Cuentos Chinos? En los Medios Occidentales~

Chinese stories? Yah, in the Western Media.

Last week or so, my mother woke up to some news reporter, what else, talking about the Olympics. Such news report, title Cuento Chino (Chinese Story, as in Tall Tales?), broadcast sometime on Sunday (probably Reportajes) in Canal 2 (Frecuencia Latina).

Furious, my mother wrote a letter to one of those so-called opinion columns, for Somos magazine that is part of El Comercio newspaper.

Here is the copy of her email to them.

Such ‘letter’ was so heavily ‘edited’ that the main reason for writing it, was completely LEFT OUT.

Time to translate!

TV Report

To whom it may concern;
El Comercio

On Sunday 17th 2008, I was unusually watching a news reporting program on channel 2, I don’t know the name of it, but the reporter was named Peschiera. They broadcast a segment titled Cuento Chino (Chinese Tall Tale), on the subject of it; I wish to express my personal opinion. It is widely known the information that went about after the splendid Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony, the girl that lent her voice (yet not her image), the fireworks done with special effects for the home-viewer (I’m also led to believe there were real fireworks), both of these points were exposed in Cuento Chino.

Moreover, in these Olympic Games the foreign press in China have insisted in dealing with affairs not related to the event, such as visiting cafes to check if they could get internet access to pages regarding Tibet, or that there’s poverty in China (I wonder if even First World countries don’t have the same problem) and so on, criticism like the lack of mention of the Cultural Revolution throughout the 5000 years of Chinese History that was displayed in the ceremony.

Particularly I believe that, when one is trying to promote culture and traditions of one’s country, it is always of common use the best of one’s country’s arguments and not of the lacking. Nobody doubts, for instance, that Brazil is a very attractive touristic spot, but nobody would ever think of promoting the visits to its “favelas” (shanty towns).

Returning to the topic at hand (Cuento Chino), it was said that for months China was looking for the ideal singer for the interpretation of “The Ode to the Motherland”… the Chinese Chayanne… the Chinese Celine Dion ?? and finally found this chubby little girl and because the Communist government dislikes the chubby figures (in which they show a segment where kids mocked a chubby kid), they decided to change her for a future child model. That was pretty much the message that was transmitted.

I am of Chinese ascendancy, I am a well-educated woman, and I tend to keep a certain degree of objectivity in every opinion that I give. I am capable of exchanging  ideas in the highest of levels. To do such thing, I tend to analyze each topic in its context and not out of it. They were projecting that in 15 years, China (known for their lean bodies) will have a whole generation of obese people, occurring due to the change in their diets. This data can give us the understanding that we shouldn’t encourage what we keep on calling chubby figures at such young age.

It is true that I would have liked that the chubby kid had shown off her beautiful voice, because to tell you the truth, I found her equally pretty, every child is beautiful and to top it all off with talent!! The idiosyncrasy of the Chinese makes him strive for perfection, and they wanted, for the first time, to present themselves to the world with a show 100% beautiful, perfect teeth (which was the problem of the singing kid, apparently) is for a better photo. Let’s point out that I am not trying to make a Spartan apology, talent must have its place regardless of our physical appearance, age, sex and ethnicity, and this space is the opportunity to show it.

The comments about the singer, given by Mr. Sanchez Sierra, were sarcastic. He could have just said that Rock performers were considered, as well as Traditional performers, etc. I didn’t think that the singers mentioned were trying to copy one or the other, unless Chayanne has patented the dancing and singing at the same time. They were possibly trying to make it fun, with a face… not very happy.

On regards of the use of special effects, I believe that these are used to create something that does not exist, fill a void and create an illusion, moreover, it is also used to save money in a project. Millions of viewers saw the Opening at home, and we were left astonished for the showcase of people, wardrobe, colors and cinematographic display of this live performance. The fireworks existed in the stadium, but we were thousands of kilometers away and we really enjoyed them. The mastermind behind this show is a filmmaker that works continuously with special effects. China, I understand, had requested the aid of Steven Spielberg and he decided to quit due to the topic of Tibet. If they wanted a filmmaker for this project and technology has developed at giant steps, why not make a live film? Would it be better if they had showcased a mediocre show? Remember that not only does mediocrity not shake dust, but it simply goes unnoticed.

To end this segment of Cuento Chino, the host of the show greets goodbye hoping that these people won’t manipulate the results of the Olympic Games. Let me remind Mrs. Peschiera that, the fact of using real technology to create an illusion doesn’t mean foul. Doubting the honesty of any person, and most importantly a whole nation, is just offensive. Does she doubt any of the gold medals obtained by the divers, the weightlifters, the Chinese gymnasts? Due to the difference in hours, I haven’t had the chance to watch all of the broadcast, I wish to ask her to point out in which disciplines she suspects this to inform myself better and send her my apologies.

I know that due to layout reasons you summarize the letters, I hope this message reaches the people that motivated it.

*phew* that was a long translation. Well, as you can see… bolding is mine. All bold text is the text that was written out of the letter, in which you practically read EVERYTHING that was the main subject. You can see for yourself…

And what is that comment down there?

What the Chinese showcased besides opulency and good taste, is that they are not perfect unlike what they are trying to show. Later on, the Chinese shouldn’t complain to Spain about the photo of their athletes making oriental gestures with their eyes.

WTF. Asshole. Ha! Did anybody say the Chinese were perfect? First and foremost, let’s not try to manipulate what was written. My mother wasn’t writing to talk about the Chinese, she was writing to complain about the TV Report, which you have obviously failed to publish.

And that comment has nothing to do with the topic at hand.