Three Body Problem: Netflix blockbuster ‘Three Body Problem’ divides opinion and stokes nationalist anger in China
Netflix’s adaptation of the hugely popular Chinese science fiction novel The Three-Body Problem has divided opinion in China and sparked nationalist anger online over scenes depicting a violent and turbulent period in the country’s modern history.
Reactions on Chinese social media were mixed following Thursday’s premiere of “The Three-Body Problem,” an eight-episode English-language series based on the Hugo Award-winning novel by Liu Cixin, the country’s best-known science fiction writer. ,
Itlay Prime Minister Meloni: Deepfake video of Italy’s Prime Minister Meloni
Netflix is not available in China, but viewers can watch its content using a virtual private network (VPN) or using pirated versions to bypass strict geo-restrictions.
Liu’s novel, part of a trilogy, is one of China’s most successful cultural works in recent years, attracting a legion of fans around the world, including former US President Barack Obama.
Among the country’s more patriotic internet users, the debate over the adaptation turned political, with some accusing the big-budget American production of casting China in a bad light.
The show opens with a gripping scene depicting Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, which plunged China into bloodshed and chaos for a decade starting in 1966. The students, his colleague and his wife judge him, while his daughter Ye Wenjie (played by Xin Zeng) watches in horror.
Such “struggle sessions” occurred frequently during the ten-year period of unrest, when “class enemies” were publicly humiliated, beaten and tortured by Mao’s maniacal Red Guards.
But some online commentators accused the show’s producers of “cooking an entire tray of dumplings for the sake of a little vinegar sauce” – a popular saying used to describe.
Read the comment on Weibo. “You only understand political correctness!”
Others defended the series and said the scene was faithful to the depictions in the book and was a true retelling of the story.
“The story is more absurd than the TV series, but you guys pretend you don’t see it,” reads a comment on Douban, a popular website for movie, book and music reviews.
Author Liu said in an interview with The New York Times in 2019 that he originally wanted to open the book with scenes from Mao’s Cultural Revolution, but his Chinese publisher was concerned that it would never get past government censors and buried them in the middle. narration.
In the English version of the book, translated by Ken Liu, with the author’s blessing, the scenes are placed at the beginning of the novel.
Ye Wenjie’s disillusionment with the Cultural Revolution later proves important to the plot of the sci-fi thriller, which jumps between past and present.
“The Three-Body Problem” is being developed for Netflix by “Game of Thrones” co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Has been adapted. Weiss and American producer Alexander Wu.
Many compared it to the Chinese TV adaptation that aired last year, a much longer and more elaborate retelling of the book that spanned 30 episodes and received high ratings on Chinese review platforms.
The Netflix adaptation features an international cast and much of the action takes place in modern-day London, making the story much less Chinese.
Some Chinese viewers criticized the change, saying it was a storyline glorifying the West for saving humanity from a disaster caused by China decades ago.
But not everyone chose sides.
“Why do some people always feel the need to make a cultural product the enemy?” Said one Weibo user. “Our version can be good, but theirs can be great. Why do we always have to fight over this?”