How does Shen Yun get so many people to give glowing reviews?

Publish date: 2024-05-14

The mediocre show, which advertises heavily and is funded by Falun Gong, always gets rave reviews. They are published in their Falun Gong newspaper, Epoch Times, and they are always accompanied by pictures of the reviewers -- "Broadway choreographers John and Mary Jones" ... "Attorneys Jim and Carole Fisher" ... "College professors Ann Blake and Jim Henderson" ... "Surgeon James Collins and his wife Gina" ... all these people saying "I have seen 4000 shows and nothing compares to Shen Yun!!!!!"

Do these people get their tickets comped in lieu of giving over-the-top praise? The show sucks and is not-so-thinly veiled propaganda. What gives?

DL, help me out here.

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by Anonymousreply 78December 25, 2018 9:05 PM

crap show. the jehovah witnesses of china.

by Anonymousreply 1June 9, 2018 6:02 PM

[Quote] thinly veiled propaganda

thinly? i'd say extremely heavy. i wanted to walk out.

by Anonymousreply 2June 9, 2018 6:06 PM

I was wondering about this. They put a giant poster for it up in my store, months before it was to arrive and I took it down because wtf? Then a month later some pushy dick came by asking where the poster was, I told him I can only put up charity event posters. That night I had two 2 star google reviews that said nothing, just one star. Fuckers. Google was no help

by Anonymousreply 5June 9, 2018 6:41 PM

That is weird, r5. What kind of business do you have?

by Anonymousreply 6June 9, 2018 6:54 PM

OP should look up the definition of "in lieu of."

by Anonymousreply 7June 9, 2018 7:55 PM

Fa Lungong is a cult. All its members were exiled by Chinese gov

by Anonymousreply 8June 9, 2018 7:59 PM

My bad, r7. "in exchange for"

by Anonymousreply 10June 9, 2018 8:17 PM

Ah, I see the People's Daily has found DL.

Yes, Shen Yun is terrible, subversive propaganda undermining the unity and strength of the glorious Chinese people's republic.

We must purge them from our social media accounts!

by Anonymousreply 11June 9, 2018 11:43 PM

It’s a cult. Thank you China for banning them

by Anonymousreply 13June 10, 2018 1:49 AM

[quote]That is weird, [R5]. What kind of business do you have?

Bathhouse.

by Anonymousreply 14June 10, 2018 2:17 AM

I’ve been wondering WTF this is about. We’ve seen these posters and ads— print and TV - all over NY, PA, NJ. Could not understand how they could afford so much advertising for such a niche show. Became a joke with friends - because it was weirly omnipresent. God - what a spooky world where you never know who is behind what for what nefarious reason.

by Anonymousreply 15June 10, 2018 2:41 AM

You can buy reviews just like you can buy Instagram followers.

by Anonymousreply 16June 10, 2018 3:39 AM

Falun Gong is a cult, FYI.

by Anonymousreply 19September 3, 2018 12:09 PM

They're not burping yokels like the rest of China, so they probably don't fall for it as easily.

by Anonymousreply 20September 3, 2018 12:10 PM

we went to see it and its such bullshit. twirling and high kicks in front of a movie screen, boring!

by Anonymousreply 21September 3, 2018 3:07 PM

"life-changing" is not necessarily a positive review

by Anonymousreply 22September 3, 2018 3:12 PM

In the months leading up to the performance in my city, they had a kiosk in the mall.

by Anonymousreply 23September 3, 2018 3:17 PM

someone else wondered how they have the money to advertise as heavily as they do.

by Anonymousreply 24September 3, 2018 3:20 PM

Falun Gong is not a cult. It's a new religion and it's one of the biggest critics of the Communist regime in China. I've never been able to figure out whether its emphasis on "traditional Chinese culture" has fascist undertones.

It's a shame that they've taken such a misleading approach to promoting Shen Yun because otherwise I think that Americans would be sympathetic to the cause and plight of Falun Gong practitioners.

There are a lot of similar new religions in China, Korea and Japan, and they aren't cults. I don't know what to make of Shen Yun, but it looks very boring so I ignore it.

by Anonymousreply 25September 3, 2018 3:29 PM

A couple years ago, I was in my neighborhood junior market chatting with the owner. A Chinese woman came in with a Shen Yun poster and tape. She asked if she could tape it up in his window; he politely said, no. She demanded, Why not? He just said, sorry, no. On her way out, he kicked s display rack by the door and it crashed down and broke a few bottles of (admittedly, cheap) wine. I was shocked.

by Anonymousreply 26September 3, 2018 4:12 PM

[quote]Falun Gong is not a cult. It's a new religion

All religions are cults.

by Anonymousreply 27September 3, 2018 5:20 PM

Steady advertising revenue, OP.

by Anonymousreply 28September 3, 2018 5:23 PM

Do they do the handsy schmanzy dance? I'd probably go to see that, even if it's raising money for a cult or whatever.

