China’s state-run propaganda newspaper Global Times In an article on Tuesday, he cited film critics and online commentators complaining about the Netflix adaptation of a Chinese science fiction novel. three body problem I used “people of different skin colors.”
Netflix TV series 3 Physical problems The streamer, which has been banned in the country by the Communist Party, debuted last week. The original novel by author Liu Cixin is one of the most highly acclaimed works of Chinese science fiction literature in modern history. The film depicts how this led to violent riots. Alien invasion and end of indigenous life on Earth.
Liu has hinted in previous interviews that the Communist Party needed to make changes to the text before it would allow him to publish his novel, including the Cultural Revolution mass lynching scene that was supposed to open the novel. This included hiding the text in the middle of the novel.he Said of new york timesnewspaper sympathetic To Mao Zedong, the leader of the Cultural Revolution, he gave the go-ahead to move the scene to the beginning of the English translation, saying he had originally intended to put it there.
According to Liu Gave The showrunners of the Netflix version were “congratulated” on being able to make dramatic changes to the original text, going far beyond changing it from Chinese to English. The most visible change from this book is the inclusion of non-Chinese characters and an international setting, including the United Kingdom.of Global Times I lamented It described the change as a concession to “political correctness” and a common complaint among Chinese online commenters.
“Some support Netflix’s deliberate globalization of ‘The Three Body Problem,'” state media claims, “while the show’s international cast was chosen to ‘soften political correctness.’ Some people believe that the film adaptation was “bland and superficial,” and others criticized it.” ”
“I think the discomfort I’m feeling is precisely due to cultural differences. For example, that localization featuring people of different skin colors is what netizens call political correctness.” , admitted Shi Wenxue, one of the film critics quoted in the article. Shi said the Netflix version “does not accurately represent his work.” [Liu Cixin’s] Values and cosmology. ”
Chinese “netizens” (social media users who believe the Communist Party is not censoring) also complained that Netflix had turned the novel into a “Hollywood tale in the style of Western heroes.”
“There have also been complaints about the adaptation of characters, nationality, and gender,” it added.
However, the state broadcaster did not fully condemn the TV series, stating that the “internationalization” of the story was not “deliberately slandering China at an ideological level”, but rather that more people around the world He insisted that the goal was to make Chinese stories enjoyable.
of Global Times He did not say how Chinese social media users were accessing Netflix shows, given that subscribing to Netflix is illegal in China. according to to hong kong South China Morning Postdue to the huge amount of online piracy and heavy use of VPNs.
“BitTorrent file downloads, a type of peer-to-peer file sharing, associated with the show reached 90,618 downloads in China on March 21st and 72,764 the following day.” morning post It was reported on Monday. “According to data from iknowwhatyoudownload.com, this number of downloads far exceeded that of other streaming original works of his that received positive attention in their first week of release in the country.”
Chats on Weibo, China’s largest regime-controlled social media, also showed that the Chinese government is allowing discussion of Netflix adaptations, even though it does not allow Netflix subscriptions.
“The new series trended on Chinese social media platform Weibo on March 22nd and has been viewed 21 million times so far, making it a “Top Hot” trend on the platform even though Netflix is not officially accessible in China. 1 in the ranking,” a Singaporean spokesperson said. Straits Times observed this weekend.
Some members of the cast of the Netflix version spoke out about changes to the novel, defending the inclusion of non-Chinese characters and people of “different skin color.”
“I think it’s important to have an international version of this story. It’s narrow-minded and it frustrates me a little. Is it safe to say that? I think it’s important to have an international version of this story for a wider audience. I like that it’s become ,” said Rosalind Chao, one of the series’ main characters. Said In a recent interview with hollywood reporter. “If I say this, I’ll probably be blacklisted further in China, but I have a cousin who lived with pigs in isolation for 10 years.” [in China]. He’s in America now, and I first learned that he didn’t want to eat ham at Thanksgiving. ”
“They don’t talk about it [the Revolution]. It’s a huge part of history, and the fact that it’s told here in a way that also encompasses the sci-fi genre is exciting in a way because it’s so ingrained not to discuss it. It’s important for people to understand the history of the world and what makes people do what they do,” Chao explained.
Co-starring Benedict Wong Said NBC News reported that Liu Cixin gave producers “the blessing to move this story into a global story,” a claim that Liu himself corroborated.
“It has to face the whole world. Most of its characters may no longer be Chinese. This may not be very suitable for Chinese viewers, but I still feel completely I’m confident. [Netflix] And I’m looking forward to it,” Liu said. Said He said this in a recent statement posted on the Chinese site Bilibili.
