Yesterday on WSJ, I saw the image of a North Korean defector tried to set himself on fire to halt the torch relay, and the image of hundreds of red-clad Chinese supporters marched to the anti-China protestors, waving national flags as they took the streets of the South Korean capital to defend the torch.
We can see more clashes between the pro-China and the anti-China demonstrators on the media. Both sides know the camera is out there sending images all over the world, and both sides act crazy. Set oneself on fire? Waving national flags on the street of another country? Like Thomas De Zengotita said in Mediated, "we are all method actors now." All of these protesters are self-conscious performers. Who cares about whether the Dalai Lama is going to talk to the Chinese government? The image of conflict is the one that will attract readers and viewers.
We can see more clashes between the pro-China and the anti-China demonstrators on the media. Both sides know the camera is out there sending images all over the world, and both sides act crazy. Set oneself on fire? Waving national flags on the street of another country? Like Thomas De Zengotita said in Mediated, "we are all method actors now." All of these protesters are self-conscious performers. Who cares about whether the Dalai Lama is going to talk to the Chinese government? The image of conflict is the one that will attract readers and viewers.
2 comments:
The fault belongs to everyone involved, including the protesters, the media and the viewers.
I like the word "performer". It suits this image very well.
Minimoshout,
The idea that everyone is "performer" in eletronic media age is proposed by Thomas De Zengotita, contributing editor at Harper's Magazine. Here, let me quote his words. "Look, we could always say, I don't have power, it's them, the rich and famous ones, those corporations, those prime ministers and presidents, look over there, don't look at me."
You're right that everyone have to take the responsibility for the world he or she makes. We all have the right to express our feeling about China's brutal crackdown on Tibetan. But then the question would be: "what can we do to attract media's attention to Tibetans without being drawn into the vortex of violent conflicts.
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