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by Anonymousreply 30December 18, 2018 11:33 PM

I thought it was a money laundering thing

by Anonymousreply 31December 18, 2018 11:37 PM

They threaten local businesses with bad Yelp reviews if they refuse to put up the posters.

by Anonymousreply 33December 18, 2018 11:43 PM

I keep getting mailed postcards of this show to my house.

by Anonymousreply 34December 19, 2018 12:46 AM

Ugh, they have been blasting their advertisements where I live. I wondered what the hell this was.

by Anonymousreply 35December 19, 2018 1:05 AM

Christ, you can't swing a dead cat in the Bay Area without hitting a poster, TV ad, mailed brochure or postcard, or kiosk advertising this stupid shit. Gotta be some kind of a cult or money-laundering scheme.

by Anonymousreply 37December 19, 2018 1:21 PM

There's always an audience for cheesy vulgar shows.

by Anonymousreply 38December 19, 2018 1:22 PM

Falun Gong is also homophobic.

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by Anonymousreply 39December 19, 2018 1:29 PM

They also advertise here in Mexico...billboars, tv ads and all kinds od bs

by Anonymousreply 41December 24, 2018 3:19 AM

I enjoyed the part with Michael Flatley Irish step dancing

by Anonymousreply 42December 24, 2018 3:26 AM

From yesterday's SF Chronicle- 'You've seen the ads. But what's the deal with Shen Yun?' Posted comments are quite enlightening.

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by Anonymousreply 43December 24, 2018 3:40 AM

At heart the Japanese are a deceitful and bloodthirsty people.

by Anonymousreply 44December 24, 2018 5:29 AM

I've gotten a pamphlet from them in the mail twice in the last two months, promoting their shows that are running in the city. Right into the garbage. Don't know how my name got on their mailing list but I want it off.

by Anonymousreply 46December 24, 2018 5:36 AM

Twirls and high kicks lol. You'd think that would appeal to the majority of DL.

by Anonymousreply 48December 24, 2018 6:03 AM

Are the (never Chinese) people who give glowing reviews after the shows actually Falun Gong members?

I know an attorney who was interviewed with his wife (a college professor). They gave a very over-the-top positive review. I don't know much about their personal lives, but they don't strike me as cult members. But who knows. Of course, the "review" appeared in the Epoch TImes.

by Anonymousreply 50December 24, 2018 12:26 PM

The group is based out of NYC, not China

by Anonymousreply 52December 24, 2018 1:46 PM

The critic quotes make no sense. No critic ever talks that effusively

by Anonymousreply 53December 24, 2018 1:46 PM

R50, but did they really say the quote attributed to them or was it amplified to sound more amazing than they’ve said?

by Anonymousreply 54December 24, 2018 1:48 PM

True, r54. But I don't think the professionals they misquote would be happy about and would demand the "articles" be removed.

by Anonymousreply 55December 24, 2018 1:55 PM

the Falun Gong people are always protesting Chinese torture in NYC.

They have become so obtrusive.

Whenever we walk by one group, my bf will whisper, “Can’t someone just stick them in a cage”?

by Anonymousreply 57December 24, 2018 1:58 PM

"It is wrong to think of the show as Falun Gong propaganda, Chipkar told me. The aim was to counter government propaganda. “They’re the ones that have been responsible for the destruction of traditional Chinese culture for the past 60 years,” he said. During our conversation, my mother wandered over. Chipkar shook her hand. “As you know, the Chinese culture was steeped in spirituality,” he told her. “Everyone respected the belief in gods. And then in come the communists and destroy it all.”

My mother interrupted. “I don’t know if they were religious that way,” she said. “Some of it was just plain superstition.” Chipkar’s vision of China as a god-fearing nation didn’t match her own conception of the country, which had been shaped by her childhood as the daughter of Confucian-ish pragmatists who didn’t seem to give much thought to the gods. Chipkar insisted that “it was all about the spirit, it was all about gods”, and the two of them argued, politely, as the rest of the audience filed out of the lobby and into the cold Toronto night.

And this, of course, is what Shen Yen is fighting: a battle for the very essence of what it means to be Chinese. The show tries to reframe the years of communist rule as a blip in the grand historical narrative of a country. It’s the same argument that underpins so many dissident political movements: the idea that those seeking to topple the government represent the authentic soul of a nation."

The Chinese communists are awful but this is a cult-adjacent political movement that is rewriting the past to suit their view. Both side suck on this one.

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by Anonymousreply 60December 24, 2018 2:01 PM

Here is a recent one -- another professor:

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by Anonymousreply 61December 24, 2018 2:03 PM

This must be Chinese propaganda. Falun Gong is pretty innocuous and peaceful, focused around body movements like Tai Chi. I expect the glowing reviews are because it's a display of qigong.

