The Airing of V for Vendetta on Chinese State Television - Essay Example

?The Airing of V for Vendetta on Chinese Television The Chinese run movie channel CCTV 6 recently surprised people by airing the anarchist-themed film V for Vendetta. People did not understand why the already banned movie which could easily bring discomfort to the Chinese political environment was broadcasted on CCTV-6, China Central Television’s movie channel. The most surprising factor about this event was that it did not omit even the subversive lines ‘The people should not be afraid of the government, the government should be afraid of the people’ from the film. The 2005 released movie gained wide attention throughout the world, and the protagonist Vigilante’s Guy Fawkes mask has been adopted by several groups as their symbol. Now with the media event in China, the movie has become bone of contention among the common Chinese people and Beijing elite groups alike, and it is likely to cause notable impacts on the Chinese media and population as a whole. The Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman starred film is set in a fictional English community, and exposes a daring, charming freedom fighter known as ‘V’ (Vigilante), who initiates a revolution against a futuristic authoritarian regime. The James McTeigue directed movie is based on the 1982 comic book V for Vendetta written by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. It depicts a futuristic situation in Britain where V has to use radical tactics to fight the oppressive fascist state to regain the state’s freedom. Another main character of the story is Evey, a young woman who is rescued by V from a crucial life-and death condition. As the story progresses, she also identifies her role in the mission carried out by V and voluntarily joins him. V wears the mask of Guy Fawkes and invites all the people to join him to blow up the parliament and thereby regain freedom and justice. Although V’s activities are genuine and reasonable, the corrupt Chancellor deems them as acts of terrorism. The movie begins reminding the event when Guy Fawkes plotted to destroy the parliament and the king in order to regain catholic sovereignty in England. The movie really intends to criticise the traditional tactics (fear and the voice of God) used by the government to create a feeling that the wrath of God will soon avenge who went against the regime. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter). In this context, the airing of the movie V for Vendetta raises numerous questions with regard to the Chinese censorship laws and entertainment policies. The Chinese government has been very much concerned about preserving its political authority and hence maintained a tight rein on traditional and new media so as to prevent any potential threats from their part. The government has very often entailed strict media controls which involved but not limited to using monitoring systems, shutting down publications or websites, jailing etc. As Bennet (2013) points out, China's censorship of its media has been getting attention recently when Southern Weekly, a liberal-leaning paper based in Guangzhou, staged an extensive confrontation with the government. Google's battle with the Chinese government over Internet censorship in China is another example. However, as many thinkers believe, the airing of the controversial film indicates China’s attempt to balance its media controlling power with the growing need for information. In other words, it seems that China is badly in need of press freedom while at the same time worried about the impacts the liberalisation would bring upon the economy. The airing of the V for Vendetta would be counted as a remarkable event in the history of Chinese media. The event got wide media coverage and multiple responses around the globe. As The Guardian reported dated 20th December 2012, ‘after the telecast, China's internet crackled with quotes of a famous catchline from the movie: “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people"’. The reports indicate that people at the helm of affairs were not very much aware of the content of the movie or few were aware of the ban. For instance, the spokesman for the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said he had noticed the online reaction to the broadcast. He also said, ‘I've not heard of any ban on this movie’ (The Guardian). Another person commented, ‘I begin to suspect that I was dreaming!’ (Bannister, n. d.). The Hollywood Reporter, dated Dec 20, 2012, concluded that ‘either CCTV was taking a risk under China's censorship, or this was a signal that new Communist leader Xi Jinping is committed to reform’. (Source: The Guardian 20th December 2012) Evidently, the event involved some sorts of unclear objectives and raised a lot of confusion among the viewers of the movie and officials concerned. Many people believe that the incident was not inadvertent but reflected the stance of certain individuals who really propose reforms. Another report in Huffington Post said, ‘some commentators and bloggers think the broadcast could be CCTV producers pushing the envelope of censorship, or another sign that the ruling Communist Party's newly installed leader, Xi Jinping, is serious about reform’ (Watt, 2012). The report in the Yahoo movies also gives the same opinion regarding the stunning event. It said that the airing of the controversial movie V for Vendetta points the possible changes that would occur under Xi, China's new leader. The report reminds that Xi had already announced a ‘trimmed-down style of leadership’, which would insist officials to ‘reduce waste and unnecessary meetings and pomp’, because Xi wanted to satisfy the public who are heavily affected by local corruption (Yahoo Movies, 2012). (V for Vendetta. Director James McTeigue (left), producer Joel Silver (center), and Hugo. Source: Yahoo Movies, 2012). One comment appeared on the China Digital Times said that the airing of the movie could be understood as linking with the previous CCTV broadcasted interview of Labor Camp University Village Official Ren Jianyu. It continued, ‘It’s been one unbelievable action after another! Could they be testing the waters for greater room for free speech? Or perhaps this was just the new leadership trying to butter up us rabble?’ (China Digital Times, 2012). The film has indeed conveyed a message to the people of China; and human rights activists have already made use of the film to protest against the human rights situation in China. The YouTube video link given below would show this fact. http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/12/18/censorship-lift-for-v-for-vendetta-shocks-china/ A Beijing-based rights activist Hu Jia wrote on Twitter as follows, ‘this great film couldn't be any more appropriate for our current situation. Dictators, prisons, secret police, media control, riots, getting rid of 'heretics' ... fear, evasion, challenging lies, overcoming fear, resistance, overthrowing tyranny ... China's dictators and its citizens also have this relationship’ (cited in The New Indian Express, 2012). Evidently, the media event has fueled the debate on press rights across China. As per the reports found in MSN Entertainment, Xie Fei, a filmmaker and Beijing Film Academy professor, published an open letter on Sina Weibo on Saturday calling for authorities to replace the outdated movie censorship system which has been in force since 1950 (Watt, 2012). The new Communist Party secretary Xi Jinping's election itself has been given prominent coverage by most newspapers and media outlets including China’s Central Television Channel. It seems that the airing of the movie has raised a lot of expectations among the people of China regarding the changes likely to occur in censorship laws and media rights under the new leadership. However, some thinkers are of the opinion that the reformation would reach only to an extent where the single party system is not challenged. Among the millions of online comments on the airing of the V for Vendetta, one goes like this: ‘what this country needs aren’t tall towers, but hope. The character “V” is my father, my mother, my younger brother, my friend. He is both you and me; he is each and every one of us. My goodness CCTV-6, you have actually broadcast this movie; all along I had thought that this movie is banned in China!’ (cited in Terroir, 2012). Although China's constitution guarantees freedom of speech and press to its citizens, it also raises certain restrictions in the form of media regulations. For instance, recently in April 2010, the government revised its laws and insisted that all media including Internet companies comply with ‘Law on Guarding State Secrets’. According to critics, the new rules can be used to censor any information once the authorities deem as subversive or someway harmful to the political interest of the government. This really forces media people to ensure the political acceptance of the content they publish. However, recent incidents such as the airing of V for Vendetta and the growing number of nongovernmental publications indicate that China’s media is entering a new phase of change so as to bear up the growing information needs of the economy without compromising its policies. To illustrate the new changes, Shirk (2010, p. 70) points out the mass lead poisoning case in Fengxiang came to light as the concerned villagers reached the office of Sanqin Metropolitan Daily, the local commercial paper. The writer comments that if it had been earlier, the incident would not have become known to the outer world. Evidently, since 2001 when China bid for the Beijing Olympics, it has been making intensive efforts to improve the environment for local as well as the foreign media because the nation wanted to demonstrate its current and progressive image before the world. Thus, China has been entering a new phase of development by professionalising its media management system; and as part of this strategic move, it released several journalists who had been jailed for crimes against the state. Although the changes have been mainly driven by the state’s objective to showcase its progress before the world, they caused considerable levels of socio-economic developments in the country. The ultimate effect was more profound, so the people of China became aware of their rights as citizens, and at the same time the leadership became more confident. Hence, analysing the history of China’s media control strategies, it seems that the airing of the movie V for Vendetta was purposeful. Admittedly, the result surpassed the wildest expectations of the authorities as it caused wider coverage and very heated responses both locally and globally. The airing of the no cut movie has also repealed the argument that the reporting liberalisation granted by the state would be withdrawn soon after the Olympics. All these recent developments as a whole show that present China is concerned about how the global media perceive and report on the state’s policies. Today China, though at a slower pace, tends to comply with the international standards and allows access to information better than ever before. In response to the airing of the movie, Liu Shanying, a political scientist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Associated Press: ‘It is very possible that CCTV decided by itself to air the movie, possibly due to a gut feeling that China’s film censorship will be loosened or reformed’(Boehler, 2012). In short, the airing of the movie V for Vendetta caused much debate among Chinese ‘netizens’. The most surprising factor about the broadcast was that the film had been allowed to retain the much controversial quotes such as ‘people shouldn't fear their government, a government should fear the people’. Although viewers and thinkers are deeply at odds regarding who was at play, the event has raised hopes that the pace of reform has been accelerated in the State. Another notable aspect was that the responses of the officials toward the event were rather passive and no one raised questions about the unusual act. Also, regardless of the intention of the airing, the event would change the global media’s perceptions on the state’s policies in a way that bring far reaching positive effects on the economy. References Banister, T. (n. d.) V for Vendetta shown on Chinese state TV. Shangaiist [online] Available at [Accessed 18 March 2013]. Bennett, I. (2013) Media censorship in China. Council on Foreign Relations. [online] Available at [Accessed 18 March 2013]. Boehler, P. (2012) Chinese state-run television airs anarchist movie. Time News Feed, Dec 21 [online] Available at [Accessed 18 March 2013]. China Digital Times (2012) [online] Available at [Accessed 18 March 2013]. The Guardian (2012) China anti-censorship hopes rise after state TV airs V for Vendetta, Dec 20 [online] Available at [Accessed 18 March 2013]. Hollywood Reporter (2012) V for Vendetta broadcast on China Central TV shocks viewers. [online] Available at [Accessed 18 March 2013]. The New Indian Express (2012) China's airing of V for Vendetta stuns viewers. Dec 20. [online] Available at [Accessed 18 March 2013]. Shirk, S. L. (2010) Changing media, changing China. New York: Oxford University Press. Terroir (2012, Dec 17) V for Vendetta Shown ‘Uncut’ on CCTV, bullet-time made free in China. Synopathic. [online] Available at (Accessed 18 March 2013]. Yahoo Movies (2012, Dec 20) China's airing of V for Vendetta stuns viewers. [online] available at [Accessed 18 March 2013]. Watt, L. (2012, Dec 20) V for Vendetta airs in China, stunning TV viewers. Huffington Post. [online] Available at [Accessed 18 March 2013]. Read More