Chinese child actor not good enough to sing in the opening ceremony
What an outrage that the beautiful girl who was used and exploited as the face and humanity of the opening ceremony wasn’t even allowed to use her own voice! Nine-year-old Lin Miaoke has been tricked and deceived into prostituting herself to the world’s media while secretly the voice Yang Peiyi was dubbed over her singing. How callous of the evil communist regime to shatter Lin’s self esteem by telling her that her voice is so awful that it’s in the national interest to not allow the world to hear it.
This frankly heartless act of denying people voice is obviously a metaphor for how China denies voice to most of its citizens. China’s ruthless censorship has been blatantly coupled with unabashed faking and deception of what the world sees of China…
Honestly, where do people get off? Have a look at the ABC news story here or essentially any newspaper. The ABC news story has open comments for some flavour of what punters are thinking. I’m just gob-smacked. Every lead roll in everything public has auditions that look at relevant attributes. How is it surprising that someone wasn’t chosen as the face if they didn’t have the most beautiful face people could find. Can I have a cry that I didn’t get to sing at the 2000 Olympics on account of being too ugly and too crap at sining? And why does everyone feel outraged for the girl who wasn’t let appear and is just ignoring the girl that wasn’t let sing (as I parodied above). Does anyone seriously think that Nikki Webster from the 2000 opening ceremony wasn’t chosen because she was a cute kid?
I’m adding this one to the growing pile of evidence that the Western media has invented the most absurd double standard for talking about China. If China does anything it’s evil and deplorable even if the West does EXACTLY the same thing without batting an eyelid, or even things that should be considered ‘worse’ by the standard.
Someone needs to invent a word for ‘double plus absurd’.
word.
Tim Riley said this on Wednesday 13 August 2008 at 5:10 am |
as I asked you on my blog, when has the West ever done something like this “in the national interest” and when have we done it with a seven year old? Were it some Chinese media conglomerate swapping out a “cuter” face for their latest DVD, I doubt we would bat an eye.
The Vinyl Villager said this on Wednesday 13 August 2008 at 12:21 pm |
Well, I agree with you man, it’s crazy for people to go crazy about the girl not singing, especially since she DID get a chance to sing, it is her voice after all…but you can’t ignore the fact that in seemingly, every culture, the emphasis placed on what the media perceives to be beautiful is dangerously affecting the self esteem of growing children…..telling a 7 year old girl that she can’t perform because she isn’t “pretty enough” is basically calling her ugly…there’s no middle ground in the mind of a 7 year old, and that’s screwed up…sure she’s happy that she got a chance to sing, but as a fellow performer, I know that getting the chance to perform what you’ve recorded is the real joy…they could’ve just found someone good looking that could sing just as good, China is big, they could’ve found someone, its the OLYMPICS after all…
mbats said this on Wednesday 13 August 2008 at 12:53 pm |
If you had read the story regarding this issue, you would know that a member of the Chinese Communist Politburo met the girl that did the singing. He then told the Olympic Organizers that they needed to get someone else to lip synch.
The issue isn’t about the girl singing or anything like that. The issue is the level of oppression that the Chinese Government puts on their people. Just last night, I heard the NBC announcers mention that a Chinese female gymnast wanted to quit when she was three & the Chinese Government told her parents that she was not permitted to do so.
The Communist government in China hoped that the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics would get the rest of the world to forget that they are a barbaric, brutal nation that is incapable of treating their own citizens like human beings. Instead, Chinese citizens are simply pawns to be placed at the will of the government.
Cinematically-Correct.com said this on Wednesday 13 August 2008 at 1:37 pm |
TVV asks ‘When has the West vetted people on the Basis of national interest?’ The answer is hundreds of times every day! Imagine you’re going for a government job and need a security clearance. They might not give you one on account of the people you hang out with or what you do in your free time not being consistent with the National interest. This is business as usual, not totalitarian.
I agree that in the West we wouldn’t use that exact turn of phrase ‘national interest’. I’m sure hundreds of girls auditioned to be Nikki Webster in the 2000 opening ceremony, and all but one where turned down. They wouldn’t have been told we didn’t want them because they didn’t put the best possible face on Australia. I’m sure we invented a more diplomatic phrasing. But exactly the same thing lies at the heart of the issue.
Public service isn’t done on a ‘first in best dressed’ basis. Why do you think the private sector can vet people but the public sector can’t?
Mbats, I agree that she was no-doubt disappointed. But everyone that applied or trained would have been disappointed. Perhaps the crime was worse because she was lead-on a little. I.e. was hired and then fired. But, again, I’m sure Nikki Webster had an understudy who was told ‘Nikki is better than you, you only get the job if she’s sick or injured’. Life’s tough. Not everyone can be the best. And I think you’re selling seven year olds short.
C-C thinks this symbolises how oppressive China is. My argument is that not letting someone appear is no more oppressive than America. If your rocked up and said “Don’t let Phelps into the team, I want to do it” would you feel oppressed when they told you to go away? There’s millions of things we’re not or we’re not capable of. You’re not ‘oppressed’ just because someone tells you so. And the singer isn’t oppressed just because someone told her that she’s not the best looking girl in China.
Greg Sadler said this on Thursday 14 August 2008 at 12:25 am |
Hey C-C, how many times have a Hollywood film found someone else to do the singing while the star lip-synced the high notes away?
I’m not saying it’s completely “nice” for the Chinese government to have done so, but calling them brutal and barbaric just sounds a little too emotional on your part, no?
Seriously, thousands of kids (and parents) would have killed to be one of the 2 girls, even if they’d be criticised as being too ugly or having a terrible voice. They view it as an honour to be chosen. 2 out of 1.3 billion is no mean feat! At the end of the day, they’re just being meritocratic.
And if you’d like to talk about being brutal, barbaric and oppressive, China hasn’t invaded some place or another because of some reports or another.
Joanna said this on Friday 15 August 2008 at 4:51 am |
Joanna wins best comment of the month
Greg Sadler said this on Saturday 16 August 2008 at 12:14 am |
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