Jia Lin’s Weblog

Boycott France?

Although the following is totally an annoying spam in my mailbox, I read it through, since I respect all efforts on research.

“It lists French products to boycott. You will probably be surprised to learn the French own everything from Wild Turkey to Car & Driver to Motel 6 to cheesy Spencer Gifts to disgusting Democrat schlock-show host Jerry Springer.

Note: People have written in that Grey Goose vodka is French, but FrogWeenies writes, “After a thorough check of the brand, we are confident Grey Goose is an American brand, owned by an American company.” People have sent NewsMax more reports of French companies, and if we can confirm them we’ll post them.

Hmm.. Now I really wonder if the spamner is for real or just joking.

I really need to be careful when next time I am asked “what do you think of the war?”

Coming from a country labeled as “dictatorship”and a country experienced the ideology paranoid in cultural revolution not too long ago, this scene is way too much familiar and chilling for me.

Win-Win

I’ve been so preoccupied by my exhausting dispute with HP about my defected notebook, that I could not help to make it as an example of “conflict management” to my COM101 students. Here is the scenario: I want my all money back (since they could not fix the problem after three attempts) or replace it with a similar model that fit my needs; HP want to gives me only 40% of refund or accept a replacement which is a complete different model with nothing I like (they claimed they don’t produce anymore the model I purchased). A total deadlock.. Well, the “win-win” solution my students proposed is that I paid a little extra money to HP for exchange of a better model with all the features I need, so they don’t lose money, I got a computer I like. Snap! I’m really delighted by my students’ potential for business. At least they get some better idea than the high-rank manager (what he claim about himself) in HP.

No more HP.

Ban the anonymous

Have to delete some comments posted by anonymous sources and try to ban their accesses. One of the major consequences of computer-mediated communication is irresponsible words and deeds. When people don’t reveal their identity, they ignore the responsibility to what they say and what they do. I hate chatrooms and most of BBS because of too much nonsense and curses under the cover of alias, which I don’t want my blog to become to. I believe in open forum for free speech. If you dare to speak up your opinion, don’t be afraid to tell who you are. If you are enjoying hide and seek, go to BBS or chatroom.

Love

Part I. Love of ordinary people, a dialogue

“I love you”
“why?”
“Because we are together”
“So you will love whoever together with you?”
“But I’m together with you, which makes other possibility impossible”
“I’m disappointed; you don’t love me because of my virtue”
“No matter what virtue of you attracts me, there is always better one out there, which means the opportunity I might encounter one day.”
“So you don’t believe love based on attraction?”
“I believe love built on loyalty.”
“Hmm, But, I’m still sad that you don’t love me for who I am”
“Dear, I love you because what we are. Isn’t that the most formidable relation?”

Part II. Love of extraordinary people, a critique

Refer to Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, the movie based on their story thrilled me last night. And other famous and tempestuous love stories of extraordinary people include Augustine Rodin and Camille Claudel, Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, Fran�oise Gilot AND Pablo Picasso?you name it.

Why they are tragedy: they love each other for attraction of talent or virtue, sparkle from the encounter of noble souls, for uncompromising idiosyncrasy; unfortunately, extraordinary people are not very good at being engaged in exclusive relationship.Extraodinary people keep themselves busy on pursuit of perfection or something better to the end of life. Even I have to agree what a waste it is if their biography not filled up with love affairs. For artists, active love affaris keep bringing them artistic inspirations. I was so touched by Frida when she confessed sadly that she loved Diego for who he is, and she has to suffer for the cost of loving philanderer. I admire earthshaking love happened to those extraordinary people, and I admire how they are willing to suffer from the pain of loving wild soul. I wonder if it is coincidental that all these women are dubbed as the pioneers of feminism and their significant half have something to do with Communism (hmm.., interesting) Does it mean only those feminists are strong and liberal enough to deal with those complex but immortal love affairs, or they become so strong because they have to put up with their philanderer partners (Camille Claudel was not strong enough, so she ended up in mental institute)? Sure I understand that an important notion of Feminism means sex liberation, I’m just not sure if it is a revenge or at least a challenge to male philanderers.

Then I have to admit that I am not as strong as those extraordinary super-women, and I can not afford the price of being immortal, and I only deserve mediocre love.

Do it, don’t sing it.

I’m still surprised to know Rolling Stone get censored in China. I was listening to a Canadian radio, while a DJ comments that China is still in 1955. I don’t really agree. Thrity years ago, most people even never listened to any songs in English, but now Rolling Stone came to Beijing. Thirty years ago, sex is such a taboo in Chinese society, people seemd not to have it in mind at all; but now college students move in with their girlfriends or boyfriends; writers of new generation explicitly depict their sexual experience in best-selling books; mid-aged men have very young lovers outside home; Tens of millions of prostitutes swampped in city of any size ; underground strip show is so popular that they just perform any where even in public park; even AIDS spreads in amazing speed.

