This Chinese film director
Just won an Oscar
But now Chinese media has canceled her.
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell. We talk a lot on this show about censorship in
China. But censorship can be a tricky thing—especially when it
comes to Chinese state-run media. One day they might promote something. The next day
they might say it undermines China. It’s state-sponsored cancel culture.
For example, China officially loved American basketball.
Until they canceled the NBA because the Houston Rockets manager
posted a tweet supporting Hong Kong protests.
The Chinese government welcomed Tesla to do business in China.
And then one day, Chinese media suddenly criticized Tesla for being ‘arrogant’.
Chinese state-run media changes its mind so fast,
it’s almost not worth getting positive media attention there in the first place.
And it’s also confusing for the people of China to know how they’re supposed
to feel about current events. Because if they feel the wrong way about something,
and they say so, they could get cancelled too.
This is the case for Chloé Zhao She’s a Beijing-born film director who now
lives in America. She won Best Director at the Academy Awards last week for her film,
Nomadland. It’s a story that follows a middle-aged woman living out of her van in the American West.
“Nomadland” has made movie history, and so has Chloé Zhao.
Zhao is the first Asian woman and only the second woman ever to win an Oscar for Best Director.
Her film also won Best Drama at the Golden Globe awards .
Back in March, Chloé Zhao’s stepmother, who is a Chinese comedian and actress named Song Dandan
publicly congratulated Zhao on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter for her Golden Globes win.
The post reads, “My baby: Big congratulations to you!
Your achievements exceed our imagination... You are the legend of our family,
and I believe that your story will also inspire countless Chinese children~”.
Also in March, the Chinese state-run Global Times published this article, calling Zhao
the pride of China for her accomplishment. Everything seemed great! That was until
Chloé Zhao became censored overnight. Chinese state-run media suddenly didn’t
want anything to do with Chloé Zhao. They were almost silent when she won her Oscar in April.
Nomadland was originally scheduled to be released in Chinese theaters on April 23—at
least according to the Global Times back in March.
But Nomadland has still not been shown in mainland theaters.
On Chinese social media platform, Weibo, this hashtag that reads
“Chloé Zhao won Best Director at the Oscars” was censored.
Users can’t even search the hashtag for #93rd Academy Awards ceremony
No one seemed to know why any discussion about Zhao or her film ‘Nomadland’
has come under state censorship.
“To evade censorship, some social media users resorted to using ‘ZT’ and ‘WYZD,’ the initials
of Zhao’s Chinese name and her film’s Chinese title (无依之地), to post about her.”
“‘Why did WYZD and ZT get blocked?
Her win was supposed to be a moment of pride for all Asians around the world.
But the censorship made her look like she filmed something that she should be ashamed of.’”
But these posts still ended up being wiped off of social media,
along with any mention of her acceptance speech at the Oscars.
If you’re thinking that she must have said something in her speech that got her blacklisted.
Well, it doesn’t seem that way at all.
When I was growing up in China, my dad and I would play this game. We would memorize classic
Chinese poems and texts, and we would recite it together and try to finish each other’s sentences.
And there’s one that I remember so dearly, and it’s called the Three Character Classics.
And the first phrase goes “人之初性本善” .
People at birth are inherently good.
This speech was not only apolitical, but it was powerful.
Zhao shared fond memories of classical Chinese poems with a Western audience.
That’s promoting Chinese culture. And it’s a big soft power win for China.
So why has Chinese media canceled Chloé Zhao?
I’ll tell you, right after the break.
Welcome back. The Chinese Communist Party has deliberately censored
this year’s Oscars. That’s not just because of Chloé Zhao.
A documentary on the 2019 Hong Kong protests called Do Not Split was also up for an award.
It didn’t win an Oscar, but on the bright side, Beijing’s ban gave the film some real publicity.
But Chloé Zhao’s Oscar win was also a sensitive topic in China.
“Two state media reporters told The Wall Street Journal that they had received
orders from China’s propaganda ministry not to report on Ms. Zhao’s victory, despite
what they described as her status as a Chinese national, because of ‘previous public opinion.’”
Previous public opinion? That’s a weird way to put it. More like current Communist Party opinion.
The controversy began after Chinese netizens fished out this article from 2013—when
Chloé Zhao was interviewed in Filmmakers Magazine.
In it, Zhao talks about why she chose to pursue film as a career.
“It goes back to when I was a teenager in China, being in a place where there are lies everywhere.
You felt like you were never going to be able to get out.”
This line from nearly a decade ago hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.
That is, the feelings of the Chinese Communist Party.
And once Chinese netizens fished it out,
the Chinese state apparatus suddenly decided to cancel Zhao.
And it’s especially strange, because just a month earlier Chinese state-run media
celebrated her as “the pride of China!”
But now, they’re treating Zhao as if she’s a lying,
China-hating traitor—and silencing her completely.
Which is to say, for Chinese state-run media, silence can be just another type of propaganda.
Now Chloé Zhao comes from a fairly privileged background. Like I said, her stepmother is a
well-known actress. Her father is a top executive. Her family sent her to boarding school in the UK
and then the US. It’s likely that her family is well-connected. But none of that protected her.
But I wouldn’t want you to think that Chinese state-run media completely ignored Chloé
Zhao’s Oscar win. Sure, they didn’t talk about it much in Chinese. But in English,
my favorite state-run media the Global Times was happy to use Zhao’s win
to slam America for its deep-rooted racism and sexism.
So what is the future for the de-personed Chloé Zhao?
Well, there are some concerns over her next directed film,
“The Eternals”. That’s a big-budget superhero Marvel movie set to release later this year.
In China, Marvel movies have been hugely profitable for their parent company Disney.
“Experts say that while Ms. Zhao’s background would likely have been a major selling point
for ‘The Eternals’ in China, it could now become an Achilles’ heel—a potentially devastating blow
for the film and for Marvel, which has reaped huge rewards in the Chinese market
with movies like ‘Avengers: Endgame.’” In other words, the Chinese Communist
Party could cause problems for a completely unrelated Hollywood film because its director
said something 8 years ago about her childhood experience in China.
Never trust the Chinese Communist Party, people!
It’s almost like China is “a place where there are lies
everywhere.” And those lies come from the top down.
And now it’s time for me to answer a question from a member of the China Uncensored 50 Cent Army—fans
who support the show through the crowd funding website Patreon.
BlueCal1033 asks: “If we go to war with China, likely over Taiwan,
should we seize all China owned property in the US and cancel all China owned US debt and call it
war reparations? I mean you know they are going to seize our stuff in China...”
Good question, BlueCal. You’re probably right that the Chinese
Communist Party would try to seize American property inside China if we go to war.
But that doesn’t mean the US should retaliate by doing the same.
I know your question said “China-owned” property, not “Chinese-owned” property. But it can be hard
to draw the distinction sometimes. What if it’s an organization or a company privately owned by
Chinese people living in the US, but secretly influenced by the Chinese Communist Party?
How would you know? Where do you draw the line? We definitely don’t want to target two-and-a-half
million Chinese immigrants. Many of them are actually Chinese dissidents who escaped China.
We don’t want to repeat what the US did to Japanese Americans during World War II.
As for canceling all China-owned US debt, that’s a more feasible idea—because that debt is held
directly by China’s central bank. Thanks for your question.
And a big thank you to everyone who supports China Uncensored on Patreon.
Visit Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored, pledge a dollar or more per episode,
and you’ll also get to ask me questions on the show.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell. Thanks for watching China Uncensored.