Or you can buy it straight from Simon & Schuster (the publisher), slightly more expensive but you can sleep well knowing you don't support more egoistic space travels:
Right. Has anyone here done a reasonable background check on the author, Desmond Shum, to verify this is not just a PR stunt? It is perfectly plausible that everything in the article is true... But if the kidnapping isn't real then I wouldn't trust the book either.
After a quick search I've only found some of the author's history in finance and which suggests he has the background to write this book. If the kidnapping is indeed real, then the book becomes an interesting read indeed.
I _think_ this is a sincere comment speaking to the credibility of npr, so on that basis: I love npr, big fan... but they're just as fallible as other news organisations (or indeed, all organisations). They can be trustworthy, operate in good faith and make mistakes by failing to vet something to the extent required, they're not mutually exclusive.
Weren't they in favor of the Iraq war? This is a legitimate question, I don't know about their reporting from back then
And from an external perspective, why would they be a more reliable source than let's say Voice Of America or Radio Free Asia, both of which ofc are "offensive" (as in vanguard/aggressive/warfaring) media outlets
If I were to spend $100M on producing HBO's Chernobyl, except focused on Tiananmen (assume top talent, compelling story, and good marketing), what sort of blowback could I expect?
Would my life be in danger? Would other businesses cut me off?
Will this become increasingly difficult to pull off in the US/West?
We know Disney and other entertainment companies don't want to touch it. Will that attitude stay the same now that China is beginning to cut off Western movie stars, movies, market access, etc.?
No one would see it. No platform/distributor would touch it, similar to what happened with Bryan Fogel's work the Dissident [1], about the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.
Also 1989 is certainly a horror story reminiscent of Chernobyl, but it's a lot more complex than the cartoonish evil treatment it receives in the west.
"In its first weekend of home release, the film was the third-most rented title at the iTunes Store and eighth on Apple TV."
Are you sure that nobody else is publishing it and if that's the case it's not some kind of usual all American copyright exclusivity deal not political suppression?
Copyright can look a lot like totalitarian control sometimes.
> Also 1989 is certainly a horror story reminiscent of Chernobyl, but it's a lot more complex than the cartoonish evil treatment it receives in the west.
The complexity is what would make such a film compelling. What are the subtleties glossed over in the typical account of the terrible event?
In a completely different context, I recently watched and listened to accounts of 9/11 from a wide variety of perspectives. What made them captivating were aspects of what happened that I wasn’t aware of before.
If you could bankroll it yourself, nothing would stop you --you might have some problem getting big names to sign up. I don't think the CCP would be so petty to come after you abroad for something like this. Big entertainment would not touch it, if they have business in China. So you might be able to get indie houses to play it along with independent domestic distributors. And, oh, don't travel to China after that.
> I don't think the CCP would be so petty to come after you abroad for something like this.
Maybe you don't know about LIHKG posters being attacked in the UK [1]. The CCP has teams of operatives working overseas specifically for this purpose [2]. If they will physically attack you for writing a few posts on a forum, you should certainly expect to be murdered by "car accident" while raising funds for a $100 million film.
You're getting downvoted on a SV forum for simply pondering such things, if that tells you anything. No doubt very little of Corporate America would back you, it's quite a shame. The CCP is the greatest evil hellbent on doing the most harm in the name of greed and pure expansionistic dominance on the earth since the Nazi's or Stalin, and we're enabling them.
The comment is not getting downvoted. The anti-China derangement on this "SV forum" is truly stunning.
The average HNer knows as much about China as they learned in their US Government-sanctioned high school history class (they couldn't point to Beijing on a map), yet comment as if they are experts. Remarkable.
what an evil government, instead of the officials “manning up” and admitting that they aren’t perfect, they sweep their dirty laundry under the bed in fear of being found out. not an example of the machoism they are now trying to push in chinese box offices. hearing about this corruption turns my stomach
It's not just Chinese box offices. There is a lot of investment money coming from China to produce Hollywood films. As part of that investment, the scripts are definitely under a lot of scrutiny for how things are portrayed. Keep that in consideration the next time you see the distribution logos at the beginning of the film you're watching.