[quote]The practice initially enjoyed support from Chinese officialdom, but by the mid to late 1990s, the Communist Party and public security organizations increasingly viewed Falun Gong as a potential threat due to its size, independence from the state, and spiritual teachings. By 1999, government estimates placed the number of Falun Gong practitioners at 70 million.[2] During that time, negative coverage of Falun Gong began to appear in the state-run press, and practitioners usually responded by picketing the source involved. Most of the time, the practitioners succeeded, but controversy and tension continued to build. The scale of protests grew until April 1999, when over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered near the central government compound in Beijing to request legal recognition and freedom from state interference. This demonstration is widely seen as catalyzing the persecution that followed.

Anything the Chinese government sees as a threat to its supremacy can't be all bad.

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by Anonymousreply 63December 24, 2018 2:11 PM

r63 Falun Gong is also homophobic.

by Anonymousreply 64December 24, 2018 2:11 PM

R63, I’m sure it was more than just spiritualism. Likely, with a following that large, it was becoming a political movement

by Anonymousreply 65December 24, 2018 2:14 PM

Op, r u kidding??? Bitches doing flips in silk pj’s, what’s not to like about that!

by Anonymousreply 66December 24, 2018 2:17 PM

R65 obviously. Read the link.

R64 link?

by Anonymousreply 67December 24, 2018 2:26 PM

r67:

[quote]Falun Gong has moralistic, socially conservative beliefs, preaching against homosexuality and sex out of wedlock. The group is secretive, and has a tendency to exaggerate and distort. For years, the Epoch Times has claimed that hundreds of millions of people have renounced the Chinese Communist party, relying on numbers that are impossible to verify.

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by Anonymousreply 68December 24, 2018 2:29 PM

Will they love you longtime?

by Anonymousreply 69December 24, 2018 4:33 PM

People like to see their names and images publicized. They may even get paid royalties. So they say what they think the producers will like.

by Anonymousreply 70December 24, 2018 4:57 PM

It can still be a cult, and the PRC can still be corrupt, totalitarian scum. Both things are possible.

by Anonymousreply 71December 24, 2018 6:31 PM

If you want to see genuine traditional Chinese culture, go and see Peking opera when it tours North America or when you're visiting China. The Falun Gong ideological baggage aside, this is just an amateurish, dilettante high school drama level production.

by Anonymousreply 72December 24, 2018 9:13 PM

The Shen Yun Mafia, busting up shops that will not display their posters.

by Anonymousreply 73December 24, 2018 9:43 PM

[Quote]"life-changing" is not necessarily a positive review

Translation:

"Two hours of my life that I'll NEVER get back!"

by Anonymousreply 74December 24, 2018 10:30 PM

Shen Yun fucking never seems to go away. I always see ads for it no matter what city I visit. I recently saw ads in Tampa. It’s just a big con

by Anonymousreply 76December 25, 2018 1:57 AM

I think r70 has the most plausible explanation.

by Anonymousreply 77December 25, 2018 8:03 PM

According to Wikipedia the Chinese government used to work with Falun Gong until Falun Gong's member count exceeded that of the Communist Party in 1999. At that point they became an enemy and the government started a full force propaganda attack against them. There have also been credible reports that the government has been removing organs from incarcerated Falun Gong members and selling them on the international black market. A practice reminiscent of North Korea dealing drugs and extorting people in the West.

For a short while in my 20s I was a member of a Hinduist yoga organization that the government of India had declared a terrorist organization, among dozens of other religious orgs. I never saw anything bad or cult-y happen when I was with the organization, granted I lived with them in Europe, but sure I understand that any organization can become a cult, especially if religion is involved in any way. Because of my own experiences and realizing how deeply you feel when you think you know "the truth" I suspect Falun Gong members in the West might quite possibly act a bit stupidly at times, meaning it's very well possible the posts claiming Falun Gong members behaving almost violently are genuine. Then again after having seen how Russian trolls spread Russian propaganda online I suspect China might have learned to use online propaganda the same way, and you might have to take posts bitching about Falun Gong with a grain of salt.

I used to do qigong and tai chi in my teens but later turned more to yoga. I totally get why the members of Falun Gong love to practice qigong and meditation that seem to be an important part of Falun Gong teachings. I'm not an expert on China but I most certainly view the country as a dangerous enemy that's once again ruled by a dictator. Some time ago I read a sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem by a Chinese author Liu Cixin. At the start of the novel the Cultural Revolution is taking place and personally for me it was horrifying to realize how terrible living in China has been. Family members could become enemies of their siblings or parents, and so many people were killed or forced to succumb to the Communist ideology. This is the country we're dealing with. Many Chinese people have lived during extremely violent times and they probably view other countries way more differently than those of us who've lived in peace most of our lives.

If Falun Gong is opposing the Chinese government I say more power to them. Then again I've no idea what Falun Gong is after and who are the people behind it. Religions are traditionally money making machines which is why I view all of them suspiciously.

by Anonymousreply 78December 25, 2018 9:05 PM

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