Oh Snap!

I would OFFICIALLY like to thank the Chinese government for sticking it to "the man" recently. The man in this case being the makers of Memoirs of a Geisha. The New York Times reported today that the Chinese government canceled the showing of the Memoirs due to concerns that the film would create even more anti-Japanese sentiment in the country. The government feared that the public would be angered by seeing Chinese actresses portray geishas, whom some Chinese, according to the Times, see as prostitutes. After reading today's article the decision to use Chinese actresses in the movie all made sense. As I pointed out in my previous posting, box office sales were of primary concern in the making of the movie and certainly not cultural authenticity or sensitivity. By using Chinese stars Ziyi Zhang and Michelle Yeoh as a draw, the movie's makers hoped to pack theaters in China, a country with a gi-normous market of over a billion consumers. Officials at Sony Pictures in Los Angeles, who planned to distribute the film in China, said they were disappointed by the decision. No shit?!! Ha! Deserves them right. Instead of increasing sales the decision to use Zhang and Yeoh actually ended up biting the filmmakers in the ass since the stars' roles in the film caused the cancellation in China. Finally, I would also like to give a very special thanks to all the hustlers running the streets of Beijing and Shanghai who are reportedly selling bootleg copies of the film for a dollar. Thanks for rubbing in an extra little "fuck you" to Sony, Columbia Pictures, Steven Spielberg and Rob Marshall.