Comment

We all dance to our own beat but it can offend

By Joseph Christian (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-14 08:00

On a bright, sunny day, I was taking a walk in the park that surrounds the Temple of Heaven complex.

Up ahead, under the shade of aged pine trees, a middle-aged Chinese woman lifted the streamers in her hand and fluttered them in perfect cadence with the music that emanated from her small boombox.

A group of young, smiling female students followed her every lead.

Everything seemed so elegant, so pure ... well, until you considered the music they were dancing to.

As the group moved to the left, the hardcore hip-hop music boomed obscenities I wouldn't dare say to even inanimate objects. As they moved to the right, accompanied by a well choreographed twirl, the hip-hop artist gave his advice on how to best defile a woman.

The obvious skill of the woman and her students, accompanied with their smiling faces, created such a startling contrast to the rancorous music that I didn't know how to react. Should I enjoy their artistic expression or should I mention that they might want to dance to a less offensive song?

Instead, I just stood there with a perplexed look on my face.

A passing, older, British woman didn't have to think twice, as soon as the obscenities entered her ears, she let out a shrill condemnation of "Oh my God!"

The Chinese dance instructor meant no evil; she just didn't understand the words to the music she was playing. Western music has been very popular for years here, but, with the influx of Western music, there hasn't been a corresponding influx of lyrical understanding.

That is not surprising considering that music is an inalienable part of culture. When it is transplanted into a different place, meanings and usage change.

What to an American is an underground hip-hop song of social rebellion and thug power can become the beats of a gracefully choreographed dance number to the Chinese.

If you have spent any length of time in China you have surely heard the soft jazzy notes of Kenny G's alto sax reverberating through buildings, subway cars and university campuses. For some strange reason in China, Kenny G has come to symbolize the end of day, a time to relax and go home. To me, it forever will be that annoying music my dad blared from our old blue and white Volkswagen van as he drove me and my older brother to baseball practice.

Maybe Kenny G's smooth melodies do have a soothing effect on Chinese workers, but, for many Americans my age, it makes us want to rip out our hair. This is probably why Kenny G has become more active in China during the last few years. He is well respected here, but in America he has lost any "street cred" he had.

Maybe it is a nice change of pace to view music in such a different light.

Before I moved to China, I wouldn't have been caught dead listening to The Carpenters. But, after being embarrassed by the fact that my 18-year-old students could better recognize the classic Yesterday Once More than me, I started listening to and even liking the soft melodies of the Carpenter siblings.

In some ways, excluding Kenny G, (sorry Mr G but I just can't get over the hair ... I might have grown up in the 80s, but I'm not still stuck in them) the freedom provided by the lack of cultural connotations American music has in China has given me more opportunities to enjoy various kinds of music that my social constraints in America wouldn't have afforded me.

Of course, music isn't the only thing where cultural disconnects make their influence felt. While in America, the blockbuster Avatar was strongly linked to the plight of environmentalists. In China, many considered it as a symbolic representation of homeowners fighting against unruly land developers.

While the way Chinese people view the products of the West's entertainment industries can be refreshing, it is my advice to every Chinese person out there not to let your understanding of a song or a movie stand by itself. While your different perspective is certainly valid, if you really want to understand you also need to go to the source itself. Otherwise, you might be the one in a park happily dancing to the beats of a song so vulgar it does nothing but offend.

If you think about it, it is really amazing how we each see things so differently. Sometimes, it can make the world a confusing place, but without it, things wouldn't be as funny either.

(China Daily 09/14/2010)