Yet while most of the song manages to stay on task at being critical of the Chinese government, “Fragile” ends up making the same mistake so much other media does about Chinese people, writing a line about “dogs, cats, bats, and civets.” Namewee’s management dresses it up as being “just want[ing] to express love for small animals” but the reference is clear. It’s the same racist joke you hear time and time again about dogs and the new one parroted by the media that blamed Chinese citizens for the pandemic. It groups all of China as one, as if the Chinese goverment represents all the intentions and attitudes of every single person and vice-versa. And it’s a joke that’s led to so much harm in the past year, casting a shadow of disingenuity on the rest of “Fragile.”
Yet while most of the song manages to stay on task at being critical of the Chinese government, “Fragile” ends up making the same mistake so much other media does about Chinese people, writing a line about “dogs, cats, bats, and civets.” Namewee’s management dresses it up as being “just want[ing] to express love for small animals” but the reference is clear. It’s the same racist joke you hear time and time again about dogs and the new one parroted by the media that blamed Chinese citizens for the pandemic. It groups all of China as one, as if the Chinese goverment represents all the intentions and attitudes of every single person and vice-versa. And it’s a joke that’s led to so much harm in the past year, casting a shadow of disingenuity on the rest of “Fragile.”
This is great, thank you for this.