Chinese American director Zhao Ting won this year’s Academy Award for Best Director, embarrassing the Chinese Communist Party that blocked her. But the Global Times later published an English-language commentary suggesting that Zhao Ting could “play a mediating role” in the U.S.-China community, but it drew criticism for “banning her and asking her to mediate.
Zhao Ting, who was born in China, won the Oscar for Best Director for “Nomadland” on the 25th, becoming the second Chinese director to win this award after Ang Lee.
Prior to that, “Nomad” had already won the Golden Lion for Best Picture at the Venice Film Festival in September 2020. In early March, Zhao Ting’s interviews with the American magazine Filmmaker in 2013 and with the Australian media in 2020 were published. In early March, Zhao Ting’s interview with Filmmaker in 2013 and with Australian media in 2020 was the subject of a major article, causing Zhao Ting to be under siege in China.
Zhao Ting told Filmmaker at the time that “when I was growing up, China was a country full of lies, and a lot of the information I absorbed as a child turned out to be false, and I developed a rebellious personality”. “Now my country is the United States”.
In early March, the poster for the “You” film (known in China as “Land of the Unwanted”) was pulled from Douban, China’s largest movie and theater information platform. “In early March, the poster for the film was pulled from Douban, China’s largest movie and theater information platform, and the original release date of April 23 was cancelled. Even though Zhao Ting won the Oscar for Best Director, there is still no information on when the “Tour” film will be released in China.
After Zhao Ting won the Oscar for Best Director, the English edition of the Global Times published an editorial titled “‘Land of the Unwanted’ reminds those caught in the crossfire of the U.S.-China confrontation to keep the faith,” saying that Zhao Ting’s win showed her success in the U.S. and that it was hoped she would “grow more mature. “grows more and more mature.”
The editorial added that “in an era of growing confrontation between the United States and China, Zhao Ting can play a mediating role in both societies and avoid becoming a point of friction. And Zhao Ting “cannot get rid of her special label and should use it actively. In promoting cultural and humanistic exchanges between China and the United States, Hollywood should become “a link between the two societies.
This editorial in the Global Times has generated a lot of debate among Chinese netizens of different positions. Some said that Zhao Ting’s award was the “most positive cultural export” in a while; others hoped that the ban on the “Tour” film would be lifted in China, and pointed out that Zhao Ting’s comments and the film’s achievements should be viewed separately, and that “what she said was wrong”? What’s wrong with what she said”?
However, some netizens think that the Global Times’ commentary is “too high” on Zhao Ting, who is still far from “playing a mediating role (in the U.S.-China community). Others criticized the Global Times for “fanning the flames” to shut down Zhao Ting, but now that she has won the award, they want her to “play a mediating role”.
Recent Comments