User:ErinEsping/sandbox

• Comment: So much work to do if this is ever going to approach an article. since the last review you have done almost no work. That is not the way to get your draft accepted.
  Sort out the tone.
  Sort out the layout. When you copied and pasted this into place you ended up with hard line endings. No thank you. P:ease read WP:MOS and apply what you read. This is unreadable. 🇺🇦 Fiddle^Timtrent Faddle^Talk to me 🇺🇦 18:48, 26 November 2024 (UTC)

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The CCP has a long history of regulating Pop Culture within China. During the 1960s and the 1970s,

the CCP utilised pop culture, such as model operas, to reinforce a sense of nationalism within the

population. As the country gradually liberalised, the CCP's need to censor popular culture for its own

purposes remained. This manifested in many ways, ranging from banning foreign celebrities, grooming

domestic celebrities to become model citizens, to clamping down on the representation of more liberal

concepts in media. Despite this, netizens have found ways to push back against government

censorship, striking up broader online political discourses as a result.

I. Foreign Celebrities Banned from China

China is known for censoring or banning foreign celebrities when their actions are seen

as challenging Chinese nationalism. A variety of high-profile instances show how the

Chinese government takes tough measures to protect its national image and sensitive

political stances.

In 2015, Katy Perry sparked controversy in Taiwan when she wore a sunflower-themed

dress at one of her concerts. The sunflower is seen to symbolise the 2014 Sunflower

Movement, which protested a trade deal between Taiwan and China, seen as threatening

Taiwanese sovereignty. While the gesture may not have been intended as political, it stirred

backlash in China, where support for Taiwanese independence is a sensitive subject, and

Katy Perry has subsequently been denied entry to China.

Bon Jovi faced the repercussions of including an image of the Dalai Lama in his past

performances. In 2015, his scheduled concerts in China were abruptly cancelled. The Dalai

Lama, seen by China as a separatist figure advocating for Tibetan independence, remains a

controversial figure for the CCP. Bon Jovi's mere association with him was enough to trigger

a ban from performing in China, even though the concerts had been heavily promoted.

Selena Gomez faced similar censorship. After meeting the Dalai Lama in 2014 and posting

pictures of the event, she was banned from entering China. The Dalai Lama's image is

especially inflammatory, as China tightly controls discussions around Tibetan autonomy, and

celebrities associating with the Dalai Lama often face serious consequences.

This seems to be a recurring backlash. In 2016, Lady Gaga met with the Dalai Lama,

sparking immediate backlash from China. Her music and appearances were reportedly

blacklisted from Chinese media and the Chinese government reacted swiftly to the meeting,

showing its intolerance for any association with figures it deems separatist or politically controversial.

Maroon 5 had a similar experience in 2015: their concerts were cancelled

after a band member tweeted birthday wishes to the Dalai Lama. This small act of

recognition was interpreted as support for Tibetan independence, leading to the cancellation

of their China tour.

II. The Celebrity Industry in China and Its Place within the Regime

The "exorbitant visibility of celebrities in China" has created a thriving and powerful celebrity

industry, which must align closely with the government's expectations. High scrutiny makes

celebrities an easy starting point for protests, so they are expected to remain silent about

sensitive issues. The government encourages they be trained in academies from a young

age to understand their future roles.

There has been a moral expectation reinforced by Xi Jinping since 2013. Celebrities are

expected to embody loyalty, respect, and beauty as they are a crucial part of the Chinese

Dream and the plan to come back to traditional China. To be in the public sphere, celebrities

must exhibit the behaviour expected by the government and spread an ideal of stability.

This industry is moulded according to the CCP's expectations. Celebrities represent an

important symbolic capital, making them subject to government instrumentalisation. They

are part of the CCP's plans to promote nationalism and must be moral leaders following

traditional Chinese norms.

This emphasis on morality stems from the idea that they represent China nationally and

internationally. Their political power can be more concrete as they play an advocacy role

by supporting party policies and advocates for government-chosen issues. Over the years,

the government has discovered that, because of their visibility and their symbolism,

celebrities are an effective political tool, leading to a celebritisation of politics. This refers to

a system where the barrier between celebrities and political figures is blurred, causing them

to become one.

Jackie Chan exemplifies the celebritisation of politics: even though he comes from a nonpolitical

sphere, he has expressed his support for the CCP and its policies. He became an

advocate for the Chinese government by praising its control and presenting it as the way to

preserve national stability. He became a member of the Chinese People's Political

Consultative Conference in 2013 and has since expressed his wish to become a member of

the CCP. However, his communist membership is difficult to obtain due to his association

with drugs and alcohol, contradictory Xi Jinping's Chinese dream's morals.

III. Feminism and LGBTQ+ Influence

In recent years, popular culture in China has increasingly become a conduit for progressive

viewpoints about feminism and LGBTQ+ rights, prompting concerns among the CCP about

the potential for these ideas to spur political action.

