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話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分

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joined 2022 September 06 22:44:37 UTC 

				
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話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2022 September 06 22:44:37 UTC
				


				
					

					
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				Quality Contributions Report for February 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Glad people enjoyed my movie review post. I'm curious if anyone else has seen the movie and agreed or disagreed with my review. Most of the discourse I've seen is on what the movie means for Hollywood and not on if Ne Zha 2 is actually a good movie or not.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 17, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I stand corrected. Puss in boots - last wish really was that good. I'd say that my point still stands.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 17, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This is going to be a split between a movie review for Ne Zha 2 and some of my thoughts on the state of culture from a China-born American. Unfortunately, you beat me to the punch while I was writing this, so I'll employ the angler fish method of reproduction and just attach my post to yours. If I need to move or remove it, just let me know.


NeZha 2 has been making the rounds as a cultural milestone in both China and abroad. Being the first (only) Chinese movie to have had a billion dollar gross before its foreign release, there has been some ink spilled on what this means for the movie industry as a whole. And I'm gonna spill a little more. First of all, is the movie good?


Short answer: Yes. Without a doubt an amazing kids movie by Chinese standards (not in terms of quality, but in terms of sensibility, I'll expand later).


Long answer: I'll break the movie down on different dimensions, and mark spoilers for the second movie only. I'd definitely recommend watching the movie first before reading any spoilers because the movie is truly worth a watch for everyone, not just kids.


1. Presentation


Extremely competent. Legitimately on par with some of the highest quality CG animation from the US and Japan. This shouldn't come as a surprise. Japan has increasingly been outsourcing its animation to China for cost reasons. Further, Tencent, being the multi-media colossus it is, is incredibly well versed in animation as the owner of League of Legends along with dozens of other IPs. Visually, the movie truly fantastic, with landscapes and backgrounds that come straight out of the Chinese paintings I'd seen as a kid. The action scenes are very well shot and animated. The action is fairly easy to follow and is on par with some of the best action from anime. I'll lump music in here as well because I'm not knowledgeable enough to speak at length. The music is a very interesting mix of Chinese and Western. The score is filled with traditional Chinese instruments and the sound is distinctly Chinese. Think Black Myth WuKong, if you want a comparable soundtrack. Based purely on the presentation, I'd say it's already one of the best animated movies of the year.


2. Story/Plot


The story starts directly after where the first movie ends. I won't give anything away here, but the plot centers around the physical resurrection of NeZha and his friend AoBing and the effects thereof. The story is quintessentially Chinese. Similar to the first movie, the story at its core is about family, specifically the relationship between a parent and child. This theme is covered extensively in Chinese works, and I'd say that a large amount of Chinese culture is centered on this theme. As a Chinese person myself, the story hit a particular emotional resonance. While Western, especially American audiences may not fully grasp the intended emotional effect, it should still hit home for almost all audiences. In the spoiler section, I'll talk about scenes of particular import. But as a wrap up, I'd say that while the story this movie tells is Chinese at its core, it will resonate with everyone,


3. Sensibilities


This is where it gets a little weird. If you asked me based purely on the above whether I'd recommend NeZha 2 as a family movie, I'd say absolutely 100% . However, there is a bit of culture shock when it comes to what a kids movie is in China and America. I'd say that while NeZha 2 is a PG movie, it's more akin to what PG used to be in the 80s and 90s than what it is now. On the humor side of things, the humor is much more crude than what you'd find in an American kids' movie. Toilet humor and slapstick are much more prevalent and acceptable in China than it is now in America. On the action side, it's also a lot more extreme than what you'd expect in a typical American Kid's movie. The movie does not shy away from some of the effects of the action that's shown. For example, a character is shown as being shot through with a mystical arrow, and the blood is clearly shown oozing out from the wound. In fact, afterwards, you can see a hole where the character was shot. Now we're not talking about Saving Private Ryan levels of blood and guts, but definitely more than what we would normally see in America. Death is also not shied away from. Outright death is not shown on screen, but there are definitely sanitized and implied scenes of death. The movie does get quite dark, especially toward the last third. I'll also discuss this as a spoiler as well. One good thing, however, is that some of the weirdness of the first movie has been toned down by a lot. If anyone's seen the first movie, there are just moments of strangeness that I can only chalk up to the movie being Chinese. Humor is cultural, and I can tell that certain jokes that should be funny to Chinese audiences would fall flat to American audiences. All in all, if you plan on watching this with children, do watch out for these items.


