot achieve this”.[/quote]
You’d be lucky to get most people to work (as opposed to attend work) 4.5 days a week in Sweden or Germany. Like you say, you can’t sack 'em and they get paid no matter what. Plus there are lots of ways they can cause trouble - unions, complaints procedures, sitting in your office and complaining for three hours and so on. So unless the company is actually in danger of going under, you’re better off letting them do whatever it is they want to do. Which is a problem as they have no way to know what customers will actually pay for and no reason to care.
Of course in an environment where employment is at will and/or people get paid based on results it’s completely different.
So Zhang Yimou is a facist because he speaks the truth…
Should be “Westerners”, right? I mean the North Koreans are foreigners too… 
And what’s wrong with that thought?
I too doubt that Westerners could ever achieve this.
First it would be very hard to find enough suitable (well trained) people.
It would be hard to find enough time for rehearsal with volunteers or your budget wouldn’t allow you to pay professionals.
You wouldn’t be able to use soldiers.
The problem is in the number of participants. Everyone can do it with 100 performers. With 1000 performers it’s a whole new ballgame.
His movies are shite as are his opnions.
If you want good Wuxia, that make some reasonable sense historically, then read some 金庸 .
Should be “Westerners”, right? I mean the North Koreans are foreigners too…
And what’s wrong with that thought?
I too doubt that Westerners could ever achieve this.
First it would be very hard to find enough suitable (well trained) people.
It would be hard to find enough time for rehearsal with volunteers or your budget wouldn’t allow you to pay professionals.
You wouldn’t be able to use soldiers.
The problem is in the number of participants. Everyone can do it with 100 performers. With 1000 performers it’s a whole new ballgame.[/quote]
Oh, I don’t see Westerners doing something like that anytime soon but his comment implies that they are physically or genetically incapable of doing things Chinese (and Koreans 
) can do, which I don’t think is true.
No, he’s a fascist if he admires North Korea.
We should come up with a better word than fascist though. I suppose from Karl Popper you could say he was an ‘advocate of a closed society’. But that’s not as catchy as fascist.
hey, the Hitler Youth was doing this kind of mass adulatory circle jerk synchronized swimming on land ages ago. just add a little bit of Leni Reifenstahl. they all wanted to show therir devotion to the Führer and the Glorious Vaterland.
us Westerners CAN do anything, ACD.
Now, the Chinese PLA is doing it too, and very well, although not quite as well as the North Koreans. just add a little bit of Zhang to the protofascist mix, and voila! they all show their devotion to the principles of Mao (or Kim) and the Motherland.
see any other parallels there?
No, he’s a fascist if he admires North Korea.
We should come up with a better word than fascist though. I suppose from Karl Popper you could say he was an ‘advocate of a closed society’. But that’s not as catchy as fascist.[/quote]
Now you see, KingZog, you clearly are a better man than me, I simply couldn’t have answered that twisted lump of illogical dick cheese with anything even nearly approaching civility. “Because he speaks the truth”? WTF?
HG
Relax, he’s just playing devil’s advocate which is totally valid thing to do.
Unfortunately he misunderstands that as being an advocate/apologist for the most evil government he can find.
I can’t see that in his comments. I think it’s more a discipline thing, willingness to follow orders, making individual sacrifices for the good of the group/society/nation on the part of the performers and authority to demand obedience on the part of the government.
Now just imagine the crowd all chanting for this chappy in a North Korean Olympics.
It Was All Good… until the crowd started chanting his name!
HG
I think it’s funny how those North Korean ICBMs are
6 pages of arguing over whether a film/stage director is “fascist” because he prefers uniformity, following orders, and long, strenuous training, and chose to use North Korea as an example of such characteristics? Seriously?
I like arguing.
In before “No you don’t”.
Except be humble and get over yourselves for minute…
ZYM is obviously patting himself on the back for being the director of the OP and ED ceremonies at the games.
If the UK can get that many people together to enact their conquest of the commonwealth states for their Games using modern dance, I’ll be impressed as well.
Surely those Asian students that wish to free the Catholics in Ireland with their homemade signs and removal of the monarchy system in UK will not be a distraction at all.
But if it just consist of Beckham bouncing a ball on his head…well I guess ZYM was right to make those claims.