Saturday, August 10, 2013

Cirque du Soleil has Michael Jackson being the Tank Man in Beijing




During a recent performance at the Wukesong MasterCard Arena in Beijing, Cirque du Soleil included the famous Tank Man picture as the backdrop for their "Michael Jackson: Immortal" show. Shanghailist cited That's Beijing blog report (no longer available) as:
This was not some politically-sensitive rock concert, but the opening night of Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson ‘The Immortal’ world tour, where during the climax of the track “They Don't Care About Us” the image appeared momentarily for a total of about four seconds within a montage sequence of civil-rights style protest movements, resulting in an audible collective gasp from the audience. 
The image, although recognized throughout the world, has been almost completely erased inside of China, where any mention of the events surrounding the protests remain strictly forbidden. The response of the audience (or at least those sat around us) suggests, however, that the image is still recognized, even when taken out of context.