Does anyone find it disturbing that a movie is being made about Mao Zedong in a positive portayal?

Question

http://granitestudio.blogspot.com/2007/05/american-producer-seeks-beijings.html

This guy killed more people than Hitler.

Answer 1

That's repulsive.

I hate mousy tongue.

Answer 2

And some believe he saved China from more death.

Mao was a complicated figure. Dunno, would you prefer
Chang Kai Shek? Stalin?

Put it into context. Mao was no saint or satan. Mao is considered a great hero in China still.

I'm not sure where you have the figures that Mao killed more than Hitler.

Mao did some very amazing things.

During WWII Japan invaded China, and that was bad. Talk about brutal mass killings and torture.... That was bad.

The US after WWII set up a dummy government led by a guy named Chang Kai Shek. No one liked him, because his government suppressed a lot of people, and a lot starved.

When Mao became powerful upsetting the Chang/US government, a lot of things came into being. First, the tradition of wrapping (warping) woman's feet was aggressively eliminated. Women's power in the household became more powerful, and women were encouraged to work in order to add to the economy. Women's rights as never before were enforced.

There was an aggressive war on starvation. This is controversial, because this is where many people were pushed out of the cities into the country to work in agriculture. Mao believed that all people should be productive. Mao was not good with criticism, or the artistic class, and therefore did his best to suppress that as well.

The worst of Mao was the cultural revolution. This was towards the end of Mao's life, and it was a desperate grab at power, Mao over the years had both real and imagined threats. Mao and many of his cronies saw most of the imagined threat coming from the traditional cultural class and intellectuals. This was brutal, and very bad. China has since revoked the vast majority of policies that enacted this movement, and sentenced to death it's main enforcers and conceivers, known as the Gang of Four.

Mao was both an idealist and a power monger. He certainly is one of the most important figures in not only Chinese history, but also in world history. We are still living his legacy.

Now, am I upset over a movie which portrays him in a positive light? I'm delighted to see any movie about this guy. It opens the artistic debate! It also depends on who is making the movie. If it's a Chinese movie maker, then I suspect the positive portrayal is necessary. If it's an American, then I question the interpretation of whether or not it's "positive."

Mao was not a despot, but certainly not a man to be emulated.

Answer 3

In a word, no. There are many more pressing matters to be concerned about than some movie no one will ever see.

Answer 4

I am not really disturbed and it is not really surprising. People have made movies for decades about infamous people in a positive light, it's called propaganda. I just won't go see it.

Answer 5

If the movie portrays him well in his early years, then it might be a good movie. If it portrays him well in his later years, then it is not a good movie.