the things she said really drains the life outta the chinese while they're trying to recover. there is no take backs. wat is said, has been said. it is now a scar, a staind. so the bottom line is, fuk stone, fuk her life, fuk her movies, stop acting generous and just stay out of the way. we asians dont need her any ways.
I am sure your sentiment is shared by many. What is so appalling was the sense of entitlement to sympathy: is it actually a mortal sin to NOT be sympathetic? Somehow tragedy ENTITLES one to sympathy and kiddie glove handling? Puh-leez. I don't see China being so sympathetic (both in terms of politics and in the general population) when tragedy strikes elsewhere, let alone act on said sentiment. That's the thing about Chinese, they care too much about what people think, they can never be graceful. The decision of the Shanghai Film Festival and UME Cineplex is petty and nothing else. It may make the general population of China feel better that "they have the power to ban Sharon Stone", but in the end, if she remains a profitable investment, business rationale will dictate action which will speak louder than words. If everyone goes by "an eye for an eye", the entire world will be blind in no time = counterproductive. Pettiness is such an unseemly trait.
The irony about this whole issue, is that many who are speaking up against Stone (and offering opinions of "just desserts" for her), are doing so purely because of ethnic parochialism; that is, they're ethically Chinese, so they side with China's opinions. They do this despite being probably more closely aligned with western ways and thought than those of the east. That is, I suspect that many are probably more comfortable living their lives in a way and fashion that is more aligned to the west (ie like Stone's) than it is to China's, and would quickly blanch at the idea of having to live like real Chinese do in China. My experience with respondents from overseas Chinese type boards, is that despite their ethnic heritage, most know shamefully little of China's history, culture, and most of all, its politics (both past and present). Their affiliation to causes forwarded by China seems purely along the lines and shallow depth like those of fans at sporting events; that is, they only choose to root for China simply because it was the home town team. If the implications weren't as serious as they are, it would be laughable. That said, while ill chosen words by an individual can be emotionally hurtful, what allowed her to facilitate this hurt to millions of Chinese? Seriously, there are plenty of anti-China or China bashing opinions out there, what caused this particular statement to become so special? Simple, she got press coverage. So, the moral of the story is, if the press refuses to air any more of her opinions, thoughts, apologies, arrogant or ignorant statements, then the problem is solved. But wait! Just who IS Sharon Stone? I mean, why is the world, or at least millions of Chinese who are calling for her (write whatever the de jour 'just desserts' here) doing so? Maybe we should stop and think; who the hell is this Sharon Stone? Is she some high powered PhD of history, politics, or religion? Is she some sort of world leader with deep insights that we can little ignore? LOL... NO!!! Folks, she's just a has been Hollywood piece of ass that's on her way out the door. HELLO? There are bigger fish to fry out there; or is China and the Chinese diaspora so easily distracted by the idiotic comments of what is essentially a big nobody? Please, we're a lot smarter than that. If Stone wants to play in the mud, let her. Chinese, and China, have more important things to think about. LOL... Of course not. I was only pointing out that using such de jure prerogatives in denying her a visa would ultimately be viewed by the rest of the world as being pretty petty. Knowing full well, that China isn't anywhere near a being democratic state, it nonetheless is subject to international criticisms (to which it remains highly sensitive). The rewards of being petty in this case, is not worth the risk of international ridicule. So while China isn't democratic, they don't want to be laughed at and do care about what people say. But I especially like this comment: "The official Xinhua News Agency said in a commentary Thursday she was the 'public enemy of all mankind.' " That, is going a little too far... LOL... Ralph
woah, what a bitch. first of all id like to clear up one point, tibet is part of china, i dont see anything wrong with chinese government keeping part of their country under their rule, its like california trying to split up with the USA, its stupid. second of all is she ignorant? how can she transfer what the chinese government's doing to the thousands among thousands of innocents peoples lives. i think its appropriate for the chinese people to ban her films, serves her right. its "karma" for her. since the chinese viewers are soo large.
Your political argument using California and the US compared to Tibet and the PRC shows how little you appreciate the long and confrontational history between Tibet and China (who have actually fought wars for centuries, with Tibet once capturing the capital of China). But I won't belabor the point. As for how can she assign the karmic responsibility from the Chinese government's doing to the thousands of innocent people's lives, she's simply following the historical philosophy of Chinese imperial thinking when giving offerings to the heavens. If the emperor didn't offer enough or often enough, it was considered the cause of drought, famine, pestilence, well, you get the idea. In the Shang dynasty there is clear evidence that the Chinese used to also provide routine human sacrifices in order to appease the Gods of nature. Granted, these are an older way of thinking but this type of assignment of natural disasters to the doings of government is perhaps, a Chinese original. LOL... The most that Chinese people can pin on her (besides bad judgement for using archaic ideas) is perhaps copyright infringement? But hey, don't believe me, just read your history. Yeah, what a bitch right? Not Stone; I meant Chinese history. LOL... Ralph
Yeah, like she really care. I mean, she probably got CALLED a loser but secretly applauded by many Westerners. So much for political correctness. I mean, she remain in the spotlight and talked about by millions of bloggers (and in turn propagated this bad trend, much like sex scandals, people KNOW it's so wrong to keep on talking about, but they simply can't stop from sharing their oh-so-righteous-and-politically-correct view) On the other hand, got to give it a round of kudos for free speech, if she is of Chinese and happen to be in China, she would probably vaporize on the spot by some "voodoo magic" conjured up by PRC. Hah, it's kind of like people who defend Chinese policies blindly. Oh wait, did I just ACCUSE them for blind loyalty despite not being in the right? I guess I did, too bad the truth doesn't sound as noble as it should. Too bad. And yes, your analogy of home town team sums it up right. It's always a joy to see ideas being articulated eloquently as you do.
