On June 16, Zhao and a small band of his chums waved a banner in the vicinity of the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, calling for a boycott.
His reasoning appears to be that for a start Hollywood's Sharon Stone recently said the Sichuan earthquake is due to "karma" and Hollywood is always creating people like her through its atmosphere and the values it promotes and some people like that might be working on this film. And Kung Fu Panda has stolen Chinese cultural treasures and wants to make money out of Chinese people who have been physically and emotionally damaged by the earthquake. And the film has some slight connection with Steven Spielberg because it was released by DreamWorks SKG which was co-founded by Spielberg and Spielberg was against the Beijing Olympics and pulled out of his role in the Beijing Olympics in February which angered many Chinese.
On June 16, Zhao and a small band of his chums waved a banner in the vicinity of the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, calling for a boycott.
Tong Gang, the Director of the Bureau, had the courtesy to meet with the artist for a total of twenty minutes. The Director said that the Bureau understood the deeply-felt concerns of Zhao and his chums, but pointed out that the movie has been examined by the Bureau, which had no problem with the film's content. As for a possible suspension, or postponement of distribution, he felt that this was primarily a matter for the film's distributors.
Yesterday, Zhao triumphantly announced in his blog that the Film Bureau had told him, thanks to his unstinting efforts, that they had decided to put a temporary stop to the release of the film in Sichuan.
Paramount Pictures, parent company of DreamWorks, refused to comment on the suspension yesterday but said the film was screened in other Chinese cities as scheduled.
Zhao's conduct, and the film's suspension in Sichuan, has provoked an intense reaction among movie lovers. Many netizens have blasted his remarks, dismissing them as shameless self-promotion. A generation of young Chinese has grown up with American movies, and many of those commenting could not understand the Film Bureau's and the distributor's decision.
