Since I watched Avatar in a movie theater in Suzhou a couple weeks ago I’ve noticed the Party’s blockbuster Confucius has not swamped movie theaters the way the powers that be proclaimed it was supposed to. In a bid to show domestic audiences and the world who ran the (movie) show in China, the leadership chose to go head-to-head with the highest grossing Hollywood flick of all time. I think Confusion and not Confucius reigned inside the hallowed halls of the China’s Ministry of Information Industry in Beijing when China’s own citizens pushed back on the internet and threw minimal ticket sales. ChinaSMACK translated criticicms of the movie about the life of Confucius that show a leadership increasingly out of touch with the Little Emperors their one child policy has spawned. Universally, on the eve of Spring Festival, young people who would rather play video games in internet cafes than attend university are redefining the value system the Communist Party imposed 30 years ago, when the government began liberalizing the economy.

Though China does not have democracy, the leadership has shown that it will observe popular boundaries of free choice: the Green Dam debacle, Google’s threat to pull out of China, and the tall blue Na’vi staying power in Chinese movie theaters is pointing the way to a new accomodation between the People and the Party.

Further reading: NYT;   Han Han: ‘Confucius’ Movie Gets 2 Points Only ; ‘Avatar‘ Movie, Chinese Reactions & Long Lines In Shanghai …

See also:

China Extradites Aliens

One Country, Two Webs

Keeping Tabs on Netizens

The End of Innocence