Me too, me too!

Piggybacking off the last blog. Here's the latest for my revised thesis proposal:

My thesis breaks down into two main sections and a third, smaller section which I will explore less fully. The two main sections will contrast the American media coverage of the Dalai Lama with Chinese media censorship of anything casting a positive light on the Dalai Lama. Surely these two very different modes of media representation will have different outcomes in terms of the perception each of the two cultures has of the Dalai Lama. The part of my thesis I handed in today is a piece of my section on American media coverage and perceptions. Within this section there are two case studies – one on Kundun and one on Seven Years in Tibet. In each, I have examined whether Scorsese and Annaud have manipulated the image of the Dalai Lama in any way.

My section on Chinese censorship of media will be challenging in that I will not have as easy access to primary sources of information. It is a highly controversial subject and its focused nature – I am looking at Chinese censorship of the image of the Dalai Lama – makes it too obscure for there to be any books written on it. Consequently, the majority of my research will stem from articles and books that describe the effects of censorship elsewhere. Additionally, I plan to do a second interview with Tom Piozetm the director of Tibet, Cry of the Snow Lion who may have some personal experience with Chinese media as he spent ten years making the movie. China is by no means the first country to ban or manipulate a particular image or idea. I would very much like to include a few analyses of primary sources so this will be among my top priorities as I continue this work.

My third section, which I view as more supplemental than integral to the project, is an analysis of Tibetans’ image of the Dalai Lama. This section will be divided into two parts. The first, a discussion of the image of the Dalai Lama for Tibetans who are in exile; and the second, an analysis of this image for Tibetans who live in Tibet. Part of the problem with China’s control over the media is not just that it is likely to affect Chinese perceptions of the Dalai Lama, but that it affects perceptions of Tibetans in Tibet as well. Efforts made to water down the Tibetan culture by enticing Chinese nationals to relocate there with job opportunities has indeed had a devastating effect on the purity of the Tibetan culture and the mystique of Tibet, making it more like an amusement park than the Shangri La that one normally envisions. The Dalai Lama’s picture is banned from all temples in Tibet and there is no free speech. Without this, and without the ability to gain access to media on the Dalai Lama in other ways, such as through the internet (“the State Department estimates China has between 30,000 and 50,000 Internet monitors” (Zissis par.16) I expect to find that the effects of Chinese censorship are great and the result is that the Tibetan view of the Dalai Lama has been slightly diminished. I imagine that perceptions of the Dalai Lama in China itself will be largely negative.

For Tibetans who are far from their homeland due to persecution by the Chinese, American media coverage helps create their image of the Dalai Lama. For Tibetans living outside of Tibet, part of their perception of the Dalai Lama may come from Eastern sources but they will almost surely be influenced by movies such as Kundun and other representations of the Dalai Lama that the West gives them. The Dalai Lama also represents the idea that one day Tibetans will once again have their homeland back. The question is, will it be what they expect? It is a sad thought that American media coverage of the Dalai Lama may have become one of the primary contributors to Tibetans’ own image of the Tibetan way of life as well as the reincarnation of the Boddhisatva of Compassion, but if representations of their culture are limited, perhaps it is better to have a Western depiction of the Dalai Lama than none at all. The Dalai Lama speaks often about the value of hope, and for that reason he appreciates what Western Media has done for his people. He seems to accept his “Western image” as a necessary part of educating the world.

On the topic of the Western image of the Dalai Lama, based on the research I’ve done thus far, I have found that the perception of the Dalai Lama in the US is widely positive. This is remarkable when one considers other heroic icons. No matter how “good” they appear to be, there always remains a market for defaming them. Martin Luther King Jr. had his extramarital affairs, cynics consider Princess Diana to have suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder, the list continues. In fact the ultimate good-deed-doer, Mother Teresa herself was put to shame in Christopher Hitchens’ book, Missionary Position. An example of one of the details Hitchens used to defame Mother Teresa was her acceptance of over one million dollars as well as use of a private jet from Charles Kating, the convicted Savings & Loan swindler. Even when she was full aware that the money was stolen, she wrote a personal plea for Keating’s clemency to the trial judge (Hitches 60)..I expected these types of contrarian critiques in my investigation of the Dalai Lama in American media, but in fact, the worst I could find was that some regard the Dalai Lama as a sort of Hollywood guru. Either there simply is no real dirt on the Dalai Lama or the media stands nothing to gain by reporting it. Either way, the Dalai Lama emerges unscathed in the eye of the American public. Tom Piozet explains, “The Dalai Lama has such a perfect, non-rigid philosophy that even if he had mistresses or whatever skeletons he might have, it wouldn’t really matter. He would still be the same man” (Piozet).