4. Spoilers


Here I'll talk about some memorable scenes with spoilers on. For anyone who hasn't seen the first or second movies, this section will probably not make any sense, as I will not be giving context or talking about everything in order. It should make sense if you've seen the movie.


    

  • 

    The first scene follows the the first movie, with villagers creating new physical bodies for the now-bodyless souls of NeZha and AoBing. This is followed up by a very good action scene between NeZha's parents and the sea monsters. This first action scene is already giving a great representation of the action to come in the movie. Very cool, easy to follow, and just a joy to watch.
    

    • 

  • 

    Afterwards, an emotional scene happens when NeZha is leaving to attain sainthood, where he becomes embarrassed when his mom tries to hug him. A little ham fisted in my opinion, but it gets paid off later in the movie. Afterwards, we find out about Shen Gongbao's backstory regarding Shen Gongbao and his brother and father, who are all yaoguai. Side note, "yaoguai" is generally translated as "demon," but that's not completely accurate. There's an inherent evil connotation related to "demons" that's not present with "yaoguai." While many are malevolent, there are many examples of benevolent yaoguai or yaoguai achieving sainthood after sufficient cultivation, similar to humans. The connotation is much more related to something that's "unnatural" or "strange." Therefore, Shen Gongbao being a "leopard demon" is not antithetical to him achieving sainthood in the way that it would be in a Western sense.
    

    • 

  • 

    The action scene with who we later find out is Shen Gongbao's father is another fantastic scene. The framing is fantastic, the action is impactful, and again, the whole thing is just a joy to watch. The animators really showed their craft with this fight. Finally, the ending of the fight with the father's arm being cut off and being shot through with a celestial arrow. Further, the bait and switch with the reveal that everything was orchestrated by WuLiang was done very well, with a motivation that's quite understandable to me. Along with that, the reveal of the destroyed ChengTang Pass was incredibly dark. They pull a few punches, but the aftermath is shown in vivid detail. In fact it reminded me of a toned down version of a scene from Spec Ops: The Line (IYKYK).
    

    • 

  • 

    NeZha's mother's death scene legitimately almost made my cry. It's extremely emotional and really pays off the themes of the story. I honestly can't remember the last time that a movie, not just kid's movie, but movie, had such an impactful emotional scene. The final action scene is quite good, but one thing I don't like is the fact that they just turned WuLiang into a big monster, when for the whole movie, his power came from his sorcery. I would have much more preferred that he either fought the main characters magically or with kung fu. The fight between the dragon siblings and NeZha and AoBing was very good and creative. The use of the Spatial Claws was done in a very smart and creative way in the story. 
    

    • 

  • 

    The ending scene with AoBing and his father AoGuang also hit me particularly hard. A father letting his son go into the world as the ending to the story about family is quite the perfect ending. 
    

    • 

  • 

    The after credits scene is really funny. After the darkness of some of the story beats and the seriousness of the ending, it really brought the movie back into a lighter mood and lets you leave the movie with a more lighthearted feel.
    

    • 



5. Some Thoughts


As you can probably tell, I'm a pretty big fan of the movie, and the franchise as a whole (2 is definitely better than 1. If I had to rank them, 1 would be a 7, and 2 would be a 9.5). However, When I was watching NeZha 2, I kept thinking about how this movie could not be made by Hollywood. It's not just because of the different sensibilities between Chinese and American children's movies, but because of everything else. First of all, the action scenes in both movies are incredible. I can't remember the last time an American animated movie had action as good as this. This should come as no real surprise as the action comes in the tradition of Kung Fu movies, but the difference is really a little shocking. Second, is the theme. It might be because I haven't seen as many children's movies recently, but I honestly cannot remember the last time a kid's movie explored its theme with as much maturity and complexity as this movie. While it's a little heavy handed in certain parts, the emotional beats of the movie really resonated with me on a level that no movie has in a long time. To me, this movie serves as just another indication of the precipitous collapse of American soft power. The movie is undeniably and unapologetically Chinese. The story is based off of one of the stories from  封神演义, a sort of creation tale of many of the gods and saints in the Chinese folk pantheon. The music, while made with more Western sensibilities, utilizes Chinese instruments in a way that has a distinct Chinese sound. The theme of the story is familial in a way that can only really be appreciated with a Chinese upbringing. Yet, I think that these things resonate on a much deeper level than what's being pumped out by Hollywood these days. This movie, to me, represents China putting its best foot forward when it comes to its values. Its focus on family, parental love, and duty, in my opinion, would really resonate with a general audience, not just a Chinese one. This is coming at a time of historic drought for Hollywood. Disney, the former children's movie juggernaut has been sluggish, releasing remakes of their previous movies, many to little fanfare. It seems that China's (and East Asia's more generally) cultural ascent in recent years has come at the detriment of American soft power.


