This article can be found here.
September 29, 2009
When I first saw this article, the first assumptions I made were in assuming the author's choice of the words "China" and "celebration" in her title. Employing this combination would incite simultaneous wonder and fear in her readers. If there's one thing I didn't expect at first glance, it was humor and sarcasm. The opener was gloriously cynical as it mocked the Chinese government's attempt to prohibit the interference of domestic pidgeons in the upcoming parade. But LaFraniere didn't stop there --only the author herself would appreciate such usage of rhyme in an official commentary article-- as she espoused humorous observations of the ridiculous efforts put forth by the Chinese government in ensuring perfection in the celebration of the People's Republic of China's 60th anniversary. Window peeping and balcony watching has been outlawed. Marchers have had mental health professionals assigned to their care. Knife sales have been prohibited-- to downplay all attempts by the Uighur people at rioting as they did during the Beijing Olympic Events. She then turned to citing the ludacris "measures" the ceremonial planners went to in assuring that the marchers were all "grouped according to height , with no variation of six centimenters". Her humor melds perfectly with the absurdity of each regulation. After hearing about the limiting of blinking to once every 40 seconds, or the forbiddance of collapse after 3 hours of standing, it's hard to know what's real and what's false. Her source was Dong Jingbei, the president of the Distric Carrier Pidgeon Association. Pft.
September 29, 2009
When I first saw this article, the first assumptions I made were in assuming the author's choice of the words "China" and "celebration" in her title. Employing this combination would incite simultaneous wonder and fear in her readers. If there's one thing I didn't expect at first glance, it was humor and sarcasm. The opener was gloriously cynical as it mocked the Chinese government's attempt to prohibit the interference of domestic pidgeons in the upcoming parade. But LaFraniere didn't stop there --only the author herself would appreciate such usage of rhyme in an official commentary article-- as she espoused humorous observations of the ridiculous efforts put forth by the Chinese government in ensuring perfection in the celebration of the People's Republic of China's 60th anniversary. Window peeping and balcony watching has been outlawed. Marchers have had mental health professionals assigned to their care. Knife sales have been prohibited-- to downplay all attempts by the Uighur people at rioting as they did during the Beijing Olympic Events. She then turned to citing the ludacris "measures" the ceremonial planners went to in assuring that the marchers were all "grouped according to height , with no variation of six centimenters". Her humor melds perfectly with the absurdity of each regulation. After hearing about the limiting of blinking to once every 40 seconds, or the forbiddance of collapse after 3 hours of standing, it's hard to know what's real and what's false. Her source was Dong Jingbei, the president of the Distric Carrier Pidgeon Association. Pft.
No comments:
Post a Comment