On November 13, 2005, Andrew McEwen in Beijing contributed the story
for Sunday Herald on the controversy stirred by Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li
starring as Japanese geishas in the new movie "Memoirs of a Geisha", as
angry Chinese netters blamed them for "damaging national pride".
Read the article in
http://www.sundayherald.com/52828
An outline of the article:
* Best and bright are far from being the most popular adjectives used
by Zhang Ziyi's compatriots to describe her. Some 83% of 30,210
voters prefer the catchy combo "Zhang Ziyi has hurt Chinese
people's feelings and damaged national pride", according to a
"poll" by the popular web ****tal NetEase on Friday.
* Just 1699 voters, or 5%, clicked the option suggesting Zhang is
being treated unfairly. A further 11%, or 3354, said an actress's
choice of roles should remain a personal concern.
* "She has no national dignity," wrote Tian Jing, a proud Beijing
doctor, via e-mail. "Why did the Korean star refuse and she
accept?" Jing is commenting Yoon-jin Kim, a Korean actress who now
stars in the U.S. TV series "Lost", who turned down the role later
accepted by Michelle Yeoh in "Geisha". Kim is quoted as saying,
"Even if it is Hollywood, I don't want to start by playing a
Japanese geisha. It's a matter of pride."
* Su Bahong, a white-collar worker in Beijing, wrote, "The movies
that brought Zhang [Yimou] to fame are about how poor, backward and
even twisted the Chinese and Chinese society used to be. And
boom, ironically, they [Zhang Ziyi, Zhang Yimou and Gong Li] won
major international awards...... It's about how you choose to
present and represent your own home and folks."
* Zhang Ziyi has chosen to present herself in bed with - shock,
horror - a Japanese man, actor Ken Watanabe. A typical contributor
wrote, "She sells her body and betrays her country."
* Part of the anger derives from a common misunderstanding about
geisha in Japanese culture. The word is often loosely translated
into Chinese as "prostitute". This word also seems reminiscent of
"comfort women", slave labour and countless other Japanese
wartime atrocities.
* Vicky Zhao, a massively popular mainland Chinese movie star was
attacked during a 2001 concert because she appeared in a fa****on
magazine wearing a mini dress with a pattern resembling an
imperial Japanese flag.
* The good news for Zhang Ziyi is that Zhao recovered. The bad
news is Zhao did so by offering a full and complete apology in
China's official state media.
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