Ape Rifle

Montreal, Quebec

Mr. Spielberg’s much publicized about-face regarding his participation in Beijing’s upcoming summer spectacle is a media dream come true, a potent attention-grabbing mix of Hollywood celebrity, African misery and Chinese power. Coming soon after a similarly themed mini-scandal in Britain, this development bodes ill for the host government, so intent on keeping this sporting circus framed solely through the prism of smiling pandas and dancing ethnic minorities. As the usual activists get fired up by the renewed publicity of their cause(s), it could be a long and laborious run-up to August for internet censors in the Middle Kingdom. 

It is, perhaps, unfair that Beijing is singled out for its amoral pursuit of black gold via tainted regimes when numerous other nations undertake similarly unsavory ventures in other, less publicized locales. With so many bloody hands on the international stage, it is difficult to even fathom the number of boycotts that, in an ideal world, would grind to a halt any major transnational gathering in 2008. After all, Mr. Spielberg’s native land has in recent years invaded (and continues to occupy) another nation in an unprovoked attack. Post-Soviet Russia has spent a good amount of its time and energy reducing Chechnya to rubble. Canada, with its rapid development of the carbon-suicide oil sands in Alberta, could feasibly be accused of grave crimes, albeit of a more environmental nature.

While it is highly questionable whether international politics should entangle sporting events, Beijing has nevertheless managed to shoot itself quite squarely in the foot in this instance. Its calls for an ‘apolitical’ event fall on disbelieving ears since it has effectively made the hosting of this two-week sporting event a defining element of its own agenda. Its messages of sports unity and non-interfere translate, beyond Chinese borders, into “if anyone is going to play these games for political gain, it’s damn well going to be us”. When you play with hubris, you have to expect to get burnt. Position the Games as a flexing of your muscles, and those who disapprove of your actions (for reasons founded or unfounded) will seek to humble you. This is not rocket science.

Beyond this debate, however, lies a much deeper and more disturbing question: what was Spielberg doing as an artistic advisor to the Beijing Games in the first place?I have trouble believe the organizers of these games imagined the ideal opening or closing ceremony to resemble a Universal Studios theme park, with dinosaurs crashing about or an aging Harrison Ford being chased into the Bird’s Nest by a boulder. A segment about Munich, perhaps? Tom Hanks carrying in the torch dressed in vintage WWII GI gear or, dare I say it, Zhang Ziyi in full geisha attire? 

A culture as rich and spectacular as the Chinese should not need recourse to the talents of an American blockbuster king to throw together a few song-and-dance routines. Evidently the whole affair smells of a publicity stunt, albeit one now gone wrong. That the Chinese organizers felt they needed a recognized celebrity from a foreign land to add some credibility to their party plans reveals a rising giant that is still insecure in its own skin, an awkward teenager on a growth spurt that craves approval. Unaware of its own attractive qualities, China seeks to imitate the popular kids in the hope of fitting in. Enter Rem Koolhaus, Sir Foster and the usual suspects to play off this for the sake of realizing their wildest architectural fantasies. 

And I, for one, find this extremely unfortunate. The Chinese have so much to offer in their people, history and culture, but it is questionable whether any of this will truly be on display come August. The need to impress at all costs long ago gained primacy over such humble considerations. And so visitors should be forgiven for any confusion when they encounter Chinese culture  as a haphazard collection of berserk architectural monoliths designed by Europeans. At the very least, however, they can now be relieved that a mechanical Jaws will not be attacking the opening ceremony.