Some People Are Just Angry

I've been following this for a while, and I've got to say: While I obviously understand the high emotions involved in Sino-Japanese relations, this story just cracks me up:

THREE Chinese actors have evoked outrage and jubilation in the internet chatrooms of China by appearing as Japanese geishas in the film Memoirs of a Geisha. Ziyi Zhang, China's most famous actress, has attracted epithets and accolades from "shameful traitor" to "graceful beauty" for her role.

The outrage stems from the anger that most Chinese still feel over Japan's brutal occupation before and during World War II....

"How could Zhang be willing to portray a geisha? And how could she kiss her lover, played by a Japanese actor? "Why did Zhang accept the role of a Japanese prostitute?" asked one participant in an internet chatroom. "Why did she allow a Japanese man on top of her?" another asked.

The one thing this story missed is my favourite over-the-top quote related to this issue: One overheated commentator wrote (from my memory) "It's not just Ziyi Zhang getting fucked by a Japanese, it's all of China getting fucked by Japan!"

Dude, chill. It's a movie. Worse yet, it's a movie based on a book whose prime constituency seems to be adolescent girls (Based on my observation of customers at the bookstore I work at.) It'll blow over.

While we're on the subject, please disregard this column:. Complaining that CS Lewis' Narnia books are too Christian is... I don't even know how stupid it is. Yes, Disney's allied with fundies to help the box-office. But have you seen the trailers? This movie is going to do well, no matter how many tongue-speakers go see it. I think the most offensive quote from that article is this:

Of all the elements of Christianity, the most repugnant is the notion of the Christ who took our sins upon himself and sacrificed his body in agony to save our souls. Did we ask him to? Poor child Edmund, to blame for everything, must bear the full weight of a guilt only Christians know how to inflict, with a twisted knife to the heart. Every one of those thorns, the nuns used to tell my mother, is hammered into Jesus's holy head every day that you don't eat your greens or say your prayers when you are told.

I realize this horrible woman is still dealing with old childhood traumas here, but holy hell that's awful. I'm not a Christian, but to call the notion of Christ's sacrifice "repgunant" because we didn't ask for it really is repugnant. It was horribly bowdlerized by Mel Gibson, but if you believe in it, the story of Christ's death if an incredibly moving act - because not only was it not asked for, but Christ was mocked and tormented on his way to Golgotha. As for the guilt that Christians inflict, the point isn't that Edmund should feel guilty because Aslan died, but because an innocent died in Edmunds place. Screw what the nuns told this crazy lady, if the character of Edmund didn't feel guilt over Aslan's death, he'd hardly be a sane person - he'd be a psychopath.

I've now officially given too much attention to works of fiction for the day - Memoirs of a Geisha, Narnia,and the New Testament. Told you I'm not a Christian.