John Cena Cowers to China and it’s laughable because it’s so predictable. It would be nice once in a while if Hollywood or its actors actually had the guts to stand up to tyrants like China and maybe stand behind places like Taiwan that are trying to be independent from China’s communism. You would think that Hollywood, which exists in the freest country on the planet, would sympathize with Taiwan’s situation. Apparently not. You would also think that John Cena would at least pretend to portray the men that he does on screen and stand up to bullies like Hollywood and China.
John Cena’s Apology to China is a Symptom of a Much Deeper Problem
John Cena apologizing very pathetically and profusely on China’s social media network Sina Weibo is just a symptom of a much deeper problem in Hollywood and isn’t all that surprising. China’s entertainment footprint is important to Hollywood but China’s footprint in Hollywood is more important to China on a whole other level. China, in the last ten years, has managed to censor any negativity about the country and its human rights violations without so much as a whisper from Hollywood. China has worked its lucrative tentacles into our movie and sports industry which has allowed China to influence, or better yet, censor what is said about them in our movies, TV shows, and sports. There is a great article over at FastCompany.com by Nicole Laporte that dives into Chris Fenton’s book ‘Feeding the Dragon’ that talks about this as well.
Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Posed a Public Relations Problem
You just have to go back as recently as late last year when Disney’s ‘Mulan’ was released and at the end of the credits Disney thanked a
Credit – Disney
number of Chinese entities in Xinjiang for allowing the company to film in the area. Xinjiang has been accused by authorities of enslaving Chinese Muslims and running reeducation camps. Before that PR debacle the main star of the movie, Yifei Liu, posted her support, on Weibo, of the Hong Kong police over protests resulting from China’s encroachment on Hong Kong’s freedoms.. That was a public relations nightmare for Disney which saw #BoycottMulan trending for the longest time. In October of 2019, then Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey posted a tweet in support of Hong Kong that, as a result, effectively banned the NBA from broadcasting in China for one full year. He posted “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” As a result of Morey’s tweet and his support for Hong Kong, the NBA went into full on damage control trying to repair the “damage” that was done. Because China is an investor in the NBA, the NBA was forced to bend the knee and apologize for their transgressions just as John Cena is doing today. All to make sure they don’t offend the Chinese market and the profits that China will produce for these industries.
Related: Hollywood’s Consequence Culture
China’s Influence in Entertainment is Everywhere
I get that John Cena is probably contractually obligated in one way or another to do what he is told, but it would be really nice to see Hollywood stand up to a censoring tyrant such is China. All you have to do is some investigating and you will see how much stake China has in our entertainment industry. Dalian Wanda Group, the world’s largest movie theater operator and China’s largest real estate development company, is owned and founded by Wang Jianlin, a Chinese billionaire business magnate, investor and philanthropist. In addition, they own Legendary movies, Dick Clark Productions, “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”, The Golden Globes, and the American Music Awards. If that’s not influence I don’t know what is. Tencent productions, a Chinese big tech company, is co producing Tom Cruises ‘Top Gun: Maverick’. In the original movie, Tom Cruises flight jacket has a Taiwan flag on it and in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ the Taiwan flag is conspiculously missing from his flight jacket…coincidence? I don’t think so.
Bending the Knee is a Recipe for Disaster
Credit – Disney and Marvel Studios
Bending the Knee to China to protect its investments and profits is a recipe for disaster for Hollywood. It continues to sacrifice good quality stories, based on established characters,(The Ancient One in Dr. Strange swapped for a white female actress) for acquiescence to a communist government that holds tyranny over its people. When you have to hide black actors from their marketing posters(Disney Star Wars, Black Panther), or eliminate them all together, you have basically advertised that you only care about who you’re going to offend rather than making great content. Hollywood has basically said that it supports racism because it appeases a Chinese government that has had a long history of discrimination against black people. Marvel is in the same boat as well as it tries to navigate its Chloe Zhao problem and ‘Shang Chi’s Legends of the Ten Rings’ issues that, according to users on China’s Weibo social media site, have insulted the Chinese people. You can go back as far as 1997 when Martin Scorsese’s ‘Kundu'( based on the life and writings of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama) released and China threatened Disney with no access to their markets and ultimately banned the director and writer from China and banned Disney films and television cartoons. Disney’s CEO at the time, Michael Eisner, bent the knee to China and apologized for releasing the movie. This also forged the way for Shanghai Disney in which China has a majority 53% stake.
Fans are Suffering Because of Hollywood’s Fears of Offending Everyone
John Cena Cowering to China is not new as Hollywood is constantly relenting and appeasing the Chinese government. Hollywood might not realize it, maybe they do, or maybe they don’t care, but the fans are the ones who are suffering because of fears of offending everyone. The summer season is upon us and Hollywood is just about out of excuses to why their movies and franchises are failing. With theaters opening up, Hollywood will finally reap the rewards of their appeasement to China, the social media mobs and their consistent hostilities and condescension towards the fans. With alternative media out there for us all to enjoy, I myself might just sit back and listen to a great Sunday night of the Inquisition with Nerdrotic and Doomcock, a spontaneous livestream from ComicArtistPro Secrets, or a great rant from Heels vs Babyface for my entertainment rather than sit through a politically fueled lecture from any of the Hollywood movies that are about to descend upon us.
John Cena apologized in Chinese on Sina Weibo after calling Taiwan a country during an interview promoting Fast & Furious 9 pic.twitter.com/dzRKIYgEzL
— Joe Yizhou Xu (@JoeXu) May 24, 2021
One Response
Nice reportage Tim, Well done…