Missing The Point

Upon reflection, I don't know what's the worst aspect of this damned film. Is it the fact that it is such an abject Orientalist fantasy by a largely culturally unimaginative person with cultural imperialist designs, or is it the fact that the Japanese couldn't provide to the world their own text about Geishas, or this idiotic issue of Chinese women playing Japanese parts offending the Chinese. They ought to be revelling in it and lording it over the Japanese as they normallly like to do, but no, they've found something to complain about instead.

I have already related a couple of months ago how the Chinese population is objecting to the casting of Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li as Japanese 'prostitutes' so I won't go into it. However, now it turns out the Chinese government is going to ban 'Memoirs of a Geisha'.

２３日付の香港紙「東方日報」などは、来月１０日に中国本土で予定されていたハリウッド映画「ＳＡＹＵＲＩ」（ロブ・マーシャル監督）の初上映が中止されたと報じた。中国人女優の章子怡（チャン・ツィイー）さんがヒロインの芸者役を演じていることから、中国人に旧日本軍の従軍慰安婦問題を思い起こさせ、反日感情の悪化につながることが懸念されるためと同紙は伝えている。
　「ＳＡＹＵＲＩ」は、スティーブン・スピルバーグ氏が製作総指揮を執り、中国のトップ女優、鞏俐（コン・リー）さんも芸者役で出演する。
　中国のインターネット上では昨年から、章さんが芸者役を演じることについて「国を辱めるものだ」といった批判の書き込みが相次いでいた。報道によると、中国では来月１０日に上映が始まる予定だったが、国家放送映画テレビ総局が「扱うテーマが敏感」との理由で中止を決めた。その後の上映計画についても審議しているが、許可される可能性は低いという。

The gist of it is pretty much what you'd expect based on the fact that the Chinese offiicals don't really want to raise the topic of war time comfort women. To be honest, it surprises me, mostly at the poverty of imagination that goes from Geisha to Prostitute to War Time Comfort Women. I mean it's like a really bad word association game that reveals more about the respondent than the words themsleves. Still, it's not the Chinese public's fault necessarily, but rather, it's the nature of censorship that breeds ignorance that breeds such stupidity.