Staggering. Capitalism has taken well-deserved hits forever for its reliance on packaging to increase desirability. Only in a capitalist society are women dogged with the need to be young and attractive--not only for themselves, but so that they can drape themselves on shiny new cars and other material excesses to intrigue consumers to ante up. Woman-flesh is ubiquitous in marketing, even for the most obscure items (fly fishing rods? motor oil?) so that heads will turn and cash registers can do their thing.
So lets turn to the communist dream state, which sees the good citizen as a virtuous individual, working hard for the glory of the Chinese motherland--showing the world the errors of superficial materialism.
Chinese officials have admitted deceiving the public over another highlight of the Olympic ceremony: the picture-perfect schoolgirl who sang as the Chinese flag entered the stadium was performing to another girl's voice.
The girl in the red dress with the pigtails, called Lin Miaoke, 9, and from a Beijing primary school, has become a national sensation since Friday night, giving interviews to all the most popular newspapers.
But the show's musical designer felt forced to set the record straight. He gave an interview to Beijing radio saying the real singer was a seven-year-old girl who had won a gruelling competition to perform the anthem, a patriotic song called "Hymn to the Motherland".
At the last moment a member of the Chinese politburo who was watching a rehearsal pronounced that the winner, a girl called Yang Peiyi, might have a perfect voice but was unsuited to the lead role because of her buck teeth.
So, on the night, while a pre-recording of Yang Peiyi singing was played, Lin Miaoke, who has already featured in television advertisements, was seen but not heard.
"This was a last-minute question, a choice we had to make," the ceremony's musical designer, Chen Qigang, said. "Our rehearsals had already been vetted several times - they were all very strict. When we had the dress rehearsals, there were spectators from various divisions, including above all a member of the politburo who gave us his verdict: we had to make the swap."
Capitalism may indeed be a grinder that uses persons for their abilities and then casts them off, but make no mistake: so is communism. The difference is that the former places the market at the handle; with the latter, a dictatorship takes hold. Despite the claim that every member of the proletariat is treated equally, the result is, as one animal on a certain farm remarked, "Some animals are more equal than others."
With this story revealed, I hope many a parent has a talk with many a daughter about the injustice of it all. The injustices, actually, are many, beginning with a "gruelling competition" for young children, the pressure, the pain, the inordinate pride, and then the other girls hurt along the way to the politburo members brutal decision.
We all know that show business is tough, but evidently when the curtain is iron, not velvet, it's even tougher. Comrade Potemkin, call your office.
+JMJ+
That is just cruel! >=( I feel so badly for Yang Peiyi.
Posted by: Enbrethiliel | Tuesday, 12 August 2008 at 09:34 AM