August 9th 2008
Stunning … And Scary
D
espite myself, despite Tibet, despite their spying for our military secrets, despite NBC’s blatant favoritism in the campaign, despite so much, I turned on the high-def opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics last night, and for the next several hours, my family watched, transfixed. And frightened.
The transfixion came from the creative scope of the ceremony and the technology necessary to carry it out. Looking at the genius of the show, I found myself thinking, “The Russians couldn’t do that. It’s not in their culture.” Then I had to ask myself if we could. Sure, culturally we’ve got what it takes, but do we have the know-how and precision? I just don’t know.
The fear came first when Chinese soldiers took the nation’s flag from a group of 56 colorfully dressed children, each representing one of China’s ethnic groups (but woe be to the 55 who aren’t ethnic Chinese Han), and goose-stepped it with heartless precision to the flag pole.
I thought, are these the same soldiers who shoot tax-cheaters in the back of the head? Who arrived in Lhasa and Tiananmen Square to squelch freedom? Who pound on the doors of the home churches, ready to interrogate the Christians within?
Ready to go to war with us?
Of course the Chinese wanted to show the world that they’re friendly, welcoming and advanced. We all noted that, and thanks for the comfort it brings, really. But those frozen-faced, goose-stepping soldiers and the big red flag. My fear was primordial, Cold War going hot, and with every micro-element of the show carefully programmed, I had to wonder from what dark recess those few moments came.
The second fear overcame me at the end of what was the most beautiful segment of the show, when Confucians in exquisite flowing robes right out of Star Wars surrounded a field of moving Chinese type (the Chinese, not Guttenburg, invented moving type, we were told by the all-knowing Bob Costas). The geometric movements of the type were on so a vast scale – at least 500 separate type pieces by my calculation from the photo – and of such precision, as the pieces rose and fell to form moving ripples, the Great Wall, ocean waves, that I convinced myself and Incredible Wife that they just had to be mechanical and computer programmed.
But in the end, the caps of the type columns opened, and out popped the smiling heads of hundreds of young Chinese men. How did they do that? They couldn’t see each other, each within his own column, so how did they stay so precise?*
That’s when the second chill overcame me. Who are these guys? How is it they can do what we seemingly can’t? If you ever combined the fearful, rigid power of the goose-stepping soldiers (oh, and their gold medal-winning marksmanship … and knife-wielding skills] with the mystifying precision of the typeface dancers, you would have a force the world would have difficulty reckoning with.
And last night, the Chinese did just that.
* I figured it out the box trick, and it is neither hard nor frightening. My take: Headsets that directed an audio command 1, 2, 3, corresponding to crouch, flex knee, stand up. Reader Roy Lofquist got it better – three lights inside the box. Still, China’s put on a beautiful, intimidating show.
Photos: Top two and bottom from a beautiful NYT spread; third from China News
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August 9th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
The moving type is not really much of a trick. Three lights inside the box – down, middle, up. Computer controlled. I could whip up the program in less than an hour. The choreograpy I couldn’t if my life depended on it.
August 9th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
i figured it out shortly after I wrote it, but I had earphones. The lights are more elegant.
August 9th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
What is China’s trajectory? During the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution could we in the West imagine the China of today? I think I like this China better. A true conservative would be pleased with this evolutionary change.
Stealing secrets? That’s their job, and its our job to steal theirs.
Regards, A is A