1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

Olympics: 'Ethnic' children exposed as fakes in opening ceremony

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by CometsWin, Aug 16, 2008.

Tags:
Page 1 of 4
  1. CometsWin

    CometsWin Breaker Breaker One Nine

    Joined:
    May 15, 2000
    Messages:
    28,028
    Likes Received:
    13,051
    More fakery at the Olympics.

    Beijing Olympics: 'Ethnic' children exposed as fakes in opening ceremony

    Another section of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony has been exposed as faked - the children supposedly representing the country's 56 ethnic groups were in fact all from the same one, the majority Han Chinese race.

    By Richard Spencer in Beijing
    Last Updated: 11:04AM BST 15 Aug 2008
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2561979/Beijing-Olympics-Ethnic-children-exposed-as-fakes-in-opening-ceremony.html

    [​IMG]

    The children accompanied the soldiers carrying in the national flag at the most solemn moment of the ceremony.

    They were dressed in costumes associated with the country's ethnic minorities, including those from troubled areas such as Tibet and the muslim province of Xinjiang. Such displays of "national unity" are a compulsory part of any major state occasion.

    But the children were all from the Han Chinese majority, which makes up more than 90 per cent of the population and is culturally and politically dominant, according to an official with the cultural troupe from which they were selected.

    "I assume they think the kids were very natural looking and nice," Yuan Zhifeng, deputy director of the Galaxy Children's Art Troupe said.

    The official guide to the opening ceremony said that the children did not just represent but "came from" China's ethnic groups.

    "Fifty-six children from 56 Chinese ethnic groups cluster around the Chinese national flag, representing the 56 ethnic groups," it said.

    This point was put to Wang Wei, executive vice-president of the Beijing organising committee at a press conference today.

    "I think you are being very meticulous," he said. He said it was "traditional" to use dancers from other ethnic groups in this way.

    "I would argue it is normal for dancers, performers, to be dressed in other races' clothes," he said. "I don't know exactly where these performers are from."

    The initial triumph of the opening ceremony has already been clouded by revelations that the little girl who sand "Hymn to the Motherland", a patriotic Chinese anthem, was lip-synching to the pre-recorded voice of another girl who had been told she was not pretty enough to appear. The "footprint fireworks" shown on television were also pre-recorded and digitally enhanced.

    The discovery that the children representing ethnic groups as diverse as Mongolians and members of the Li group from the south-western mountains were all in fact Han will hardly be noticed in China, where such practices are normal.

    Nevertheless it is a sign of how sensitive ethnic relations in China are. At national Communist Party and state congresses, while the Han Chinese delegates all wear suits, carefully chosen members of ethnic minorities are told to wear traditional costume.

    "Minority dances" are a regular part of state-sponsored entertainments, with performers coming from all over the country without having to belong to the relevant group.
     
    #1 CometsWin, Aug 16, 2008
  2. Fatty FatBastard

    Fatty FatBastard Member

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2001
    Messages:
    15,916
    Likes Received:
    159
    Uh oh. We all know what this means for China:

    (NSFW.)

    <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sWS-FoXbjVI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sWS-FoXbjVI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

    I'm not worried. My boy is almost 10, and he's close to:

    <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9fWvub_WBho&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9fWvub_WBho&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

    Screw you, MattJ. About time you come up with a new one...
     
    #2 Fatty FatBastard, Aug 16, 2008
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2008
  3. StaticC4

    StaticC4 Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2008
    Messages:
    1,129
    Likes Received:
    8
    with a population of 93% Han, I don't think China could find all 56 minorities.It was just a show not a Chinese UN meeting..
     
    #3 StaticC4, Aug 16, 2008
  4. CometsWin

    CometsWin Breaker Breaker One Nine

    Joined:
    May 15, 2000
    Messages:
    28,028
    Likes Received:
    13,051

    Hey, if the US dressed up white people as Native Americans and African-Americans to show our ethnic diversity... uh yeah.
     
    #4 CometsWin, Aug 16, 2008
  5. meh

    meh Member

    Joined:
    Jun 16, 2002
    Messages:
    16,175
    Likes Received:
    3,388
    Not really surprised that they did this, but... how did these things leak out like this? I guess the Chinese government's censorship just isn't what it used to be.
     
    #5 meh, Aug 16, 2008
  6. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Atomic Playboy
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2002
    Messages:
    59,079
    Likes Received:
    52,748
    DARK SHADOW
     
    #6 KingCheetah, Aug 16, 2008
  7. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2003
    Messages:
    61,823
    Likes Received:
    41,295
    How appropriate and what a perfect metaphor for China's marginalization of its minority populace. The only good Tibetan is a fake one!