I really don't know if Ne Zha 2 is a flash in the pan or the beginning of the end. I think we'd have to see how things go in the next 5 years. Whereas America has enjoyed its place as the cultural Jupiter of the world for almost 50 years, it's now East Asia that has most of the spotlight culturally. Anime has been popular for decades, but with the recent rise of K-Pop, K-Dramas, and notable Chinese hits, it seems that America will soon run into the same soft power deficit that plagues China to this day. Supposedly Hollywood is starting to course correct, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we lived in a world 5 years from now where it's Chinese, Korean, or Japanese movies that are topping the charts.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 20, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
So what did Fauci and Hunter get pardoned for then?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 13, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
That's another thing that I've found quite amusing during this whole thing. The West, by and large, have no idea how "based" China truly is. It's always quite funny to me (China born Chinese living in California) when I hear the people here talk because they really have no clue how far they are from the norm in the rest of the world (or at least from China, which is much closer to the rest of the world than these people are.) Most Chinese people fucking hate gays. Most Chinese people absolutely fucking hate Indians (Although Westerners are coming around on this one). Most Chinese people don't even have a conception of transgenderism in the same way Westerners do.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 13, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
As am I. RedNote used to be really nice for finding hidden spots while traveling or getting a general Chinese sense of things. Now it's all "Hello from America, please teach me Chinese."


To me this is just a microcosm. Foreigners (in this case, literally) coming into our community and not only not integrating into our culture, but actively destroying it. A quite delectable piece of irony.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 13, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
One thing I do find interesting is the sanitization of "Little Red Book" into RedNote. On one hand, it seems unnecessary, as a large group of potential users would be quite aware and supportive of the overt reference to Chinese Communism. On the other hand, it might just be because "Little Red Book" is a shit name when translated literally.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 16, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Lancer Arthur >>>>>> Saber Arthur


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				U.S. Election (Day?) 2024 Megathread
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Asians have already been put in the White category for overperforming other minorities (and even whites) in school grades and earnings. Further, I think that they're way more fickle than a lot of other demographics. (East) Asians are much less political than other races until someone messes with their schools. You see this repeatedly in California, where every single initiative to make schools more "equitable" guarantees that Asians vote against it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				U.S. Election (Day?) 2024 Megathread
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
One thing I find interesting about this is that if we continue to shave "minorities" off of the "minority" list and add them onto the "white" if they vote a certain way, we will have built a more diverse coalition of "whites" than "minorities." "White" now contains Asians, Whites, and Latinos.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				U.S. Election (Day?) 2024 Megathread
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
We're working with contrafactuals, but if I truly believed that the virus was an existential threat in the way it was sold as, I truly wouldn't know. For better or for worse, I'd see myself as responsible for the people who died. Like I said, I don't know what I'd do, but I can't imagine that it was a simple or easy choice.


Of course, this is all assuming that politicians actually want what's best for the country and are not a cabal of soul-sucking freaks.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				U.S. Election (Day?) 2024 Megathread
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You really have to grade Biden on a curve IMO. I'm sympathetic to him on COVID and Afghanistan, and while I don't agree with his handling of COVID, I can't say how I'd react when put into a similar position. Even more sympathetically, it's not clear to me how much he was really in control of the presidency. Is it really his fault that he got Weekend at Bernie'd into being president?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				U.S. Election (Day?) 2024 Megathread
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I'm more more forgiving of Silver than of Selzer. Sometimes the data just indicates that it's just too close and the correct thing to say is that you don't know. And in reality, I think everyone understands that you don't really know. Selzer being not only wrong, but nearly the opposite of correct when she's supposed to be the foremost expert is quite damning in my eyes.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				U.S. Election (Day?) 2024 Megathread
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
On the other hand, suppose Harris pulls a come from behind victory in the wee hours of the night, should we adjust our priors on the rigability of the election?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 28, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


The ones who have elected to stay on the island, in this reading, would be the ones who intentionally chose not to assimilate into America.




Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that Puerto Rico is a part of America.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 21, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
No I don't think so at all. Trump's been showing up to boxing, pro wrestling, and MMA fights for as long as I can remember. I don't think you insert yourself (or allow yourself to be inserted) to multiple WWE storylines without at least being a casual fan. He allowed UFC events to be held in the Trump Taj Mahal when MMA became legal in New Jersey (which was the start of his long standing friendship with Dana White). Hell, he was one of the main investors in Affliction, the short lived MMA promotion that actually had quite a lot of push at the time. Famously, Josh Barnett killed the promotion by popping for steroids. Trump's definitely been a fight fan for a long time.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 21, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Right, when people say they've been especially exhausted by this election cycle, I have to wonder what they were doing 8 years ago. That one was crazy because no one liked Trump




Speaking from a purely entertainment standpoint, it was much easier to root for Trump in 2016 because no one liked him. It almost felt like a movie, where Trump went around and beat down all of the Republican candidates before fighting the final boss. Also, 2016 Trump was a much more fun, energetic, and clever Trump. A lot of the quips he made off the cuff in the debates were legitimately genius. Also, him gimmicking every one of his opponents (Lyin' Ted, Little Marco, Crooked Hillary) was really fun (Cacklin' Kamala was literally so easy). This time, there's no underdog story because he's already won. He's much slower mentally. He's also much less energetic. In 2016, the Republican debates were legitimately riveting television. There weren't any debates in 2024. The magic is just not all there. It's like if they did a remake of a beloved childhood film. It looks like the film everyone knows and loves, but there's just something missing.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 21, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


But it’s a clever campaign stunt that plays into his Everyman image.




Has Trump ever had an "Everyman" image? As far as I can recall, Trump has always represented a billionaire business tycoon. Maybe he acts the same way an average person would act if they won the lottery (gold plated toilets, supermodel wives, etc.) but I don't think he was ever a true "Everyman" in the same way Homer Simpson is.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 7, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Thanks for the context.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 7, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Were the Irish categorized as Mongoloid? That would be quite funny.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 7, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


if splitting to 3 major races




Excuse my ignorance, but what are the 3 major races? My guess would be Eurasian, African, and American, but if this is the methodology, then wouldn't the results be inherently worthless? I don't see how it can make sense to put Thais and Swedes in the same racial category and have anything approaching precision.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 7, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


"Did you threaten to overrule Derrick Lewis?"




On a slightly amusing side note, when I hear Derrick Lewis, I can only picture Hot Balls, Black Beast, Popeyes Derrick Lewis. Woe to the man who threatens to overrule him.


/images/1728430008500899.webp


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 30, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Without knowing or understanding much of Japanese outside of the few items I've absorbed as a (disgusting) weeb, are any of the three behaviors listed outside of the norm in Japan? To me, friending a coworker on social media and asking for someone's birthday seems to be the norm (the latter especially, in order to plan team celebrations.) Acknowledging that there's a resemblance between a co-worker and a celebrity might be on shakier ground (if she resembled a porn star, for example,) but the person in question was a celebrity chef, so the comment seems as innocuous of a way of commenting on someone's looks as possible.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 30, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I've always wondered why the soy sauces in the packets always tasted off compared to the real sauces I've had. I always just thought that they were of extremely low quality. I never knew that they were simply not soy sauces. Thanks for the heads up.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 23, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


They disagree with Lovecraft on the mood his architecture must evoke, and believe it is (for example) very cool rather than maddening.




If you read both of the descriptions that I posted, you'll notice that the descriptions don't actually describe the buildings in any real detail. Instead they describe how you're supposed to feel about them, and let you do your own imagination about what they are supposed to look like. So if I'm imagining something that's a "tangible substance of earth’s supreme terror," "nightmare corpse-city," or "monstrous perversions of geometrical laws and attaining the most grotesque extremes of sinister bizarrerie," and the architect in question expresses an interest in bringing these to real life, it's not an easy sell to then downgrade them into "curious" or "strange."