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Title: Chinese Young People Are Rejecting Communist Party Propaganda and the Government Is Freaking Out
Source:
Newsweek
URL Source: http://www.newsweek.com/chinas-youn ... ganda-celebrity-culture-690277
Published: Oct 22, 2017
Author: Tom Porter
Post Date: 2017-10-26 08:28:22 by Tooconservative
Keywords: None
Views: 1860
Comments: 10
When the movie Founding Fathers of the Army, which tells the story of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army, recently hit cinemas, officials hoped it would inspire an outpouring of patriotic feeling—instead it was mocked for trying to use popular film stars to lure younger viewers. “Chinese people are increasingly ignoring party propaganda and are much more interested in movie stars, who represent a new lifestyle and more exciting aspirations,” Willy Lam, an expert on Chinese politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told the Associated Press. While the Communist Party once exercised an iron grip on what it’s citizens saw and read, a loosening of restrictions means that propaganda must now compete with movies and dramas produced by the country’s booming entertainment industry, and the stars it has spawned. Fathers of the Army is not the only expensive government-sponsored movie to lose out in the popularity stakes. In October, The South China Morning Post reported that Sky Hunter, which was hatched at the instigation of military propaganda chiefs and featured two of the country’s youthful a-list stars, also flopped at the box office on its opening weekend. Behind the spate of glossy but clumsy propaganda blockbusters is a drive by Chinese President Xi Jinping to spread traditional Chinese values among youths seduced by celebrity culture and consumerism. Authorities have capped the high pay commanded by TV stars, moved to close down celebrity gossip accounts on social networking site Weibo, and a called on web giants behind the Great Firewall of China to actively propagate core socialist values. China’s media watchdog has told production companies not to employ stars engaged in activities such as gambling, prostitution and drug use and failing to live up to the standards of purity expected of youthful role models figures. Stars caught using drugs including Taiwanese actor Ko Chen-tung and Jackie Chan’s son, Jaycee Chan, have been forced to apologize on state television. But according to experts the party is fighting a losing battle against a background of swiftly changing values, with young people preferring to watch dramas that focus on romance, martial arts, and historical intrigue. “While the government could once dictate to young people what they should value and how they should lead their lives, they find themselves completely without the tools to do that now,” Hung Huang, a well-known social commentator based in Beijing, told the AP.
(2 images) Young people in China are rejecting Communist party propaganda for Western-style movie stars and celebrity culture – that’s the lesson behind the box office flop of a series big budget propaganda films according to observers. 
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#5. To: Tooconservative (#0)
Newsweek is right on he breaking news cusp,ain't they. Only about 25 years late with this one. China quit being communist while Bubba Bill was president. Chinese people live MUCH better now and have a whole lot more freedom,just as long as they don't disrupt the money machine the Party Officials control. Think "Nazi Germany Fascism without the racism" instead of "Chinese Communist Party. Yeah,the Politburo are still in place and still called the Politburo,but the reality is they are on the Board of Directors that run the country like a huge corporation. I have been saying ever since the early 1970's that there are no better or more ruthless businessmen anywhere on the planet than the Chinese,and those of us in the western world were saved temporarily when they went Communist after WW-2. What I am saying is obvious to anyone who has ever lived in Asia and paid attention to what was going on around them. Seemed like everywhere I went a lot of the businesses were owned and operated by Chinamen. The Chinese have two weaknesses. The first is that they are maybe the least creative people in any 1st World Nation,and they are absolute fools for gambling. That calm,cool,and calculating businessman will go batshit crazy if you sit him down in front of Roulette Wheel or at a blackjack table. Yeah,these ARE generalizations,but they are generalizations that are true of the majority of the people there. They have to be to have been noticed enough to become generalizations. Not sure what any of you can do with it unless you have enough money to open a casino,but there it is.
Only about 25 years late with this one. Not really. That older generation from Mao's Cultural Revolution is gone. A new generation of people under 40 who don't recall anything about Mao and his Little Red Book have come of age and they could give a shit about Commie dogma. So, no, things have changed there. We're not the same country that we were 25 years ago either.
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#9. To: sneakypete (#5)
Newsweek is right on he breaking news cusp,ain't they.
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