One notable example is the rise of the "Me Too" movement in China, which gained traction

in the late 2010s. Many women began to share their experiences of sexual harassment

and assault on various social media outlets, which challenged deeply ingrained societal

norms. The grassroots movement demonstrated the capacity of popular culture to mobilise

individuals around a shared cause, ultimately leading to increased public discourse on

women's rights, despite state attempts to suppress the conversation.

In 2015, five young feminists were accused of "disturbing public order" through their plan to

circulate messages against sexual harassment in public transportation. The Feminist Five

utilised popular culture-inspired methods to raise awareness. They organised events like

the "wounded brides" stunt and "occupy the men's room" to highlight women's issues. They

utilised platforms like Weibo and WeChat to spread their message and organise events.

In 2021, popular former tennis player Peng Shuai posted a statement on social media site

Weibo accusing China's former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her. The

post was censored and deleted within the hour, followed by Peng disappearing for several

weeks after this, leading to a flood of international concern for her whereabouts. Chinese

state media attempted to staunch the negative publicity by releasing videos and images of

Peng through government media accounts, seeking to soothe international concerns.

Since 2005, the number of non-traditionally gender-presenting characters, such as

masculine women, effeminate men, genderqueer figures, have appeared on Chinese reality

TV and throughout Chinese pop culture in general. The proliferation of these kinds of

characters and ideas comes as a result of fan cultures being a major force in the rise of

queer pop in contemporary China. Guardian was adapted from a famous online Chinese

Boys Love novel and became a hit due to its homosocialisation of the story. Web series

Queer Comrades helped fill a representation gap, allowing LGBTQ+ creators to produce

their own content and positive portrayals, despite censors in place. This can further influence

perceptions within China: in 2020, nearly half of Chinese media reports held a relatively

positive stance on LGBTQ+ issues

IV. Avoiding Censorship - Methods Used by Fans and Artists

There are considerable efforts within China to prevent the censorship of shows with

particularly large fan-bases. Shows like The Big Bang Theory have been banned due to their

alleged US-centric narrative surrounding scientific development and research. Fans have

attempted to reframe narratives surrounding the show in order to reverse the ban. For

instance, fans of the show attempted to highlight the show's displays of American

promiscuity and capitalistic motives for scientific development. However, House of Cards

depicts the duplicitous nature of US politicians in their search for greater power and prestige,

and has not been banned. This narrative can meet the CCP's goal of contrasting the

Chinese mode of organised governance with America's anarchic systems; the contrast of the

two differing systems can be achieved through the show's portrayals of American politics.

The CCP also has a tradition of altering the framing of Western visual media, while keeping

them available for public consumption. The ending of the cult classic Fight Club originally

portrays a successful bomb plot orchestrated by the main characters' in order to reorganise

society. In the altered version, the authorities foil their plot and the main character gets

admitted to an insane asylum. However, after this received international attention,

authorities removed their alterations to the film and the original ending was reinstated.

As with visual media, control of music has long been embedded in the state-building

practices of the CCP. The government has historically held prejudices against music which it

considers subversive, morally deficient, or counter-revolutionary, and these prejudices

remain to this day, notably with hip-hop, which the state considers as a component of western frivolity

and control. After censorship methods were increased by the State in the

mid 2010's, hip-hop songs in China covered less deviant topics, such as smoking and

drinking. It is apparent that Hip-Hop artists changed the topics of their songs to avoid

potential censorship by the authorities. This does not solely apply to Hip-Hop artists; research has

concluded that Pop songs used less musical and lyrical devices that are traditionally found in hip-hop

music after increasing censorship on the latter.

V. Fan Activism Against Censorship

Netizens being influenced by pop culture to engage in political action or discussion is not a

new phenomenon. In 'Western' countries, fandom has provided a space for like-minded

young people to come together and campaign for the ideals presented in their respective

media, such as organisations like the Harry Potter Alliance. In authoritarian countries like

China, there are more barriers to the actualization of political discursive action from pop

culture due to heavy censorship. Nonetheless, Chinese netizens have utilised their

consumption of pop culture to criticise the government in unique ways.

Discursive action is imperative in a censored society. Fan activism often presents as 'online

political satire': "discursive action...strategically juxtaposes TV fictions with real politics,

expressing political critiques in a playful, subtle and innovative manner." A prime example

is Chinese fans' discussion posts of the show House of Cards (HoC). In discussion posts,

fans linked HoC's themes or plot points to contemporary issues in China. One poster on

Douban examines the 'checks and balances' feature of the American political system,

declaring that "It's hard to imagine that ... could happen in our Heavenly Dynasty." While

the use of 'Heavenly Dynasty' is traditionally used to reference the Qing dynasty, it has been

regularly used sarcastically to criticise the CCP. Thus, Chinese netizens have been able to create

a political discourse that can evade government censorship by using media analysis as the

backdrop.

Fan activism can also translate to political discursive action when access to foreign media is

retroactively censored by the Chinese government. The day after The Big Bang Theory was

removed from streaming services "more than 300,000 posts criticising and analysing the

ban" were published. This quickly devolved into general comments expressing disdain for

the CCP's censorship policies, demonstrating fan activism's ability to enter more political

spheres.