Inaugural Episode Shocks Viewers
Season one of “3 Body Problem” consists of eight episodes based on the celebrated Hugo-winning novel “The Three-Body Problem” by Chinese author Liu Cixin. It’s the first novel in the trilogy “Remembrance of Earth’s Past.” The U.S. version underwent significant modifications to appeal to a broader audience while staying true to the original work. Notably, readers familiar with the source material appreciate the restoration of the Cultural Revolution storyline.Set against the tumultuous backdrop of the Cultural Revolution initiated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1966, the film traces the odyssey of Ye Wenjie, a brilliant physicist disillusioned by betrayal and persecution. Her loss of faith in humanity prompts her to facilitate an extraterrestrial invasion by the Trisolarans, triggering years of conflict and tragedies on Earth.
In the opening scene of the inaugural episode, Wenjie’s father, a professor and renowned physicist, is led onto a stage where he is publicly denounced and savagely beaten. His wife was brought on stage to denounce her husband, claiming that his theories allowed for the existence of God. As the crowd response escalated, a member of the Red Guard youth delivered a fatal blow to Wenjie’s father. The scene culminates with a devastated Wenjie in tears amid chants of Maoist slogans.
The Red Guard member who murdered Wenjie’s father later sustains injuries during subsequent communist purges, losing an arm in a labor camp. Despite her ordeal, she remained unrepentant of the murder, vowing to repeat her actions if given the chance.
The Netflix version of “3 Body Problem” has been praised for fulfilling viewer expectations by including details about the Cultural Revolution. This is in contrast to a 2023 version by Tencent that omitted how Wenjie had witnessed her father’s murder but also either vaguely depicted or downplayed other aspects relating to the Cultural Revolution. The Netflix version provides a deeper understanding of Wenjie’s motivation to engage extraterrestrials in resolving the Earth’s problems promulgated by communism.
The audience rating of the Netflix version on IMDb stands at 7.7. Notably, 68 percent of the viewers rated the movie at eight or higher, while only 4 percent gave it a rating of one, reflecting a positive reception.
The rising popularity of the series is reaffirming the negatives that people associate with communism, prompting the CCP’s Propaganda Department and Cyberspace Administration to require China’s internet platforms to block the Netflix version of “3 Body Problem.”
Film industry insiders revealed that the movie’s honest portrayal of the Cultural Revolution is disconcerting for Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s administration. As early as 2013, the CCP’s mouthpiece newspaper, People’s Daily, published an article stating that Xi proposed the viewpoint of “not denying the first 30 years in the next 30 years.” His endorsement of revisiting past ideologies has led some observers to liken China’s response to a “2.0 version” of the Cultural Revolution.
Translations Skirt Censorship Efforts
Liu Cixin’s novel “The Three-Body Problem” made its English debut in 2014. It shed light on the tumultuous era of the Cultural Revolution under communist rule and explored the corrosive influence of totalitarianism on human nature, positing it as a catalyst for Earth’s impending demise.When interviewed in 2021 by Japanese media outlet Kyodo News, Mr. Liu revealed his inspiration for the novel, citing a deep dive into modern Chinese history. He contemplated the factors that could cause a person to lose faith in humanity and civilization, identifying the Cultural Revolution as a harrowing example. Reflecting on his upbringing during this turbulent period, Mr. Liu expressed a heightened sensitivity to potential future crises and disasters. “My childhood and adolescence were spent in such an era, which made me more sensitive to the crises and disasters that might occur in the future than with the current generation,” Mr. Liu said.
‘3 Body Problem’ Versus Global Pandemic
Mr. Liu was born in 1963 in Yangquan, Shanxi. As a power plant engineer and amateur writer, he won the 2015 Hugo Award, the premier award in the world of science fiction literature.In an interview with Daily Economic News reporters in December 2017, Mr. Liu expressed his views on the explosive popularity of “The Three-Body Problem.” He said: “‘The Three-Body Problem’ is quite good, but its quality doesn’t quite match its immense impact. In fact, the success of cultural products as ‘blockbusters’ involves many subtle factors, perhaps they just happen to strike a chord with society, involving elements of opportunity and luck.”
The frenzy surrounding the Cultural Revolution under communist dictatorship serves as a profound theme in the Netflix version of “3 Body Problem.” This was the first portrayal of the harm inflicted by the communist regime on the human condition, attributing this to the Earth’s impending destruction. A parallel can be drawn between this fictional catastrophe and the CCP’s initial concealment of the Wuhan COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 that inflicted actual harm on people throughout the world.
The CCP’s stringent lockdown measures have been compared to the Maoist social control tactics used during the Cultural Revolution, resulting in widespread human rights violations. The resulting sense of despair led many people to embrace the concept of “lying flat,” or rejecting societal pressures by doing the bare minimum to get by.
David Benioff, a co-producer of “3 Body Problem,” told The Hollywood Reporter that “we do tend to move in cycles in terms of human history, and we’re going through a certain period of the cycle right now.”
“There are many significant differences between the current time and the Cultural Revolution. But there are also some similarities,” he said.
“It was never something where we were like, ‘We should do this show because we want to make a commentary on that.’ But it is interesting that the parallels are there and are hard to ignore.”
In recent years, the Xi regime’s promotion of the “Fengqiao experience” has drawn comparisons to the mass mobilizations of the Cultural Revolution.
Political commentator Zhang Jinglun told The Epoch Times on March 30 that the American version of “3 Body Problem” underscores the dangers of the CCP’s Cultural Revolution. Rather than deterring viewership, it serves as a compelling narrative that resonates with audiences. This resonance underscores a broader consensus that “the CCP poses a threat to human civilization.” Moreover, the series subtly alludes to the true source of this threat, portraying communist brutality and darkness as the root cause. While the author’s intentions may vary, viewers easily discern this metaphor within the narrative. In the drama, extraterrestrials seek humanity’s destruction, mirroring the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, which also emanated from the CCP’s actions.
U.S. business author Jeff Garton told The Epoch Times: “The ‘3 Body Problem’ film holds up a mirror for us to see how the shameful mistreatment of ourselves contributes to our evolving regrettable future. The opening scene revisits the Cultural Revolution when China’s citizens were forced to surrender themselves to groupthink in support of Communism. Their frenzied defense of this philosophy reminded me of the German people’s frenzied defense of Nazism. In both cases, non-conformists were ridiculed, arrested, tortured, and murdered.
“Within China today, we still see the pressure on its citizens to conform to the CCP’s false narratives about its Belt and Road Initiative, COVID-19 origin cover-ups, the ethnic cleansing of Uyghurs, and the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners. But the pressure on people to conform is not limited to China. All around the world, people, governments, and businesses are being ‘canceled’ for failing to conform to the controversial ‘woke’ ideas of influencers on topics ranging from politics to immigration, diversity, gender identity, crime, and so forth. While this Chinese-inspired film may be an embarrassment to China’s authorities, it should serve as a stark reminder to every country and person.”
