Recently I finished watching a TV series called 步步惊心 (the English name is Scarlet Heart, which is not a translation of the Chinese title). This series takes place in China during the late 1600s, the main Character is a modern girl who accidentally gets thrown into her past life. I enjoyed the show, and the show was pretty popular over here last semester.
Poster for the show, I'd translate the title as "Step by fearful step"
However, when I was done watching it I complained to multiple people about the historical accuracy of the series. I felt that the TV producers took a lot of liberties with the show to make the audience more interested; specifically they show the Kangxi Emperor telling the 4th prince that he will give the crown to the 14th prince, and the 4th prince steals the crown. This may have happened, I don’t know, I wasn’t there. Historians debate on if the Emperor wanted to give the throne to the 4th son or the 14th son. There really isn’t enough evidence to prove it either way. I know this because I have taken a course called ‘The History of Modern China’ (from 1600 to 1949) and I distinctly remember this lecture and wondering what really happened. So, when the TV show did not leave is ‘theory’ ambiguous, I was upset. I complained to my friends here that I thought many people who watch the show will assume that the 4th son stole the crown from the 14th, which may or may not have actually happened. The friends who I complained to were not sympathetic. They felt like I was overreacting, that this was not a large issue. I have had this problem before.
Last semester when I was here, one of my classmates too me to see Zhang Yimou’s (张艺谋) new film 金陵十三钗 (The Flowers of War). Again this title is not a translation of the Chinese, just a new title. It was a brilliant movie that was about the Nanjing Massacre. Within the first 20 minutes I was crying.
Chinese movie poster for "Thirteen Girls in Jinling"
When I left the theater I was angry, and I didn’t like the film. It wasn’t because the film was too violent. I believe the film was an excellent memorial to the victims, and it showed how brutal some of the violence was during that time. There are countless films that show the Holocaust, but not many that show what happened in this side of the world at that time. What I had problems with was where I was seeing the film. I was very aware that the guy sitting next to me already hated the Japanese for what they did to China. As I was watching, I could feel the film adding fuel to his anger, and justifying his hatred. That’s what upset me most, was that this film was going to make more Chinese people hate Japanese people, or justify their hatred. If I had seen it in Japan I would have had the opposite reaction. I would have been glad that some of the history that has been swept under the rug is getting revealed.
These stories are related to this last part. So I am in Beijing, China. I have been to multiple cities in China. I had the privilege my first time coming here touring several different factories in many different coastal cities. In fact, the first time I came here (in 2010) my most favorite moment was eating lunch with some factory workers in Suzhou China, at a Gates Rubber plant. I know that the factories I went to cannot represent all of the factories in China or the world, but from what I saw I was impressed. I think factory work kind of sucks just because it is a pretty dull job, but the facilities I went to were clean, well lit, ect.
A bible printing factory I visited in 2010, in Nanjing
The workers I ate lunch with at the Gates factory in Suzhou, 2010
So now.I was listening to an episode of ‘This American Life’, and I clicked on it because it had the word China in it, and I was curious. The story was a retraction story, something I had never heard of TAL doing. They recently discovered that one of the stories that they did about an American man’s experience while visiting Apple factories in China was fabricated. Or parts of it. The guy, Mike Daisey did go to China in June 2010, and he did tour factories just a month after I did the same. From that experience he created a show, a monologue (called The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs), were he describes his trip to China, and all the things he discovered while he was there. I’m not going to explain the entire monologue, or the episode of This American Life to you (if you want more info check out this link here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/460/retraction), but basically Daisey fabricated things into the monologue, he added stories and stretched the truth to that his story could be an attack against poor working conditions in Apples factories in China.
You may have noticed I'm not really critical of This American Life for not properly fact-checking the original show. This is for two reasons. First of all, I'm biased. I really enjoy this show, so I find it difficult to get angry with them about running a show that I hadn't heard that was inaccurate. Second of all, they did a retraction story where they admit that they are wrong and they apologize for running the story. They say they were neglegent in their duties as reporters and apologize for that.
I find this upsetting.
First of all, Daisey really really doesn’t want to admit that he is lying. He says that in a theater setting his story is perfect and that he is really proud of it. He doesn’t want to tell people that he is exaggerating or fabricating the truth, even when he is asked directly. He assumes that since it is theater, the fact that he is bending the truth should already be known. He also says that his goal for the show was to make people aware of the problems; the goal was to make Americans care about the factory workers in China. He says that he is proud of what he has done, and that the monologue has accomplished its goal. Even his Chinese interpreter, Cathy, says that since he is not a reporter he can bend the truth, that she isn’t angry with him.
Does that really make it right though? I’m sure there are factories in China (and other countries) that have very poor working conditions. I’m also sure that the cause of bringing knowledge to this problem is just. However I feel that blatantly lying about the factories that have good conditions undermines the goal. By stretching the truth, he has lost credibility. Its possible that some people may assume whenever they hear a story about bad conditions, that those conditions are exaggerated. I think this is unfortunate. But I could be overreacting. What do you think?
