A Chinese view on the USA (or a parody of it).

[Petrolheadia]

Welcome! Today I went on the Internet and I found this: http://www.theatlantic.com/internationa ... e-comments
It is an article from a Chinese internet portal. It's hard to tell if it's straight or parody, but it is certainly weird to a Westerner.
What do you think of it? Can any Chinese tell me if the other people of their nation also think like that?

[Arumdaum]

Doesn't seem really weird to me as an American; it seems inaccurate to say that it is a satire of America - it's a sarcastic criticism of how things are in China. If anything, it's praising the US.

if anything i'm mostly just surprised that chinese officials haven't been cracking down on it lol (unless they have??)

but i heard china tolerates some dissent so long as it is disorganized/not pro-democracy/etc.

[Cetacea]

my issue is that as satire its not particularly funny or even clever.

and America has clean rivers and deer running around everywhere?

[ErVaReAn rEpUbLiC]

It's all an unabashed parody of China... You get used to Chinese-style humor after a while (it's mostly superior to Western humor in my opinion).

[Napkiraly]

Doesn't seem really weird to me as an American; it seems inaccurate to say that it is a satire of America - it's a sarcastic criticism of how things are in China. If anything, it's praising the US.

if anything i'm mostly just surprised that chinese officials haven't been cracking down on it lol (unless they have??)

but i heard china tolerates some dissent so long as it is disorganized/not pro-democracy/etc.

They're actually more tolerant of protests than people would commonly assume. So long as its airing grievances say, about the environment, pollution, health, corruption, etc it's generally alright. If it's something like "We want democracy" well then you get crushed by tanks.

[Arumdaum]

my issue is that as satire its not particularly funny or even clever.

and America has clean rivers and deer running around everywhere?

It makes the US seem better than it is, but the US here is merely meant to serve as a contrast to the negative aspects of China it brings up. The point isn't about portraying the US accurately.

[The Serbian Empire]

my issue is that as satire its not particularly funny or even clever.

and America has clean rivers and deer running around everywhere?

If one goes to the right places, then yes.

[Cetacea]

my issue is that as satire its not particularly funny or even clever.

and America has clean rivers and deer running around everywhere?

If one goes to the right places, then yes.

but comparing the best of one country with the worst of another isn't clever satire if one have to go and look for it.

It makes the US seem better than it is, but the US here is merely meant to serve as a contrast to the negative aspects of China it brings up. The point isn't about portraying the US accurately.

ah that makes sense. the humour must get lost in translation:)

[Tuthina]

It makes the US seem better than it is, but the US here is merely meant to serve as a contrast to the negative aspects of China it brings up. The point isn't about portraying the US accurately.

ah that makes sense. the humour must get lost in translation:)

It is more likely due to this particular branch of humour is developed uniquely in China caused by a combination of factors that people might not notice. Personally, I think that decades of attempted control on the people's speech and crackdowns have led to an extremely refined sense of sarcasm and stealth satire from the Chinese people.

In Chinese, we have a saying that goes like "speak according to who you are speaking to". However, nowadays we have improved our words to the point that is becomes "speak in a way so that the one listening will assume accordingly". It is practically a form of art.

[Aggicificicerous]

It's pretty obviously satire. Even if you aren't familiar with Chinese humour, this should be apparent. Probably funnier in Chinese though.

[Risottia]

It is an article from a Chinese internet portal. It's hard to tell if it's straight or parody, but it is certainly weird to a Westerner.
What do you think of it? Can any Chinese tell me if the other people of their nation also think like that?

It's a rather hard satire of the worst aspects of the Chinese society, I'd say.

[Pope Joan]

I personally miss the old steel smelters and papermills.

[Zakuvia]

I personally miss the old steel smelters and papermills.

It's okay, I found them! In China....

[Mushet]

It says straight up in that it's gonna be a parody, how is that had to tell?

[Second Blazing]

my issue is that as satire its not particularly funny or even clever.

and America has clean rivers and deer running around everywhere?

For the most part we do.

[ErVaReAn rEpUbLiC]

Title is extremely misleading.

[Arumdaum]

It says straight up in that it's gonna be a parody, how is that had to tell?

^ This, really.

[Costa Fierro]

Doesn't seem really weird to me as an American; it seems inaccurate to say that it is a satire of America - it's a sarcastic criticism of how things are in China. If anything, it's praising the US.

if anything i'm mostly just surprised that chinese officials haven't been cracking down on it lol (unless they have??)

but i heard china tolerates some dissent so long as it is disorganized/not pro-democracy/etc.

They're actually more tolerant of protests than people would commonly assume. So long as its airing grievances say, about the environment, pollution, health, corruption, etc it's generally alright. If it's something like "We want democracy" well then you get crushed by tanks.

Actually the Chinese government banned a local documentary about China's pollution in which a very well known Chinese TV presenter blamed the government for doing absolutely nothing about it.

[Greater Allidron]

Welcome! Today I went on the Internet and I found this: http://www.theatlantic.com/internationa ... e-comments
It is an article from a Chinese internet portal. It's hard to tell if it's straight or parody, but it is certainly weird to a Westerner.
What do you think of it? Can any Chinese tell me if the other people of their nation also think like that?

The clean air part tho.

[Parhe]

This was entertaining. One of those things that makes you feel better about yourself, even though it is not entirely truthful.

my issue is that as satire its not particularly funny or even clever.

and America has clean rivers and deer running around everywhere?

Parts of it. I remember when I lived in El Paso, there were deer in my neighborhood every week.

[Napkiraly]

They're actually more tolerant of protests than people would commonly assume. So long as its airing grievances say, about the environment, pollution, health, corruption, etc it's generally alright. If it's something like "We want democracy" well then you get crushed by tanks.

Actually the Chinese government banned a local documentary about China's pollution in which a very well known Chinese TV presenter blamed the government for doing absolutely nothing about it.

Well I guess it's hit or miss then. :/

[Costa Fierro]

Actually the Chinese government banned a local documentary about China's pollution in which a very well known Chinese TV presenter blamed the government for doing absolutely nothing about it.

Well I guess it's hit or miss then. :/

This is the same government that banned puns because Chinese netizens were using them to quietly criticize the government.