International Law

Kung Fu Panda - Part Deux

By Stan

This story in Danwei is, well, I suppose "bizarre" is the only way to describe it. Apparently a professor at Beijing University is all hot and bothered about the film Kung Fu Panda. I wrote about this earlier with regard to Zhao Bandi’s ridiculous protests - this represents a new level of weird. The following apparently is the prof’s own writing about his protest (appears to be a bad translation from Chinese - hopefully this is not the prof’s English here):

We boycotted the Hollywood kongfu Panda tonight at Hua Xing in haidian District. Many gathered to gain literature, take photos, and ask questions. I am an American teacher at Peking University, and I call on all China to boycott Hollywood movies. Tonight I held a picket sign and passed out back-and-front translated leaflets.

After 15 minutes, the cinema owner and manager forced us off the property, and our protest continued on the street corner. Many more gathered to read our handout paper explaining the reasons for the boycott. I gave out nearly 300 in five minutes! The owner called the police.

A middle-aged man asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"First let’s follow the RMB path," I said. "Dreamworks made the film. That means the money flows into the pockets of those who hate us and are out to destroy us. And it targets our children…."

I’m really not sure what to make of this. At first glance, it all looks like a joke, some sort of caricature of a campus protester type. The weird part is that nowhere in the blog entry is there any discussion of exactly why the movie should be boycotted and what this guy is thinking. Maybe there was another post or something. The entry ends with this:

Yesterday, we met with Zhao Bandi and his assistant, Mozart.  We had read about Zhao’s protest and contacted his blog in support. He called us, and we met at Vurdues restaurant near 798. After speaking with Zhao, I knew I had to do this protest.  He loves his country, and he loves the panda. A Chinese artist against the panda movie.  An American against Hollywood. All we ask is for you to think!

I’m thinking really hard here, but I have no idea what you’re trying to say, dude. Activists without an argument are tough to deal with.

Full post as published by China Hearsay on July 14, 2008 (boomark / email).