With China, on the other hand, it appears the Dalai Lama is chock full of awful past and current crimes. Their informal media policy is to ban all positive images and reports of the Dalai Lama. A recent example of this is “A Closer Walk”, an Aids documentary featuring interviews with patients, doctors, activists and world leaders, narrated by Will Smith and Glenn Close. In January of 2003 it premiered on television and has so far been viewed by up to 15-million people all around the world. On Nov 26, 2006 it aired on Chinese television but the excerpts with the Dalai Lama were removed altogether to “protect” the Chinese and Tibetan people from the Dalai Lama’s message on the importance of human compassion. Movies such as Kundun and Seven Years in Tibet are also banned. Tibet's media is tightly controlled by the Chinese leadership. Tibet Daily is a Communist Party Newspaper, Tibet TV Station is state run, as is Tibet People’s Broadcasting Station. The only access the Tibetans might have for more accurate information would be overseas-based radio stations such as the Voice of Tibet, operated by Norwegian non-governmental organizations, and the US government-backed Radio Free Asia. The shortwave broadcasts are subject to jamming however (“Regions and territories: Tibet”). The Chinese make sure that if the media does report anything about the Dalai Lama, it is highly unfavorable (not to mention highly fabricated by the People’s Republic of China). With this type of censorship, it is impossible to accurately assess the Dalai Lama. Instead, the lack of positive reports on the Dalai Lama likely results in a deep hatred of him. Of course, with the heavy control China has over what media comes into China and what media goes out, it may turn out to be impossible to know for sure what the Chinese perception of the Dalai Lama is, due to challenges with accessibility that I may encounter during my research.

One can surmise, however, that the perception is negative and that it would be very difficult to change this view. Even if a Chinese person did begin to become curious about the Dalai Lama and (miraculously) was able to obtain truthful information on him, to believe these presumably positive reports would almost be too much for one person to take. It would mean they could not trust anything they’d ever learnt. Today, most Chinese do not remember a time before communism that might remind them that things have not always been this way. Propaganda defaming the Dalai Lama has been instilled in them since they were small. At this point it would be extremely difficult to think it might not be true.

The issue of Chinese censorship has recently been made even more complicated due to collaboration with internet giants such as Google and Yahoo! (Ray) China was already controlling, “Reporters Without Borders ranked China 159th out of 167 countries in its 2005 index of press freedom” (Zissis par. 4), but at least it was an entity unto itself. It is frightening indeed when global ethics slide due to capitalistic purposes.

Ideally, I would have loved to conduct a survey as part of my research into perceptions of the Dalai Lama across the two cultures. As a survey of this sort is likely impossible for the Chinese analysis, I will just survey Americans. For this part of my project I will consult with a sociology professor so I can make sure I am executing the study in a fair and unbiased manner. At this point, I would like to fashion my survey after the study released last week at the NewsXchange conference in Amsterdam about “Western Perceptions About Islam and Muslims”. The results of this study were that Arab Muslims are typically portrayed in a stereotypical and negative fashion by the media in Western Europe and the United States and that Westerners have a negative perception of Islam and Muslims because of this (Stone).

Unfortunately, it seems it would be impossible to do this with China. I will still conduct my survey to assess US perceptions of the Dalai Lama, despite the fact that I will have nothing to compare it to. For the survey, I will head to a public area (not on the Claremont Colleges) where there are people of a variety of ages. I will then ask 50 to 100 people, “Who is the Dalai Lama?” Hopefully I will be able to tell if their perception is positive or negative simply by asking this rather vague question. I’d rather not ask something more direct such as, “Do you think the Dalai Lama is a positive or negative figure?” because I suspect it will prompt the participants to answer that he is a positive figure as it is common for people not to speak controversially with strangers.

When reviewing the data that I gather from this study, I will have to be mindful of the fact that although the age of my participants will vary greatly, their cultural background may not. Two people from southern California may seem very alike when compared with someone from Arkansas or Alaska. My survey research will serve to either confirm or disprove that all the positive media buzz surrounding the Dalai Lama in the West have influenced Western perceptions of the Dalai Lama for the better.