The YouTube channel “A Groundhog MrMarmot,” known for satirizing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and mainland Chinese society, has released a new video that propels us into the specter of a dystopian future. The short, animated video titled “Cyber Rebels 2077｜Chinese Social Credit System in 2077” begins by showing a news update covering the “Final Encirclement and Besiege” of the United States by the “World Government” forces, which hope to “liberate people worldwide.”
The video draws on the traits of a government that deploys an extensive range of surveillance and facial recognition systems, which insists on forcing “confessions” out of political prisoners and engages in the widespread use of online censorship to ban political keywords. Because the video recreates violent scenes that were initiated by government forces during the 2019 anti-extradition movement in Hong Kong, the creator states that this work is for his friends in Hong Kong.
The protagonist is a guy called “Wojak,” who wears a shirt bearing the number 8964, a coded reference to the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. During a chat with his colleagues at work, Wojak declared, “Everything is monitored, and we are all naked in front of the government.” Immediately after uttering this criticism, he receives a text message informing him that he has forfeited ten credit points, taking him below the 50 minimum points needed to access public transport.
While walking home, “Wojak” meets an old man selling banned movies. After agreeing to buy a film, the pair are immediately identified by a patrolling drone. By continuing with his complaints to colleagues and maintaining his “reactionary remarks” against the government, Wojak eventually ends up in “the world’s largest political prison.”
With the help of fellow prisoners, “Wojak” escapes from detention, only to be captured again by “World Government” forces. While being held down, “Wojak” is forced to respond to questions in a live TV interview. His response is quickly controlled and manipulated. The live stream shows “Wojak” delivering a confession, saying that he’d received instructions from the evil United States and had escaped from prison purely for monetary reasons. He concluded, “I hope my fellow countrymen can forgive me.” This confession narrative is a common technique used by the CCP to obtain on-camera confessions of criminals.
Even though the media continues to push out propaganda, boasting that “American imperialism” will disappear and that “mankind will eventually become a community of shared destiny,” the people eventually rebel against the discriminating credit point system. By acknowledging this decision, the special police lay down their weapons and release “Wojak.”
The Creator Is from Mainland China and Currently Lives in the US
“A Groundhog Mr. Marmot” began releasing videos this year, and each episode has attracted tens of thousands of views, some as many as 100,000. Recently, the author’s animation “The Life of Sando Monkey” became a hit, and his adaptation of “The Life of a Little Pink” also sparked much discussion. The video has been viewed about 1.2 million times.“A Groundhog MrMarmot” introduced himself on YouTube. He said he grew up in Shanghai and now lives in Los Angeles. Having faced multiple social media account bans in mainland China for criticizing the CCP, he moved to the United States for three years of study, where he experienced “freedom and equality,” and later joined an American gaming company.
