Posted on 05/04/2020 7:57:20 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
It looks, at first, like one of a zillion unfunny video clips that now circulate on the internet: Once Upon a Virus features cheap animation, cheesy music, and sarcastic dialogue between Chinarepresented by a Lego terra-cotta warrior with a low, masculine voiceand the United States, represented by a Lego Statue of Liberty with a high, squeaky voice. They speak in short sentences:
We discovered a new virus, says the warrior. So what? says the Statue of Liberty.
Its dangerous, says the warrior. Its only a flu, says Statue of Liberty.
Wear a mask, says the warrior. Dont wear a mask, says the Statue of Liberty.
Stay at home, says the warrior. Its violating human rights, says the Statue of Liberty
The dialogue goes on like thatIt will go away in April, the Statue of Liberty says at one pointuntil it ends, finally, with the statue on an intravenous drip making wild and contradictory statements while the warrior jeers at her.
Although this looks like an Im-bored-at-home amateur production, it is not: The video was published on April 30 by Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency. It has since been promoted by Chinese diplomats and watched, as of yesterday afternoon, by more than 1.6 million people around the world.
It has also been mocked and denounced as crude propagandawhich, of course, it is. Crude propaganda is what Chinas leaders do, both at home and abroad, and since the pandemic began they have stepped up their efforts. But even those who are mocking should beware: Anybody who knows any history will be aware that propagandaeven the most obvious, most shameless propagandasometimes works. And it works not because people necessarily believe that all of it is true, but because they respect the capabilities or fear the power of the people who produced it.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Around 2000 people were trampeled to death in Moscow while waiting in line to view Stalin's body.
Those are difficult things to a kid to absorb, IMO.
When I was a young kid, maybe 9 or 10, I went to see “Dr. Zhivago” on the base theater on the Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, and...I thought it was unbelievably boring and didn’t get it.
I just watched it about a year ago, and there is a lot in that movie that once you have had a chance to absorb there are those types of people, it is a very different viewing experience.
When I was a year or two older and living in the Philippines, I was reading a rather thick and comprehensive book about the POW experience under the Japanese, and I had a very difficult time squaring it with the people I had just spent a couple of years living in close proximity to.
But at the same time I saw the stone markers for the Bataan Death March, so it was hard to refute it in my mind.
Those tears from the very people Stalin mistreated spring from a strange part of the human psyche.
I must admit that “Gulag Archipelago” was a difficult read. “A Day In The Life Of Ivan D.” was more understandable to a ninth grader. I was lucky to have a history teacher who loved history and loved his students.
Both helped me navigate the period where communism still was fashionable and helped me become a Reaganite!
[Anne Applebaum and Maggie Haberman are two peas in a pod. They hate Trump with a passion.]
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.