I just watched Shang-Chi the new Marvel superhero movie and couldn’t shake the feeling that there’s a distinct current in the film of “come back to China all those who were part of the diaspora, we will accept you, you belong with us. You are part of our family”.
Who knows what to believe in this case, but the woman under detention was supposedly involved in multibillion dollar corruption with the previous regime of Wen Jiabao and was swept up when the new regime wanted to clean house. Obviously they're doing it without even a semblance of due process, but there's a good chance she's actually guilty.
Guilty in the same sense that the oligarchs that Putin slaps down are guilty- stopping paying fealty to the monarch, not in doing anything else differently than the other cadre members.
As I understand it, Chinese officials can be punished quite harshly by higher-ups to "set an example", which fosters a culture of fear, mistrust, and dishonesty. A child who gets a beating every time they do something wrong will quickly learn to lie.
I read a good article on this some time ago, but I can't seem to find it right now.
This is how hard line communist (or any totalitarian) government works. There must be no criticism, no sign of weakness, no compromise. The leader is all wise, all powerful and untouchable (unless he´s about to be replaced). They are not presenting themselves as men with flaws and conscience. They are the personification of unlimited power and behave accordingly.
This is the case in Russia (you do not criticize Putin), in China with Xi, in North Korea with Kim.
Wonder what the chances are that her voice was deep faked. I don't want to get all conspiracy theory and say it probably was. But considering who's involved, the chances are definitely non-zero. Feel like this is obvious neferious use case for the tech. Impersonate loved ones to manipulate.
What sort of consequences is the CCP anticipating as a result of the book's publication? If they expected none, they wouldn't have made the point of having Shum's ex-wife contact him. Assuming this book is targeting a US market, and most Americans are neutral or negative in their views of China, I don't see the needle moving much. And beyond trade deals, how can we influence them? We may not agree with their policies, we trade with them, we allow anyone here to write publicly about China, and life goes on as usual.
Readit News
https://store.simonandschuster.com/on/demandware.store/Sites...
https://bookshop.org/books/red-roulette-an-insider-s-story-o...
Deleted Comment
After a quick search I've only found some of the author's history in finance and which suggests he has the background to write this book. If the kidnapping is indeed real, then the book becomes an interesting read indeed.
https://www.npr.org/corrections/
And from an external perspective, why would they be a more reliable source than let's say Voice Of America or Radio Free Asia, both of which ofc are "offensive" (as in vanguard/aggressive/warfaring) media outlets
Would my life be in danger? Would other businesses cut me off?
Will this become increasingly difficult to pull off in the US/West?
We know Disney and other entertainment companies don't want to touch it. Will that attitude stay the same now that China is beginning to cut off Western movie stars, movies, market access, etc.?
Also 1989 is certainly a horror story reminiscent of Chernobyl, but it's a lot more complex than the cartoonish evil treatment it receives in the west.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dissident
Are you sure that nobody else is publishing it and if that's the case it's not some kind of usual all American copyright exclusivity deal not political suppression?
Copyright can look a lot like totalitarian control sometimes.
The complexity is what would make such a film compelling. What are the subtleties glossed over in the typical account of the terrible event?
In a completely different context, I recently watched and listened to accounts of 9/11 from a wide variety of perspectives. What made them captivating were aspects of what happened that I wasn’t aware of before.
Maybe you don't know about LIHKG posters being attacked in the UK [1]. The CCP has teams of operatives working overseas specifically for this purpose [2]. If they will physically attack you for writing a few posts on a forum, you should certainly expect to be murdered by "car accident" while raising funds for a $100 million film.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finn_Lau
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Fox_Hunt
The average HNer knows as much about China as they learned in their US Government-sanctioned high school history class (they couldn't point to Beijing on a map), yet comment as if they are experts. Remarkable.
It's not just Chinese box offices. There is a lot of investment money coming from China to produce Hollywood films. As part of that investment, the scripts are definitely under a lot of scrutiny for how things are portrayed. Keep that in consideration the next time you see the distribution logos at the beginning of the film you're watching.
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/business/global/family-of...
I read a good article on this some time ago, but I can't seem to find it right now.
Dead Comment
I don't see any reason to trust CCP and also "former private-equity executive"
Nice family you have here. Would be a shame if something happens to it!