Chinese state media accuse Netflix series 3 Body Problem of pushing 'American cultural hegemony'

From left, members of the International Panorama jury U.S. author and President Douglas Kennedy, French screenwriter Clemence Madeleine-Perdrillat, Israeli producer Danna Stern, and French actress Suzy Bemba pose upon arrival to attend the European Premiere of "3 Body Problem," adapted from the eponym book written by Lio Cixin, as part of the opening of the 6th edition of the Series Mania International TV festival in Lille, north of France, March 15. Fifty two series of 21 nationalities were selected and will be screened during the next eight days. AFP-Yonhap

China's state media published a blistering critique of the Netflix series 3 Body Problem on Saturday, saying the adaptation of an award-winning Chinese sci-fi trilogy promotes "American cultural hegemony" under the guise of diversity.

The commentary by China Military Online, owned by the People's Liberation Army, is the one of the first from state-affiliated media after more than a week of polarized discussion on Chinese social media about the series from showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the writing and producing duo behind HBO's Game of Thrones.

The commentary targeted the American version's radical departure from the novels, which feature mostly Chinese characters and a plot that plays out over hundreds of years, while the first season of the Netflix series features characters of various nationalities all set in the same time period.

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"The United States is using 'political correctness' to combat and dissolve other countries' cultural influence. It uses 'pluralism' to practice its cultural hegemony," according to the commentary.

It added that the production team "deliberately does away with the modern image of China depicted in the novel" while preserving the "yellow faces" of its villains.

"The so-called pluralism and inclusiveness cannot hide their deep-rooted discrimination and hostility towards other civilizations," the article said.

The Hugo Award-winning sci-fi novecivilizationsody Problem is the first book in a trilogy by Chinese author Liu Cixin. The trilogy, which also includes the novels The Dark Forest and Death's End, is about humans combating alien civilisations across centuries, starting from China's Cultural Revolution.

French actor Pierre Deladonchamps, left, and French author Victoria Bedos pose upon arrival to attend the European Premiere of "3 Body Problem", adapted from the eponym book written by Lio Cixin, as part of the opening of the 6th edition of the Series Mania International TV festival in Lille, north of France, March 15. AFP-Yonhap

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The first novel's main character Ye Wenjie, who is among the few main characters portrayed as Chinese in the Netflix series, summons a race of aliens known as the Santi, whose name means "three body" in Chinese, after her father is killed during the Cultural Revolution.

The main characters in the three-book series appear at different times, with some of their stories separated by decades or more. But in the Netflix version, most of the main characters appear at the very beginning and their storylines develop over the same time period.

The Netflix series also mainly takes place in Britain, rather than China, which is the main setting of the novels.

There are no authorized channels for viewers to watch the Netflix series in mainland China, where the American streaming service is banned.

The sci-fi drama has a rating of 6.8 out of 10 on Douban, China's best-known film review site - significantly lower than other high-budget Netflix productions such as the first seasons of Stranger Things and The Crown, which earned viewer ratings of 9.0 and 9.3 respectively.

Liu's trilogy has also been adapted into a Chinese TV series by Tencent, one of China's top tech and games giants.

The Tencent series, which debuted last year, has a rating of 8.7 out of 10 on Douban. While some reviewers complained the home-grown version's depiction of the Cultural Revolution was compromised because of China's strict censorship, most applauded the complexity of the characters and its faithful adaptation of the novels.

Most criticisms of the Netflix series on Douban echoed those raised by China Military Online, focusing on the drastic differences compared to the novels, from the characters to the compression of the trilogy's timeline.

A major controversy is the American series' detailed portrayal of the Cultural Revolution - the event that spurred the Santi aliens' invasion of Earth. The director of the scene is Hong Kong filmmaker Derek Tsang Kwok-cheung.

Some reviewers compared the Netflix version's depiction of the period in Chinese favorably with the more nebulous version of events in the Tencent series. But others criticized the scene, saying it portrayed China in a bad light and painted non-Chinese characters as saviors.

"Netflix followed the original novel by having the Chinese character summon the Santi, but the hero has to be replaced with Westerners. Don't ever chalk it up to the inevitable product of globalization," one Douban reviewer said, giving the series two out of five stars.

But another reviewer, who gave the series a four-star rating, said that understanding the Santi required understanding the history of their engagement with humans, including the Cultural Revolution, "so it is very suitable to highlight this part at the beginning of the series."

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV also reported on the controversy, citing high-profile Japanese video game designer Hideo Kojima, who posted a review of the Netflix series on X, formerly Twitter, advising those who had read the original novels to watch the Tecent adaptation.

However, in a separate post, Kojima also praised the Netflix version's adaptation and visual effects, saying the production team had transformed the trilogy into "an entertaining work suited for both those who have read the original and those who have not." (SCMP)

Read the full story at SCMP