Through Jon Daniel Ligon, China’s got a lot to say to us with potent subtitled words in “Ha Ha Ha America.” His research shows how much we the people have been screwed this year, and he uses broken English (assumed by many Americans to be the way all Chinese people speak, I’m sure) to have a narrator point out what we’ve done over the years to make China bigger, stronger, more powerful. “While you pants down in oily desert,” says the subtitles, “China communist revolution flow over world.” Not completely since America is still free. We’re still choosing to sit deeply on a couch, watching TV, and of course buying what we love, and being stupid, if we wish. There are newspapers that operate without fear of persecution (though with events in the past year, that’s a bit shady), and television and movies which are not fearful of letting occasional crap burst on to screens.
But the statistics given to us are sobering. The trade deficit abounds when it is revealed that the United States gave China $210.5 billion last year and we got back $34.7 billion. China has more citizens employed by U.S. corporations, leaving Americans to find their own way because paying China would be cheaper. There is a hint of immorality in China too with Mr. Fong, who makes shoddy shoes and sells them to Africa and makes lots of money off of them. It’s still not entirely clear what services Enron provided, but it’s almost in the same league. Ligon keeps some of it humorous, by using constantly quick cuts, assuming that all Americans can’t pay attention for more than three seconds (not all of us since I’m out after four seconds), though the facts can’t be ignored, as “Ha Ha Ha America” is a forceful scream in the ear for those who haven’t been in America this past year. It’s not so bad that the Chinese city of Wen Zhou is larger than New York City, especially since it looks like ours has more personality. However, we’ve still got a long way to go.