Law is still the law: prostitution and strip show are illegal, no porn in any mass media, though eveyone know how easy you can get access to these things. But indeed, I really don’t know any Chinese song about sex! So what, even you can’t enjoy Mick Jagger singing “brown suger” live on stage, you heard it long time ago in pirated CD.

Are we calling this society hypocrisy? well, maybe a little bit: banning a harmless little song is really making way to big scene, not to say most of people don’t care (or don’t understand) lyrics in foreign language. However, even I’m among the generation growing up in 1980s, I could not image Rolling Stone could be allowed to performe in national theater or arena (I remember Michal jackson was banned once). It just makes me feel China is so “not China” any more. I believe that’s the concern of the people on authotrity too. Yes, if you go to China, you will find eveyone complaints to you how degenerating th whole society has gone since 1990s, but people still try to preserve a little poor traditonal values or social norms, even it is so vain and superficial. I completely understand the authority’s concern and stand by them. I still like the China where sex is something you do and feel a secret joy, but don’t talk about, not to mention sing about.This is not hypocrisy, it is a part of the culture.

Biology of sex again

This one explains why it is reasonable for young women to marry old (very old and rich) men, but not the other way around (young men married very old women). According to zoologist perspective:

“First, the fact that they are old suggests longevity in their gene pool. Second, wealth indicates alpha male qualities. Third, the fact that they are rich and old suggests alpha male qualities so strong that they are sustainable throughout the already established long life. The danger is, with a rich young man, that he might be an alpha flash in the pan; the stamina and commensurate value of his alpha-ness has not been established. Only powerful genes can sustain displays of supremacy throughout the twilight years. It doesn’t work in reverse, with young men fancying rich older women, because of the decline in female fertility, culminating in menopause well before the long-lived gene can be established.”

No-surprising research

Finally, I could have something substantial , except Bobo doll and mean world symdrone to tell my COM242 (media effects) students in the summer. We’ve spent so much time talking about so much about how bad the TV violence has impact on children, but all of them are more than less just assumptions and hypothesis.

Even the researchers of this study on Children-TV Violence Link claimed that the results are not surprising. That’s the sadness about social science: the researchers spent 20 years to prove some self-evident proposition. Do we know that violent vision affects our moods and behavior? obviously. Do we know that kids ara imitating whatever they learn from TV? Of course. Do we know we learn about our values and beliefs from mass media? I guess. But the researchers still need 20 years to follow hundreds of viewers from their childhood to adulthood to reach this conclusion.

Without the painstaking emperical research on human subjects, all common place can only be assumption of hypothesis, so there has to be some one to do this kind of none-surpricing research. The real question is what is going to change when the hypothesis is supported by emperical data? Does it make difference on the society then? If we are lucky, the policy maker will be more convinced to engaged on some grounded social change, but again, the mission skips from social science researchers.

Maybe my conclusion is that social science researchers should be happy if they can point out or identify the social problem, and feeling lucky if someone pays attention to you. But even the pebble does not cause any ripple, don’t take it personal-because most of them are not supposed to.

The Quiet American

We went to see this movie partly because that is the only one, for the past three or four months, received a bit of positive assessment from the New Yorker (who even deemed Chicago and The Pianist as total failure). Second, most of other movies in theaters recently are really farce, which I felt could not even make you laugh. So we decided going for some serious thing. Lastly but not the least importantly, I love Graham Greene��s writing style, although the only thing I really read is his the End of the affair. Now I know he is not only good in writing about love and faith, he is also very political and anti-American.

I have to say, I truelly admire the tolerance of American culture, which allows this British novel going to big screen, not only once, but twice (the first attempt was in 1955). The story is revealing America��s conspiracy of legitimizing their war on Vietnam by setting up and manipulating terrorism towards innocent civilians. I can not help to associate the story to current war on Iraq, and it keeps me reflecting more about media image and framing. And only after the movie I realized the negative connotation of “Quiet” in the title, how Graham dislike and disdain American!

There is another story line about a triangle love affair among the British man, the American man, and a pretty Vietnamese girl. To me it symbolized the Westerners�� incurable obsession with this mysterious land of IndoChina and wistfulness for deep involvement. The girl moved in and out between the two men, which to me, symbolized the fate of this colonized nation.

Christopher Doyle, the cinematographer, is very famous in Greater China area, since his classic work on a bunch of Hongkong movies like In the mood for love, Chungking Express, or Comrade, almost a love story (one of my favorite). In this movie, he catches the innocent and dangerous beauty of Vietnam, so raw and so rich, both of its natural scenery and city scenario.

Michael Cane is magnificent. He delivers a strong performance even better than his Cider house rules, in my opinion. If I have to choose between him and Jack Nicholson for an Oscar winner, I will go for him. He is so reserve while intense at the right moment, profound and elegant. Watching him, you will realize there is something you can no achieve until you are getting older and wiser.

Oscar and Cynicism, two of my favorite things about this country. Read Allen Josh��s Creepily Prescient Oscar Picks