    Maybe they can knock down the Potala Palace and replace it with "the Potala Palace Experience"-themed Casino.
     
    #7 SamFisher, Aug 16, 2008
  8. bucket

    bucket Member

    Joined:
    Oct 9, 2007
    Messages:
    1,724
    Likes Received:
    60
    "Ethnic", not "racial".

    I don't think this is a big deal. I was pretty upset by the thing about the girl getting booted, but this seems nitpicky. All the kids did was walk in a straight line across the stadium in costumes, and I never thought they actually came from each group.
     
    #8 bucket, Aug 16, 2008
  9. deepblue

    deepblue Member

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2002
    Messages:
    1,648
    Likes Received:
    5
    Its just a show, no different than having a Japanese actor play a Chinese in a movie. Some people will complain about anything.
     
    #9 deepblue, Aug 16, 2008
  10. Mulder

    Mulder Member

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 1999
    Messages:
    7,118
    Likes Received:
    81

    OK,

    Hey Irish guys! At the next St. Patty's day parade we are going to replace all the Irish guys with British guys cuz Irish guys are hard to find.

    Same thing with you Puerto Ricans. We'll just use Mexicans. Same thing right?

    Jamaican? Regular old black people will accomplish the same feel...

    :eek:
     
    #10 Mulder, Aug 16, 2008
  11. mtbrays

    mtbrays Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2007
    Messages:
    8,623
    Likes Received:
    8,039
    Seriously. They put on a great show, what else can you ask for? London knows it will have to work very hard to equal that in 2012.
     
    #11 mtbrays, Aug 16, 2008
  12. yuantian

    yuantian Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2005
    Messages:
    2,849
    Likes Received:
    8
    they should just put me in it. or i should say, i don't care if they used a Han for a Tujia. :) i doubt all 56 kids are 100% Han anyways. people are pretty mixed these days.
     
    #12 yuantian, Aug 16, 2008
  13. Lil Pun

    Lil Pun Member

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 1999
    Messages:
    34,143
    Likes Received:
    1,038
    This reminded me of the Chris Rock joke about Native Americans and Puerto Ricans.

    "That ain't Pocahontas, that's Jennifer Lopez!"

    LOL! :D
     
    #13 Lil Pun, Aug 16, 2008
  14. Bandwagoner

    Bandwagoner Member

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2006
    Messages:
    27,105
    Likes Received:
    3,756
    Im seriously tired of people talking about the opening ceremony.


    It was a show and it was pretty awesome. Next thing you know the story will come out about Li Ning was actually on wires and didn;t really fly around the Bird's Nest.
     
    #14 Bandwagoner, Aug 16, 2008
  15. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2007
    Messages:
    58,167
    Likes Received:
    48,334
    Say it aint so!


    I agree this is nitpicking. This was a show and I expect everything to be about as accurate and as real as a superbowl halftime show.
     
    #15 rocketsjudoka, Aug 16, 2008
  16. B-Bob

    B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2002
    Messages:
    35,985
    Likes Received:
    36,839
    Amen. The whole coverage has been so China-negative. Not on human rights, etc, but on these ridiculous little details. NPR aired a piece on how their reporter couldn't find a hotdog at the athletic events. Oh Noes!?

    Next on US media: Do they fold their napkins properly in "weird" China?

    Ugh. It's just starting to reek of jealousy that China is currently enjoying what we did in the late 1940's and 1950's.
     
    #16 B-Bob, Aug 16, 2008
  17. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2007
    Messages:
    58,167
    Likes Received:
    48,334
    You know that Danny Boy was written by an Englishman?
     
    #17 rocketsjudoka, Aug 16, 2008
  18. Mr. Clutch

    Mr. Clutch Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2002
    Messages:
    46,550
    Likes Received:
    6,132
    What matters is how cute they are, not their race. Look beyond the color of the skin.
     
    #18 Mr. Clutch, Aug 16, 2008
  19. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2003
    Messages:
    61,823
    Likes Received:
    41,295
    It seems like it's not a big deal, and it's not, but it's symbolic of the way China treats its minorities by attempting to overwhelm and Han-ify them.

    PRC government likes to talk about how it loves its minorities, but its actions are designed to dilute and absorb them. Basically it wants them to be quiet, smile, and be good little subjugated peoples who eventually go away - accordingly it would much rather have Al Jolson in its ceremony than Louis Armstrong.

    Now here come the netizens, better work on my bot-jammers and get out my dragon killer sword.
     
    #19 SamFisher, Aug 16, 2008
  20. myotuneric

    myotuneric Member

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2002
    Messages:
    78
    Likes Received:
    0
    enough is enough
     
    #20 myotuneric, Aug 16, 2008
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Page 1 of 4

Share This Page