ur probably rite about the fact that china never contributed wit world affairs other than their own. but based on the chinese population, i wont blame them. i meant, how can they deal wit others when they cant even deal wit themselves? presently, china is known as a super power. but in reality, "80 percent"of the chinese r peasantly poor and they needed help and im sure "their" govt r trying the best to help. "That's the thing about Chinese, they care too much about what people think, they can never be graceful." - Everyone is like that...u see the mid-east and the al-Qaeda? word............ China is basically another Africa. But i guess u got ur point because u probably seen movies/drama that shows the good part of china. but when it comes to china in reality, there are more bad than good. go visit central china or west china. ill put my life on the line that its a complete different world than HK, shanghai or beijing. When they say they'll ban stone, o......they will ban her. just like the relationship between the lama and china.
The worst part about this whole parochial sentiment is that it's BLIND. Somehow any flaw of the Chinese government is blamed on circumstances, I know there are a lot of inequality, corruption, back doors and "secret orders to execute" in Chinese politics, but it doesn't mean that they should do the same on foreign affairs, NOR does it mean that I should like it based solely on my ethnicity. I know next to nil about politics in middle East, so can't say it's similar or different to China. But from what I can see, China is VERY far from being a foreign affairs player with grace or skill. And no, I felt insulted that you ASSUME my knowledge of China is limited to the big cities, in fact, I have trekked through most of China (mostly avoiding the big cities since it's bad for back packers) with my family. So my stand towards China has nothing to do with its apparent prosperity in the big urban centers (which is not shared elsewhere). Another thing, WHICH part of my previous post led you to think I took it from the series/films from China/Hong Kong? China is NOT another Africa, first off, Africa is a continent, so it's like comparing Chicago with Mexico. There are areas in Africa which is beautiful with reasonable equality despite an overall low GDP (Tanzania, Algeria, Benin, Guinea, Malawi, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Tunisia and Mali all have LOWER Gini index, an index for income equality, than US of A, not to mention China)
Have ya seen the replies on youtube!... Shes against everyone... almost.. and heard she apologised to get her jobs back?... geez
China has contributed to world affairs in varying degrees, but it doesn't seem to trumpet it as much. The PRC has had soldiers killed on middle east United Nation's peace keeping missions. We tend not to hear much in the west about it. China is also currently involved with many large scale construction projects in Africa (highway, road, dam, and other infrastructure). Their motivation for these things have been questioned, with critics accusing them of only do so in order to get other deals beneficial to China. My view is yes they are, but their behavior isn't out of step with that of previous multinational corporations, both European and American. Also, to be fair, desperate poverty pockets exist even in advanced nuclear weaponed space launching nations like Russia and the US. So the fact that many areas of the PRC remains third world is not surprising. On the other hand, I don't have the same degree of certainty that you've expressed, that their government is trying their best to help. Frankly, my short term view is that, if they only took care of the corruption in some of those backwoods areas, the people there would be much better off and probably wouldn't need as much help as most people assume. Your comparison of China to Africa though, is a bit off the mark. Setting aside the fact that Africa was never a contiguous political state, if you compared it to China, it would perhaps resemble that of a period immediately post monarchy, where the Chinese republic was essentially a politically balkanized entity that was a nation in name only. Then, the real powers on the ground rested with regional warlords not dissimilar to the Sankohs, Mugabes, and Taylors of contemporary Africa. Is China so politically hobbled that actual power is decentralized by regional considerations today? I don't find evidence supportive of that; just about all edicts of any consequence seems to be at the sole and considered direction of Zhongnanhai. Thus, I disagree with that part of your assessment. What I do agree with, is your observation that China does showcase certain aspects of its society, notably the progress made in the urban arena. Truthfully, the leap in standard of living between one generation, even when viewed through the historically progressive prism of a city like Shanghai, is astounding. It is something that China and all Chinese should rightfully be very proud of. However, the flip side of this, is the hidden or rarely seen view of what was left behind in order to accomplish this (eg Chinese brick factory slave rings recently exposed in Chinese press). This incredible rush to success and its downside has been fuel for Chinese creative fodder for years (eg 盲井 Blind Shaft [2003] a true story of murderers who use the unregulated and dangerous mining industry as a hunting ground). Insofar as this thread is about Stone's faux pas interviews and China's reaction to it, my opinion is that the Chinese government has enough to do; I agree with Hiake's sentiments of "...China is VERY far from being a foreign affairs player with grace or skill." The PRC should just leave well enough alone lest it talks itself into a sound bite war with a Hollywood nobody. Stone has already been frocked with a label of international condemnation. Each additional time that she opens her mouth she is revealed to be the clueless tinsel town fluff that she's been all along. China (or the Chinese) doesn't need to be seen as raising a hand against her; her mouth has already proven her worst enemy. Ralph
