Tbh not a huge fan of the way that they are handling cultural elements within the PRC at the moment. I also admit that I don't have a solid understanding of modern Chinese culture of course (someone can feel free to color that in if they have such an understanding).
I kinda sorta agree that "political comedy" should be stifled a bit. This shit is serious, and should not fall within the domain of "freedom of speech", but that's just my opinion.
What I don't trust (a point made by this article in the liberal SCMP) is low-level enforcers walking around entertainment venues and nitpicking this or that or whatever, possibly cracking down extra because of what they believe the expectations of their higher ups are. At the same time, you kinda need to nip this stuff early cause it can propagate fast. Better to have a small shitshow like the one comic at the center of the article, rather than him getting some momentum and dealing with a bigger one. Idk, it's a very fine line with this stuff, and very difficult to get right.
The PRC may have a brighter future than the West, but they probably won't be able to have widely permissible civil liberties until they have a demonstrably brighter present. Seems to be getting closer every year though.
idk if it's good policy, but remember that the US loved using rock acts to do agitprop in the Eastern Bloc during the cold war, so I can see why they would take such a tact.
Plus imagine how simple the plot of Green Room would be if they could have just called up the Chinese cops and said "Here's an illegal Nazi bar"
Extremely based when Cui Jian had illuminated portraits of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao at his concert tho
In a vacuum I don’t much like this, but in context of the west’s embrace of comedy as political discourse with an apolitical veneer where there is either no censorship, or censorship only at the whim of advertisers, this seems acceptable.
Yeah, and things like copyright and various other corporate powers as well. Censorship in China and the west is not so different, only in the west the power to censor has largely been privatized.
That's a good point, really I think people only complain about Chinese censorship because Western censorship is so deeply ingrained in their minds as a market phenomenon they simply don't see it as the same thing. I suppose all ruling ideologies have had this effect on their subjects, but it always amazes me how efficiently capitalism hides it's constructed nature.
Without knowing ehat they censor I cannot really say if it is good or bad. Given the nature of comedians in the west I can see plenty of space where they would be bad for the public discourse. Like, imagine if Joe Rogan was less able to platform the worst people possible. Oe more specifically look at uncle Roger and how he went from doing light rascism to medium conservative commentary. Would the world be worse off if they couldn't book a spot in a bar? No.
If a British comedian ripped into the British Army they would also become persona non grata in British television. It's one of the things you simply do not do if you want to keep your career in entertainment. The only person who might get away with it would be Frankie Boyle and that's only really because his entire act has always been to be the guy saying things you're not allowed to say so he tends to automatically get away with anything.
Bill Hicks once said he supported the war, but not the troops and they had him killed for it.
iTS jUST a jOKE bRO
I fucking hate comedians, want a reason, Khrushchev.
