jOIN tHE mASQUERADE

Being in Shanghai and living with my China-crazed mom, it’s literally impossible for me to escape this Olympic frenzy that has gripped the nation, and in my opinion, not always in a good way. Being half-Chinese, I just can’t look at this event with joy and pride and turn a blind eye on all the controversy that’s been going on.

I had a whole lot of mixed thoughts and emotions going through my head as I watched the first hour of the Olympic opening ceremonies tonight (slept through the 2nd and played FF12 for the rest) that I was planning to rehash here.

But I just finished watching Sex and the City, The Movie, and the sheer stupidity of the film has erased any mildly eloquent things I had to say about this whole Olympic business (seriously, an insult to the original series!).

But considering that I had no intention of even watching the ceremony, the fact that I (somewhat) sat through all four hours surprised me. And the opening acts were good! How they managed the choreography of so many performers is beyond me. The fireworks were breathtaking (although I heard a Japanese company was responsible for those…..), and the Bird’s Nest stadium is probably one of coolest works of architecture in recent years. But there’s just something about the whole polished, squeaky clean surface that is so unsettling and unnerving.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the whole “let’s set the peace dove flying” part of tonight’s ceremony. Seriously, stop with the brute force and missile threats/testing first. How can people focus on the “great, glorious, and peace-loving China” (as emphasized in almost EVERY narrated sentence of the ceremony) when contradicting news reports keep coming in?

China defends rights record, accuses Bush of meddling

China censoring Internet access at Olympics

Chinese paramilitary ‘attack journalists’

And a whole lot more out there…these are merely a few articles from the past few days that I thought were interesting.

And okay, so these stories above are all from CNN, a very biased news source as far as the Chinese are concerned. Now I don’t know the truth either, and I have learned to take all news stories with a pinch of salt (thanks, Newhouse), but as someone who has lived here for the past seven years, I’ve almost come to expect such headlines. And really, a simple browse through the site shows that CNN hasn’t been reporting all bad stuff either, as with other Western news sources the Chinese bash. For example, while not totally related, here’s a well-balanced NYT article: here.

While a lot of this negativity has stemmed from applying Western standards onto a totally different culture, which I know is ridiculous and very unnecessary, but the ideals I have set for my life just lead me to think there’s something wrong with the bigger picture.

Well, it’s not like I have a real point to this post besides of venting my own frustrations. Just seems like everyone around me is being swept up in this pro-China Olympic surge, and is turning a blind eye on all the other stuff. I’ve tried, but the proud Chinese inside of me seems lost forever.

Many have called for a focus on the sports and not on politics, but how is that possible, especially in times like these? Politics will always be involved. The government shouldn’t be getting off the hook so easily. I hope it doesn’t come across like I hate China and am hoping the Olympics fail miserably, but it’s just…blah, frustrating.

I hope the games go well and people enjoy themselves in Beijing. But I also hope that the Chinese use this as a chance to reflect on themselves and foreigners leave with a correct idea of what China is — a growing nation that has made strides in recent decades, but still has MUCH to improve on, and not just take in the pretty side that the government is trying to force down everyone’s throat.